Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

With contributions ranging from academic and professional theorists and policy developers to independent social workers, this book explores the development of family-centred services, the processes by which these services are implemented, the problems the field now faces, and prospects for the future. Multi-faceted examinations of the field show how family-centred services and child well-being can be linked on a daily basis to better the lives of both parents and children.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction
• Contributors
• 1 Family-Centered Services: A Typology Brief History, and Overview of Current Program Implementation and Evaluation Challenges
• A Program Typology of Family-Centered Services
• History of Family-Centered Services
• Program Limitations and Policy Pitfalls
• Selected Program Implementation Challenges in Family-Centered Services
• 2 Values and Ethics for Family-Centered Practice
• Theoretical Foundation
• The Impact of Values in Practice
• Evolution of Values in Family-Centered Services
• Historical Backdrop
• Values That Direct Family-Centered Services
• Family Plays an Essential Role in Child Development
• The Family Is Part of a System
• Clients Are Colleagues
• Strengths Are to Be Emphasized
• Home Is the Primary Service Setting
• The Family's Needs Determine Services
• The Family and Workers Operate in the Community
• 3 Cultural Competency in Providing Family-Centered Services
• History of Culturally Competent Practice
• Culturally Competent Social Work and Family-Centered Practice
• Assessing Family-Centered Services for Ethnic Families
• Planning Culturally Competent Family-Centered Services
• Cultural Values as Guideposts to Service Development
• 4 A Conceptual Framework for Family-Centered Services
• Family Systems Theory
• Ecological Theory
• Social Work Models
• Strength-Based Perspective
• Empowerment Theory
• A Conceptual Framework: Integration of Theories
• 5 Family-Centered Assessment and Goal Setting
• Expanded Roles of Family Members as Experts on Their History and Challenges
• Use of Self in Relationship to Family-Centered
• Practice Principles
• Maintaining a Nonjudgmental Stance
• Preparing for Family-Centered Assessment
• Home Observation
• Ethical Considerations of Working in the Family's Home
• Family-Centered Assessment Process
• Connecting Family Assessment to Goal-Setting Activities
• Collaborative Team Building to Support Family
• Assessment and Goal Setting
• 6 Well-Being and Family-Centered Services: The Value of the Developmental Assets Framework
• Some Implications and Effects of Attending to Safety Permanency, and Well-Being for Child and Family Services
• Family-Centered Reforms and Child and Family Services
• The Empirical Basis for the Developmental Assets Framework
• The Basis for Defining Thriving Outcomes
• Measurement of the Developmental Assets and Thriving Indicators
• Findings Related to the Developmental Assets
• Framework and Thriving Indicators
• Adapting the Developmental Assets Framework to Children
• The Importance of Applying the Developmental Assets Framework to Family-Centered Services
• 7 Interventions: Hard and Soft Services
• Definitional Issues
• The Home-Based Worker's Intervention Task
• Categories of Home-Based Interventions
• Case Examples
• Future Issues
• 8 Formal and Informal Kinship Care: Supporting the Whole Family
• Formal and Informal Support
• Kinship Family Care
• Formal Kinship Care
• Policy Issues
• 9 Family Group Conferencing: An "Extended Family" Process to Safeguard Children and Strengthen Family Well-Being
• Historical Roots in New Zealand
• New Zealand's Legislative Precedence
• Evolution of Family Group Conferencing
• The Practice of Family Group Conferencing
• 10 Targeting the Right Families for Family-Centered Services: Current Dilemmas and Future Directions
• Part 1 The Evolution of Targeting Practices in Family-Centered Services
• Part 2 Future Direction of Targeting Practices in Family-Centered Services
• Part 3 Putting the Targeting Criteria Into Action
• 11 Walking Our Talk in the Neighborhoods: Going Beyond Lip Service in Service Delivery Improvement
• Reasons We Need New Approaches to Human Services Delivery
• Reasons for Forming Professional/Natural Helper Partnerships
• Reasons We Need Natural Helpers
• Reasons We Need Professionals
• Challenges in Developing and Maintaining Professional/Natural Helper Partnerships
• One Example of a Professional/Natural Helper Partnership
• A Few of the Unanswered Questions
• 12 Evaluation in a Dynamic Environment: Assessing Change When Nothing Is Constant
• Historical Development in the Evaluation of Family-Centered Services
• Current Applications: Methods and Meanings
• The Future in Evaluation of Family-Based Services-The Next Steps
• 13 Multisystemic Therapy: Theory, Research, and Practice
• Theoretical Underpinnings
• Clinical Features
• Outcome Studies
• Current and Future Directions
• 14 Reclaiming a Family-Centered Services Reform Agenda
• The Waning of the Family-Centered Services Reform Movement
• Revitalizing the Family-Centered Services Reform Movement
• 15 Shaping the Future of Family-Centered Services: Competition or Collaboration?
• Threats from Without: Privatization and Managed Care
• Threats from Within
• Countervailing Forces
• The Future of Family-Centered Services