Child Welfare Values Principles Put intoPractice Resources/Skill-Building... · Child Act, enacted...

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Put into

From Ancient Egypt to the

Twenty-First Century

Values&Principles

Practice

Child Welfare

Developed by theInstitute for Human

Services, for theOhio Department of

Job and FamilyServices and the

Ohio Child WelfareTraining Program

August 2004

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Content for this workbook and CD ROM is derived from:

Rycus, J.S., & Hughes, R.C. (1998). Child Welfare Values.

Field Guide to Child Welfare, Volume I, Foundations of Child

Protective Services, 2-41. Washington, DC: Child Welfare

League of America.

Evelyn Bissonnette (Co-Chair), ODJFS

Max Bucey (Co-Chair), PCSAO

LeRoy Crozier, ODJFS

Rusty Geiger, ODJFS

Jim Lacks, ODJFS

Janet Caplinger, ODJFS, Canton District Office

Ron Hughes, IHS

Darren Varnado, SWORTC

Tom Swindel, NWORTC

Mark McMillian, NCORTC

Jeanne Bennett, NEORTC

Dale Hotaling, WORTC

Mary Kay Hawkins, CORTC

Brian Wear, ECORTC

Paula Marx, SEORTC

Mary Anne Robinson, Montgomery County CSB

Susan Alberter, Greene County CSB

OCWTP

Steering

Committee

Members

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IntroductionWelcome to the Child Welfare Values and Principles Putinto Practice pre-training readiness workbook. You willneed to complete this workbook prior to attendingyour first Core training. At the end of the workbook,there is a review assignment that you will need tocomplete and bring with you to your first Coretraining.

This workbook is broken down into the followingsections:

• History of Child Welfare Values• Introduction to Values• Child Welfare Values• Guiding Principles• Course Review

Let’s begin with Section I….an overview of the History of Child Welfare Values andhow these values impact services and laws.

Upon completion of thiscourse you will have a sound

understanding of child welfarehistory, values, and principles.

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In this section we will provideyou with a detailed overview

on the history of child welfarevalues and how these values

impact services and laws.

Section 1 -

History of

Child

Welfare

Values

The concepts of children’s rights and social justice forchildren are not new. They are older than civilization. Buttheir historical expressions have been as varied anddiverse as the cultures which developed them. Examin-ing how past cultures have valued and cared for theirchildren can provide insight into the evolution of currentchild welfare values.

The timeline at the bottom of the page highlights histori-cal documents, laws, and cultural practices throughoutthe age of time that have made an impact on how wecurrently address issues relating to children.

It begins with the Egyptian Book of the Dead and theHammurabi Code, two of the earliest written documentsknown to address the treatment of children, and endswith the reporting mandate and call for permanency forall children that occurred in the 1970s.

NOTE:

Current mandates and public policy, such as the IndianChild Welfare Act and the Adoption Assistance andChild Welfare Act of 1980, will be discussed during yourfirst Core training. References for these mandates canbe found on page 26 of this booklet. If you would likeinformation prior to attending your first Core training,the resources on page 26 will be helpful.

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In portions of northern Africa, from the earliest times, thereexisted strong cultural norms that promoted socially just andaltruistic behavior toward children. The Egyptian Book of theDead, inferred that children should not be harmed orexploited if a person wanted things to go well on JudgmentDay.

The Hammurabi Code is one of the earliest records of asociety’s standards regarding children. In the code sectionsthat address parent-child relationships, children owed a dutyof respect to their parents, and if children fulfilled this duty,they were entitled to receive minimum care and treatmentfrom their parents. If the child’s duty was violated, the parentowed the child nothing, and the child’s status reverted to thatof a slave (property) or a non-family member.

The code defined the parent-child relationship as proprietaryinterest. This concept has persisted in legal codes for morethan 3,000 years. The child, in simple terms, was viewed as aneconomic unit and could be sold or exchanged at thediscretion of the parent.

Without inherent rights and protections, children could sufferabuse without state interference. Infanticide of unwantedchildren or children with birth defects, and punishment ofchildren by dismemberment were accepted practices.

The Mosaic Code, a part of Hebrew life before 1000 B.C., fullysupported the concepts of the Hammurabi Code, includingthe parent’s proprietary interest in children and children’sabsolute duty to respect their parents. Exodus, the secondbook of the Bible, outlines the rights and responsibilities ofchildren and parents, as well as the consequences for failing tocarry out these duties.

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Greek law, in some respects, was unique for earlycivilizations. While some laws were repressive, thetreatment of children was more benevolent, particularly inlater Greek civilizations. For example, the law evolved torestrict the father from having the right to take his child’slife. Instead, he was given the right to physically “chastise”the child. As the golden age of Greece declined, however,so did some of its more benevolent attitudes towardchildren.

Roman civilization supplanted Greek civilization andquickly assimilated much of that civilization. Roman lawevolved over many centuries and changed, sometimesdramatically, from emperor to emperor. The doctrine ofpatria potestas established the unilateral and almostunlimited right of the father. The “father” in this societywas the oldest male family member. He was the head ofthe family and the undisputed leader until he died. In laterRoman society, the father’s right to put a child to deathwas specifically outlawed, as was the right to sell a child.However, despite legal prohibitions, the practice of thesale, mutilation, or killing of children, and the view ofchildren as property persisted in Roman culture. Thepower of the male head of the family was not controllableby law. This is an early expression of a pervasive culturalvalue of parents’ rights superseding the rights of children.

The Visigothic Kingdom existed in Europe between about476 and 711A.D. Formed with Roman, Germanic, andnewly emerging Christian influences, this society wasunusual in its humane treatment of children. The primarydifference from earlier codes was that the Visigothic Codestressed the duties rather than the power of the

Golden Age of Greece

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The Visigothic Code

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parent. Children could be punished or disinherited,but they could not be put to death or mutilated and thesale of children was forbidden. Parents were givenauthority to use reasonable physical discipline, butwere not permitted to exceed what was consideredreasonable.

Early English law was strongly influenced by Roman lawin that it permitted infanticide and the sale of children intimes of poverty, and it upheld the parent’s right to fullycontrol his children. During this time children hadsome legal rights - they were emancipated at majority,and had the right to own property. The “guardian-ad-litem” or court-appointed “next friend” was establishedduring this period, although the rights of the child toindependent representation were not always assured.

English Law After the Thirteenth Century:

Later English law included the doctrine of parenspatriae, literally the “father of his country.” Thisdoctrine evolved from case law over a period ofhundreds of years and defined the relationship betweenthe parent and the child as a trust. It evolved toestablish three important principles regarding the rightsof children:

• It established that children had rights and interests separate from others, including their parents.• It established parental rights as contingent rights (i.e., rights that were contingent upon the parent providing minimal care and nurturance and a home free of abuse).• It established the state as the guarantor of that trust, responsible for intervening, when necessary, to protect children.

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Although the concept of state responsibility for theprotection of children was important, its impact wouldnot be felt until centuries later.

The Sixteenth Century was a period of extreme poverty.The Elizabethan Poor Laws of 1601 were an attempt tomeet the needs of children in poverty. However, theyestablished the legal precedent of removing children fromtheir families. Although the laws established localcommunity responsibility for children, they also resultedin a large number of children becoming wards of the state.More children were hurt than helped by these laws, andEnglish society lacked the resources to administer them.By the mid-1600s, the Poor Laws were repealed.

Early American law grew out of English law. Initially littleformal protection was offered to children. The StubbornChild Act, enacted in Massachusetts in 1628, held that astubborn or rebellious son, old enough to understand, andwho would not obey his parents, could be put to death.Children were often seen as extensions of their families,had few separate rights, were often exploitedeconomically, and were offered little protection fromcruel treatment or economic deprivations.

In contrast, there were societies in which the community’ssocial norms and practices assured that children werecared for, even without formal legal protections. Forexample, in many African and Native American groups,children were historically viewed as the responsibility ofthe entire community, and if children were orphaned orneeded care, extended family and community membersassumed responsibility for their well being. This occurreddespite the fact that during this time period NativeAmerican families were regularly displaced, disrupted, and


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destroyed; and, until the Emancipation Proclamation of1863, a whole race of African children were bought andsold by slave owners, subject to physical andpsychological maltreatment, and routinely separatedfrom their families.

During the middle years of the Nineteenth Century,large groups of children became orphaned ordependent. Immigrant children were orphaned, due toepidemics of cholera and yellow fever, and abandonedbecause of poverty and other hardships. Lynchings,family displacements, and disruptions that followedemancipation, Jim Crow laws in the South, and theexodus north by former slaves resulted in even moreorphaned and abandoned children. This was also a timeof major disruption and displacement of NativeAmerican families as whole tribes were destroyedduring the Indian Wars.

Almshouses and indenture were two of the wayscommunities addressed the large numbers of orphanedor abandoned children. Almshouses were theforerunners to county homes for the poor, disabled, ormentally ill, and they became the dumping ground forpoor children. Indenture is the provision of occupationaltraining and room and board in exchange for a period ofproviding labor. Some children were indentured into“adopting” families. Others were placed in asylums andthen indentured into local families under the auspices ofthe institution. The success of indenture, from the child’sview, depended entirely on the luck of the draw. With agood placement, indenture could greatly benefit children.For others, indenture meant slave labor, little learning,and much suffering.

The Earliest ChildWelfare: Out-of-Home

Placement

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The first formal organization for identifying and assessingchild abuse and neglect was established in 1874 in NewYork City. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty toChildren (SPCC) was founded as a result of concernedcitizens becoming aware of the abuse of a child namedMary Ellen. Mary Ellen was beaten and cruelly mistreatedby a couple who had assumed her care at infancy. Hercries were heard throughout the neighborhood butneighbors knew of no legal recourse. Her case wasbrought to the attention of the Society for the Preventionof Cruelty to Animals who took Mary Ellen’s case tocourt and won a protective order. By 1900, more than250 societies for the protection of children had beenformed. One initiative of the New York chapter was tomove New York “street kids” to small towns and farms inthe Midwest with people who were of “good repute andmoral character.” These children were transported on“orphan trains” to their new homes in Ohio, Michigan,Indiana, and further west.

The beginnings of the Twentieth Century saw theemergence of a unifying theme that would shape thehistory of child welfare to the present day-- theincreasing recognition of the supreme importanceof a stable, caring family to the life of a child. Thistheme formed the basis for a number of debates thatoccurred in the Twentieth Century; punishment versusrehabilitation of abusing parents, the relationship betweenpoverty and neglect, and the debate between home-basedservices versus placement.

During this time period, the first child care institutionswere founded to “rescue” children from the deplorableconditions of the poor houses and mental institutions.Orphanages, later called “children’s homes,” remained aprimary child welfare institution well into the 1940s.

Early Movements toProtect Children

Early TwentiethCentury

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Child welfare services were first addressed by publicpolicy in the early 1900s. In 1912, the U.S. Children’sBureau was established to create a federal agency thatcould represent the interests of children. As a result ofthis legislation, many public and private child welfareagencies were established and funded.

In the early part of the Twentieth Century, theprofession of social work and the casework methods ofintervention began to emerge as a powerful force ofsocial change. From the 1920s on, social work ideologyand methods have shaped the field of child welfare.

In the 1950s, professionals began to recognize that theneeds of children could be better met in family settingsthan in institutions, and the foster family home beganto replace the orphanage as the primary child placementresource.

In the early 1960s, Dr. Kempe and associates identifiedthe battered child syndrome and published theirresearch findings. The report shocked manyprofessionals despite the fact that Kempe’s research hadseriously underestimated the incidence of child abuse inthe United States.

In 1959, a landmark study described the seriousdevelopmental and emotional problems of children whohad grown up in foster care. During the 1960s and early1970s research identified a phenomenon called fostercare drift, referring to placement of children in a seriesof temporary foster homes with no expedient plan for apermanent family placement. A disturbingly largepercentage of foster children exhibited seriousdevelopmental and psychological problems,apparently as a result of changing and impermanent

1950s – 1960s

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1970s: PermanencyPlanning and Mandated

Reporting

placements. It was becoming evident that the “cure” wasoften as damaging to children as the “problem” it wasdesigned to remedy.

In the early 1970s, the “permanency planning”movement was initiated to correct the problem of fostercare drift. Permanency planning referred tocomprehensive case planning designed to achievepermanence for children. Initially, permanency planningwas directed specifically to foster children who had beenremoved from their families and placed in substitute care.However, it was soon recognized that the best way toachieve permanence for any child was to prevent anyseparation at all. The concept of permanence wasadopted as a primary child welfare goal, and permanency-planning activities were provided to all children served bythe child welfare system. The permanency movement alsogenerated changes in adoption policy and practice. Manychildren with special needs, who had been previouslyconsidered unadoptable, became the focus of permanencyplanning efforts.

Mandated reporting of suspected child maltreatment byboth citizens and professionals was legislated in the 1970s.This led to dramatic increases in the number ofinvestigations and in the number of children and familiesserved in the child welfare system. It created an inevitablesystem overload that persists in the child welfare fieldtoday.

During the first Core training, you will have an opportuityto discuss the history of child welfare values and learnhow they continue to influence the values, policies, andlaws that govern your practice.

Remember, if you need information about currentmandates and policies, check the references on page 26 ofthis booklet.

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Section 2 -

Introduction

to Values

In this section we will provideyou with a questionnaire and

follow-up discussion aboutyour personal feelings toward

child welfare values.

Upon completion of this section, you will be able to:

Clarify your personal values about helping

children and their families

Begin to identify values that are central tothe profession of social work and child

protective services

Honestly consider the statements on the followingpages and circle your position on each, using thefollowing rating scale:

SD = Strongly DisagreeD = Disagree? = Don’t KnowA = AgreeSA = Strongly Agree

After rating each statement, please continue by readingthe adjacent discussion points.

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Discussion PointSTATEMENT

#1

Parents have a basicright to guide their

children’s development.Sometimes the general

interests of the familyshould supersede theinterests of the child.

SD D ? A SA

This statement reflects a critical values conflict inchild welfare -- the apparent conflict between“parents’ rights” and “children’s rights” in situationsof child maltreatment.

If you agreed with #1, your values are consistentwith the social work value of “self determination”and “parental rights.” Adherence to a value of selfdetermination will assure that you respect andsupport families’ rights to retain personal autonomyregarding the care of their children. However, thisvalue may raise conflicts for you when you must usethe authority vested in your position to limit aparent’s rights or to assume custody of a child inorder to protect the child.

If you disagreed with #1, you may be morecomfortable when you must use your vestedauthority to protect children. However, you mustbe aware of two important realities. It is in a child’sbest interest to maintain and support a family,whenever possible, and you never have the legal ormoral authority to remove a child unless there isno other viable recourse to protect him.

Regardless of your response, you should understandthat skilled child welfare workers are able tointervene, in most cases, in ways that simultaneouslyassure the safety of the child and empower andstrengthen the family, thereby preserving the rightsof both. Family preservation is an essential goal ofgood child welfare practice. While removing a childmay, on occasion, be the less harmful alternative, itis still harmful.

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SD D ? A SA

STATEMENT

#2

For real change tooccur, people mustwillingly become in-

volved in the changeprocess and under-

stand the benefits ofthe change for them.

Discussion Point

If you agreed that people must be invested in achange for change to occur, you will be more likelyto commit time and energy to empowering familiesto join with you in a partnership for positive change.This process, called “engaging” the client, is centralto social work practice. However, you may likelybecome very frustrated and feel thwarted in yourability to help when a client appears to be resistantto your interventions and seems unwilling tochange, even after your best efforts. If you disagreed with the statement and believe thatthe use of external authority and sanctions oftencan produce needed change, you will find that, in therealm of human services, such change is generallycircumstantial and short lived. Changes will oftenbe abandoned when the external authority is nolonger present; or the family will sabotage yourchange efforts. As a last resort, it is sometimes youronly possible intervention. But as a primarystrategy for accomplishing generalized familychange, it is not often successful in the field of childwelfare.

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SD D ? A SA

STATEMENT

#3

Due to their specializedknowledge, training, andexperience, child welfare

workers often have abetter understanding

than their clients aboutwhat must occur toresolve the clients’

problems.

Discussion Point

If you agreed that trained social workers generallyhave a better understanding of family problems anddynamics, you may often be right. This confidence inyour knowledge and training can help you to facili-tate productive change. But it is often easy tooverestimate your capacity to make things happen,to underestimate the importance of a family’sstrengths and capabilities, or to discount the essen-tial nature of client commitment to the successfulachievement of positive change. Successful childwelfare social workers are more often enablers andfacilitators than they are instructors and monitors. If you disagreed with the statement, you may have atendency to leave too much to the discretion ofyour clients, which may prevent you from coaching,teaching, leading, and instructing clients who needdirection in order to know how to go about resolv-ing their problems. This emphasizes the criticalnecessity of individualized family assessment andintervention. Some families will need considerableinstruction, support, and monitoring.

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SD D ? A SA

STATEMENT

#4

Most children farebetter in foster homes

than they do in abusiveor neglectful families.

Discussion Point

This statement reflects another area of basic valuesconflict in child welfare practice. If you agreed thatmost children fare better in foster homes than inabusive or neglectful families, you recognize thesignificant value that foster care can have inproviding stability and developmental services tochildren who have been maltreated and who cannotbe protected at home. You may, however, be morelikely to recommend removal and placement of achild when you find the child to be at risk of harmor developmental delay in their homes. This forcedseparation often has a serious detrimental effect onboth the child and the family which may, in the longrun, be more harmful than the maltreatment forwhich the child was removed. By contrast, if you disagreed with the statement,you may be more willing to adopt a strong, family-centered approach to in-home services. However,you may be less willing to remove children fromtheir homes when there is clear evidence of riskand the child cannot be assured protection at home.The child welfare profession stresses the import-ance of strengthening and preserving the family, butsuch efforts should never place a child at risk ofserious harm.

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SD D ? A SA

STATEMENT

#5

I chose this job becauseI have always wanted tohelp children, and I like

working with people.

Discussion Point

If you hoped to help children, this job will indeedgive you an opportunity to make a significantdifference in the lives of many children. However,you will find that most of the work in child welfareis with adults - the parents of the children you areserving - not necessarily with the children,themselves. In a system that stresses familypreservation, your job is to assist families tobecome self sufficient and to be able to care fortheir own children. While you will certainly havecontact with the children, you will need to developskills to work with the entire family. If you enjoy working with people, you will certainlyhave an opportunity to meet many kinds of peopleon this job and to grow from this experience. Youwill be more likely to derive satisfaction from yourwork, as your clients truly need you. However, youmay become more easily discouraged when you findyou are not able to help, or when your clients don’tseem to appreciate your efforts. It may also bedisconcerting when you discover that you find someof your clients unlikable. If you chose this job for other reasons, you may findit difficult to achieve job satisfaction. By contrast,you may also find yourself obtaining considerablejob satisfaction from interests of which you werenot aware.

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Hopefully, completing the values questionnaire hasincreased your interest in how your personal valuesimpact your work and how value ideals may conflictin the real world. This is especially true in the fieldof child welfare.

Parents’ rights, family integrity, individual liberty andself-determination, cultural integrity, children’srights to safety and sustenance, and children’s bestinterests, are all essential values of the child welfarefield. However, they may be in conflict in somesituations.

Great Job on

Completing

the Values

Questionnaire!

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Upon completion of this section, you will have anunderstanding of the following values:

Overarching Value

Human Dignity and Worth

Freedom

Justice

Social Responsibility

Child welfare values are derived from the values of thelarger social work profession.

The overarching value is:

All children have an absolute right to a safe,permanent, stable home, which provides basiclevels of nurturance and care, and is free fromabuse, neglect, and exploitation.

The following is a discussion of the values that are centralto the profession of social work.

Section 3 -

Child

Welfare

Values

In this section we willprovide you with a

detailed overview ofchild welfare values.

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Value:Human

Dignity andWorth

Social work respects the inherent dignity anduniqueness of each individual, and supports a client’sright to live within values, standards, and beliefs that areconsistent with his cultural background and heritage.Social workers may not approve of a client’s behavior,but still must value the client and show basic respect.

Only in more recent times have children been seen asworthy of unconditional respect, as having human rights,and as deserving societal protection of those rights.

Case Example:

Early, in my career, I was doing intensive home-basedservices with a family charged with the neglect of theirtwo boys. The home was filled with what appeared tome to be junk. Every room was crammed with brokentoys, piles of clothing, and all types of knickknacks.Cleaning was virtually impossible because of all the stuff,and the house was infested with roaches. The motherwas cognitively delayed and simply unable to organize ormanage her home.

One time, I arranged for her to attend a parenting classwith her two boys. She was hesitant about leaving herhome and was incredibly shy about being with strangers.The class had a number of other families and the roomwas chaotic with uncontrolled children runningeverywhere. In this storm of chaos, my mom reachedinto a backpack she brought and proceeded to quietlyentertain her boys. She had drinks, snacks, toys, and evena change of clothing for her two boys. I can rememberbeing blown away by her quiet ability.

That experience has always reminded me to look forthe strength in each person I work with. I am ashamedto admit that, until that moment, I had not given thismom the respect and dignity she deserved. I had madepremature assumptions about her that if unchecked,would have changed the outcome of this case.

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Social Workers support and preserve their clients’ rightto self-determination to make choices and decisionsabout their own lives.

For children, freedom includes the possibility to grow anddevelop, free from harm and exploitation.

Case Example:

For me, self-determination is often the value I strugglewith most. Balancing a child’s right to grow up free fromabuse often conflicts with the self-determination right ofthe parent. But, despite the conflict, my job is to assurethe safety of the child. This came up recently in a caseinvolving domestic violence and child abuse. The child wasbeing abused by the mom’s boyfriend, who was alsobeating up the mom. Although, at the outset, thereappeared to be a lot of resources available to her, thesystem failed in being able to keep her safe and shedecided remaining with the boyfriend was her only way tosurvive. I didn’t have the right to demand that she leavethe boyfriend, but I did have the responsibility to protectthe child. The good news is, I was able to place the childwith her aunt, and the mom is still a part of the child’s life.Hopefully, the future for this family will eventually be onefree of abuse.

All individuals have a right to social justice. This includesequal opportunity. Social workers pursue social change,particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable andoppressed individuals and groups of people.

When considering justice for children, caseworkers mustrecognize that, due to children’s great developmentalneeds and vulnerability, children are not equal to adults.They have relatively little capacity to obtaindevelopmental resources, or to assure their own safety.They do not choose their circumstances and are notempowered to change them. Justice for children,

Value:Justice

Value:Freedom

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therefore, requires that certain rights be universallyapplied to children, such as the right to a safe and stablefamily, and the right to basic care and nurturance.

Case Example 1:

Sometimes it’s hard to recognize that what we do ascaseworkers could be labeled “social justice.” It oftenfeels like “just doing your job.” I remember working witha single mom struggling to keep her family together. Shewas raising six children and had been reported forhitting her oldest son. The abuse issue was easy toresolve but, in the course of the initial intake process,her life quickly began to dissolve around her. She losther job, was behind in her rent, was denied socialsecurity benefits, and was evicted from her apartment. Ispent a lot of hours helping her navigate through a mazeof social services. It took a good bit of advocacy to gether the services she deserved, but in the end shereceived the benefits she was entitled to and was ableto provide for her children again, in a stable and lovinghome. Case Example 2:

Social justice – well, I guess this will really age me, but Ican remember back to the time before emotional abusewas in the law. The issue was so important to my work,that I can remember taking time away from a busycaseload to attend coalition meetings to discuss gettinga bill introduced in the State House. I went on to givetestimony at the bill’s hearing. I was terrified abouttalking in front of all those people, but can rememberhow proud I was when the bill was passed into law. Westill have a long way to go in fully addressing the impactof emotional abuse, but I like knowing I helped move usone step further toward justice.

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A basic value of social work is the responsibility of socialworkers to help others achieve a satisfying and rewardingsocial existence. Social workers elevate service to othersabove self-interest. Social workers draw on theirknowledge, values, and skills to help people in need and toaddress social problems.

Caseworkers have a moral and professional responsibilityto support the well being of others. Social responsibilitiesto children are perhaps the most obvious of all. Childrenare dependant upon the good will of others.

Case Example:

I think the responsibility I feel toward making a differencein the lives of the children and families I work with is whatkeeps me in this field. It certainly isn’t the money orluxurious office space. The work is hard and notglamorous, but, for the most part, I can end my workweek knowing I have made a difference. Not only have Ihelped to make sure a child’s home is one where he orshe can grow up to become a contributing member ofsociety, but I have helped improve the life of that family tocare for their children so we don’t have to! Sometimesthe difference is only a dent, but I know that dent meanssomething to the children and families with whom I work.

Value:Social

Responsibility

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Upon completion of this section, you will have anunderstanding of the following principles:

1. The child welfare system must protect children.

2. The child welfare system must provide family-

centered services.

3. The child welfare system must promote

permanence for all children.

4. The child welfare system must be culturally

competent.

5. Children who need out-of-home placement should

always be placed in the least restrictive, most

home-like environment, as close to their own as

possible.

The only justification for the child welfare field’snonvoluntary involvement with a child and family is thatthe child is at risk of abuse or neglect. All child welfareprotective activities and interventions must be towardthe goal of protecting the child from harm.

The family unit is the central focus of child welfarepractice. It is always in a child’s best interests to remainwith his or her own family, if the family can be helped toprovide an environment that offers basic care andnurturance, and is safe from abuse and neglect. Childwelfare services should enhance and promote thehealthy development of families, and empower them toprovide safe and nurturing care to their children. Out-of-home placement should be avoided, unless it is theonly way to protect the child. When a child must beplaced out of the home temporarily, planning andservices to promote reunification should begin as soonas the child is removed.

Section 4 -

Guiding

PrinciplesIn this section we will provideyou with a detailed overview

of five guiding principles.

Guiding Principle #1The child welfare system

must protect children.

Guiding Principle #2The child welfare system

must provide family-

centered services.

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Guiding Principle #3

Child welfare system must

promote permanence for

all children.


Child welfare system must

be culturally competent.


Children who need out-of-

home placement should

always be placed in the

least restrictive, most

home-like environment, as

close to their own home as

possible.

Permanency planning is a comprehensive and ongoingcase planning process directed toward achieving the goalof permanence for children. Adherence to principles ofpermanency planning reflects a fundamental child welfarevalue -- the right of children to grow and develop inpermanent, stable family environments. Case planning isthe step-by-step planning and problem-solving technologyused by social workers to bring about desired ends. Theterm “permanency planning” reminds us that case-planning activities should always be directed towardassuring the children we serve have permanent familieswho can provide them with nurturance and protection.

Cultural competence is the capacity to relate withpersons from diverse cultures in a sensitive, respectful,and productive way. Cultural competence incorporates acomplex and interrelated array of cognitive andpsychological traits and behaviors. Since it is virtuallyimpossible for anyone to fully understand all thecharacteristics, nuances, and traits of all the world’scultures, achieving cultural competence requires a lifelongprocess of learning and change. While child welfareworkers will never learn all aspects of the cultures of thefamilies they serve, they must become sensitive, respectful,and adaptive in their cross-cultural communications andinteractions.

A properly chosen placement will:

• meet children’s physical, emotional, and social needs • strengthen and preserve children’s relationships with their families

• minimize separation trauma

To the degree possible, children should be placed withmembers of their own extended families, or in their homecommunities to maintain continuity, preserve importantrelationships, and support their cultural identities.

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Congratulations, you have successfully completedCasework Values and Principles Put into Practice.

The information you have learned from this course willbe further developed in the first module of your Core

training.

In order to participate in the first Core training, you willneed to complete the assignment on page 27 and bring itwith you to your first class.

Section 5 –

Course

Review

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Indian Child Welfare Act (Public Law 95-608):

This act strengthened the role of tribal governments in determiningthe custody of Native American children and specified that preferenceshould be given first to placements with extended family, then to NativeAmerican foster homes.

For more information go to:

http://www.cwresource.org/hotTopics/asfa/app4.htm

http://www.abanet.org/genpractice/lawyer/complete/f95child.html

Adoption Assistance & Child Welfare Act (Public Law 96-272):

Hailed as the most important piece of child welfare legislation enactedin three decades, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Actrequired states to establish programs and make procedural reformsto serve children in their own homes, prevent out-of-home placement,and facilitate family reunification following placement.

For more information go to:http://www.cwresource.org/hotTopics/asfa/app4.htm

For information on Family-Centered, Neighborhood-Based Practice goto:http://www.pcsao.org/Family%20to%20Family/familytofamily.htm

Multiethnic Placement Act & Interethnic Adoption Provisions(Public Law 103-382):

The Multiethnic Placement Act (later amended and strengthened by theInterethnic Adoption Provision) prohibited delaying or denying theplacement of any child on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

For more information go to:http://www.cwresource.org/hotTopics/asfa/app4.htmhttp://www.cwla.org/childwelfare/fglaws.pdfhttp://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/publications/mepa94/mepachp1.htm#standard

Adoption & Safe Families Act (AFSA), and Ohio House Bill 484(ORC Section 2151.419):

This Act established the goals of safety, permanency, and well-being forchildren in contact with the child welfare system. ASFA includesprovisions that shorten the timeframe for instituting proceedings toterminate parental rights.

For more information go to:http://www.cwresource.org/hotTopics/asfa/app4.htmhttp://www.cwla.org/childwelfare/fglaws.pdfhttp://www.rom.ku.edu

References for

Current

Laws that

Influence

Child

Welfare

Practice

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LONG AGO MOST RECENTLY WHY?

This is the TICKET into your first Core classroom workshop.Please tear it out of this booklet and bring it with you to class.

ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In the column labeled LONG AGO, list some of the historical customs, laws, and

values reflecting children’s rights and welfare.

2. In the column labeled MOST RECENTLY, list some customs, laws, and values

that most influenced how we treat children today.

3. In the column labeled WHY, list some of your ideas about why knowledge of the

history of child welfare values is important in order to understand child welfare today.

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Ohio Child

Welfare

Training

Program

Mission

The Ohio Child Welfare Training Program promotes thedelivery of high quality, culturally responsive, family-centered services to children who have experienced orare at risk of abuse, neglect, or dependency, and theirfamilies.

We provide competency-based training primarily to thepublic agency professionals, caregivers, and adoptiveparents who serve them.

We collaborate with other service providers to pro-mote the delivery of competency-based training.

We advocate for public policy and practice standardsthat reflect best child welfare practice.

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Institute for Human Services

1706 East Broad Street

Columbus OH 43203

614/251-6000

www.ihs-trainet.com

www.ocwtp.com

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