Child Welfare Practice in a Systems of Care Framework.-"They Brought Me In Like I Was Their Own Kid": Youth and Caregiver Perceptions of Out-of-Home Care -- Family Engagement Strategies in Child Welfare Practice -- Permanency -- Transitioning to Adulthood: Promoting Youth Engagement, Empowerment and Interdependence Through Teaming Practices -- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Questioning and Queer Youth: The Challenge for Child Welfare -- Race, Racial Disparity and Culture in Child Welfare -- Skill-based Training and Transfer of Learning -- Stress and Child Welfare Work -- Reflective Practices in Supervision: Why Thinking and Reflecting are as Important as Doing -- Organizational Effectiveness Strategies for Child Welfare -- Managing for Outcomes in Child Welfare -- Conclusions and Future Directions.

Throughout the country, child welfare systems are at a crossroads. Demands for evidence-driven practice coupled with budget cuts, funding limits, and the call for client-driven services are contributing to a transformation in the field. Not surprisingly, with this reform comes the need for a higher level of professional education on the part of its practitioners. A seminar between covers, Contemporary Issues in Child Welfare Practice presents a clear picture of practice in today's child protection landscape: its challenges and opportunities, and the insights every professional needs. Chapters map out an integrated systems of care framework that coordinates services across mental health and other agencies while encouraging collaboration with families and the community. Topics span theoretical and hands-on practice imperatives from racial and cultural issues, to managing for outcomes, to concepts of permanency. And the book's case studies offer salient first-person perspectives from children, families, and caseworkers. Featured in the coverage: Family engagement strategies in child welfare practice. Promoting youth engagement, empowerment, and interdependence through teaming practices. LGBTQ youth: the challenge for child welfare. Training and transfer of learning. Reflective practices in supervision: why thinking and reflecting are as important as doing. Stress and child welfare work. Organizational effectiveness strategies for child welfare. Contemporary Issues in Child Welfare Practice opens out its field as few resources before it, making it a valuable mentor to those tasked with giving children a better life, whether social work practitioners and educators, counselors, family therapists, or policymakers.