SW 524 Crit. Iss. Child. Welf. Polic
This course provides students with an opportunity to explore a number of critical and emerging practice models within the field of child welfare. These models will be examined within the context of the laws and policies that guide them and the research that informs them. Students will critically analyze these models and their potential to improve the capacity of the child welfare system to address the safety, permanence, and well-being needs of the children it serves. The development of these models will be explored within the context of the driving forces that promote and the barriers that restrain their acceptance, development, and implementation. Cultural competence will be a consistent lens through which these models and the child welfare system will be examined. Among major topics included are: Structured decision-making models that support the child welfare agencys ability to make consistent and well-founded decisions regarding child safety in different settings and across the life of a case. Prevention and family support models that build on community collaboration and strengths-based approaches to meeting the full range of family needs. Inclusive and culturally competent models for working with families of children who may not be safe in their own homes including kinship care, family group decision-making, enhanced visitation and family involvement in the placement, and the placement of siblings together. Effective models for decision-making and planning to support the timely achievement of permanency for children in out-of-home care including concurrent planning, coordinated work with the legal system, and creative and culturally competent recruitment of alternative permanent resources for children of all ages and special needs. Enhanced funding strategies for child welfare services that maximize public and private sources of revenue and cost-effective models of service delivery. The roles that child welfare professionals perform as advocates for, implementers of, and leaders in systems change efforts at the agency and broader systems levels.