Family Preservation Services: Research and Evaluation

In the 1970s child welfare services were criticized for not serving children and families adequately. Responding to this criticism, a series of policy and program innovations were instituted by federal, state, and local agencies. But have these innovations improved the quality of welfare services, particularly for children? Of the changes implemented, which produced the best results? And are further reforms needed? Answering these and a host of other significant questions, contributors assess the effectiveness of these program reforms and suggest areas for future research and program development. In particular, they examine such key areas as public policy implications associated with family preservation, evaluating programs, measuring outcomes, and placement of neglected children. Family Preservation Services is recommended to students and professionals in social work, psychology, family studies, and allied areas in child welfare. In addition, policy makers and researchers in this area will also benefit from the wealth of information found in this volume. "This volume attempts to 'assess the state of intensive family preservation services research and develop a research agenda for the next generation of empirical investigations in this field.' This goal is admirably met. Kathleen Wells and David Biegel are to be commended not only for editing a set of important papers but for providing introductory and closing chapters that carefully assess and draw conclusions from them."Wells, Kathleen is the author of 'Family Preservation Services: Research and Evaluation', published 1991 under ISBN 9780803935150 and ISBN 0803935153.