Welfare Reform on the Web (July 2008): Child welfare - overseas

Bridging the divide between child welfare and domestic violence services: deconstructing the change process

K. Moles

Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 30, 2008, p. 674-688

From the time that the first services for battered women appeared in the USA in the 1970s, domestic violence services operated separately from child welfare services, with little collaboration and often a great deal of distrust between the two. The article explores how child welfare and domestic violence professionals in New York City strove to improve collaboration.

Developing a framework for protection for the African child: the basic rights

A.M. Muriuki

Vulnerable Children and Youth Studies, vol. 3, 2008, p. 52-64

Over the last 15 years, the Great Lakes Region of Africa has been plagued by small, internal armed conflicts. Grounded in complex disagreements, these internal conflicts create a culture of sustained violence, putting children at risk of abduction, rape and slavery as well as recruitment into the military. This paper considers the rights of children in the Great Lakes Region in the light of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the responsibility of the international community to enforce these rights.

From evolving discourses to new practice approaches in domestic violence and child protective services

C. Friend, A. Shlonsky and L. Lambert

Children and Youth Services Review, vol. 30, 2008, p. 689-698

There have been persistent tensions and conflicts between child welfare and domestic violence services in the United States and Canada. These conflicts have led to fragmented services that may not meet the complex needs of families. Divisions within public child welfare services compound the problem of disharmony between the sectors. This article proposes that harm reduction, evidence-based practice, and differential response approaches can bring the two warring systems together in order to better serve families.