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Out-of-Home Care: An Agenda for the Nineties

NCJ Number
122689
Author(s)
R E Barker; R R Aptekar
Date Published
1990
Length
32 pages
Annotation
The Task Force on Out-of-Home Care of the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) examined the trends, issues, and practices of the child welfare field and recommended future directions for out-of-home care. The report focuses on the range of residential group care options and stresses on the child welfare system.
Abstract
Stresses on the system include changing social and economic conditions of children and their families, changing client populations, and changing service delivery expectations. Factors such as the increasing proportion of children living in poverty, the homelessness issue, and the inadequacy of other social supports that impact on the child welfare system. Children requiring out-of-home care have a high incidence of serious emotional disturbances, alcohol and drug addiction, and HIV infection. Current initiatives in permanency planning designs to enhance family reunification may result in underintervention and support of parents' rights at the expense of the rights of children. The task force outlined eight remaining challenges for child welfare organizations: to gain wider consensus regarding out-of-home care goals; to develop new interventions for agencies; to improve criteria to determine the best placement approach for each case; to coordinate out-of-home services without social support programs; to serve the communities in which clients live; to increase fundings and spending flexibility; to work closely with legislators, the media, and the public; and to increase recruiting efforts for staff and foster parents. The report recommends responses for each challenge as well as three immediate actions for CWLA: the hiring of two new staff members to act as out-of-home care program managers specializing in family foster care and group care; to revise out-of-home care standards to include two volumes on family foster care and group care; and to hold a North American Conference on Group Care in 1990 or 1991. 11 notes, 2 appendixes.