Welfare Reform on the Web (January 2008): Child welfare - overseas
Children’s advocacy centers
Child Abuse and Neglect, vol. 31, 2007, p.1021-1085
Child advocacy centres were developed in the United Sates from the 1980s to aid in the criminal investigation of child sexual abuse cases. Such centres offer a child friendly environment in which suspected victims of sexual abuse are interviewed by professionals. This set of articles presents findings of research into the effectiveness of child advocacy centres focused on medical evaluations, child forensic interviewing, and family and child satisfaction.
Do good intentions beget good policy? A review of child protection policies to address intimate partner violence
K.L. Nixon and others
Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 29, 2007, p. 1469-1486
In response to growing concern that children are adversely affected by being exposed to domestic violence, significant changes have been made to child protection policy in many Western countries. This article reviews and analyses policy and legislative changes in Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It is concluded that legislation that defines all children exposed to domestic violence as maltreated may be counterproductive and may simply overwhelm child protection services. A consensus is emerging that the best way to protect children exposed to domestic violence is to support the adult victim while holding the perpetrator accountable.
Inclusion and its implementation: youth workers’ perspectives on an experimental social-business initiative for 'at-risk' youth in Israeli community services
M. Krumer-Nevo, A. Barak and M. Teichman
Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, vol. 2, 2007, p. 257-260
Israeli Community Centres provide social-educational-cultural leisure activities for the general population. This paper describes the process of including 'at-risk' youth in the activities of three Community Centres through an experimental Social-Business Initiative Programme. This project included 'at-risk' teenagers aged 15-18 in the creation and management of small social-business initiatives which would serve the general youth population. Through the project the 'at-risk' young people had the opportunity to gain new skills, create positive relationships with other teenagers, and become part of an unstigmatised leisure organisation. In order to plan and implement the initiative, the 'at-risk' young people underwent an elementary intensive training process at a Summer camp, and then met as a group weekly for three years under the supervision of youth counsellors.
Training as a factor in policy implementation: lessons from a national evaluation of child welfare training
M.E. Collins, M. Amodeo and C. Clay
Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 29, 2007, p. 1487-1502
Training is often viewed as a panacea for solving many of the problems facing child welfare services in the USA. This article focuses on the role of training in policy implementation. It uses data from an evaluation of nine federally-funded training projects to examine training activity within a policy implementation framework. Training initiatives are a key mechanism by which workers come to understand the policy environment and the expectations for their work. However, training projects by themselves are unlikely to have a lasting impact.