Chapter 7

Child Welfare Social Work

Contents

I. Definition of Child Welfare Social Work II. Types of Child Welfare Social Workers III. What Child Welfare Social Workers Do IV. The Challenges of Child Welfare Social Work V. Why People Become Child Welfare Social Workers

【Key Points】要点

1.Child welfare social workers protect vulnerable youth and help disadvantaged families in meeting the needs of their children.

2.While child welfare social workers can provide mental health and their main role is as a care counseling therapy, working coordinator[coordinator: n. 协调人，统筹者] and an evaluator of children’s mental, emotional, academic, and social needs. 3.Child welfare social work is a very challenging field that can be physically and/or emotionally exhausted.

[ exhausted: adj. 极其疲惫的；精疲力竭的]

【Introduction】导言

• 儿童社会工作就是社会工作者根据儿童的生理、心理特点和成长、发展的需要， 以专业的价值为指导和科学的理论为基础，充分运用社会工作的专业方法和技 巧对儿童开展的助人服务活动，其目标在于保护处于弱势的青少年以及帮助弱 势家庭满足其子女的需要。

• 儿童社会工作有广义和狭义之分：狭义的儿童社会工作是一种事后补救性工 作，它以处于特殊困难境地的儿童为服务对象，多采取机构服务的方式，救助和 保护那些家庭或父母无力抚养的儿童或者有各种问题的儿童，如孤儿、残疾儿、 流浪儿、弃婴、受虐儿童、情绪或行为偏差儿童等。广义的儿童社会工作是指社 会的方方面面为促进儿童健康成长所采取的一切措施，工作对象是所有儿童群 体，在内容上包括：文教、卫生、医疗、保健、体育、娱乐、社区、家庭保障、儿童权 益保护等方面，已逐渐成为儿童社会工作的发展方向。

• 广义的儿童社会工作和狭义的儿童社会工作两者呈交叉关系。儿童福利社会工 作者的具体职责取决于他们在机构中担任的是前端还是后端角色。

I. Definition of Child Welfare Social Work

• Child welfare social workers aim to protect the vulnerable youth as well as their families in disadvantaged positions, including improve the families’ functions to meet their children’s need.

Some of their core responsibilities include responding to cases of child abuse and neglect; removing children from original families (home settings) which are dangerous or do not meet certain standards; working with children and their families on a reunification[ reunification: n. 重新统一] plan in collaboration with child dependency courts; supporting parents in meeting the needs of their children (through resource connections and navigation services, therapy and advising, and other services); and arranging for the short and long-term care of children whose families are unable to take care of them.

II. Types of Child Welfare Social Workers

1.Emergency First Responder (“FrontEnd”) Social Workers 2.Continuing Services (“Back-End”) Social Worker

1.Emergency First Responder (“Front-End”) Social Workers

First responder social workers, as their title indicates, are often the first individuals to respond to cases of child abuse and/or neglect.[ Adapted from Sudland, C. (2020). Challenges and dilemmas working with high‐conflict families in child protection casework. Child & Family Social Work, 25(2), 248-255. ] Child welfare agencies will often receive notifications from concerned members of the public about households with children who may not be receiving sufficient care. Upon receiving these notifications, first responder social workers go to households to investigate these allegations of abuse or neglect, and to evaluate the situation of the child(ren) in question relative to a minimum standard of child care. If child maltreatment is discovered, emergency first responder social workers typically open a child welfare case, contact Child Protective Services to have a child removed and placed in the care of the Child Dependency Court, and document the evidence of maltreatment in reports for the Courts and for back-end social workers who take on the case after the child’s removal from his/her home.

• 2.Continuing Services (“Back-End”) Social Worker

• Once a child is placed in the care of the Child Dependency Court, back-end social workers take over the case.

• social workers might include in a family’s case plan could include parents’ cessation of physical and/or verbal abuse; elimination of substance abuse behaviors; addressing of physical, medical/dental, emotional, or academic neglect, and proper supervision behaviors.

• After the development of a case plan that incorporates behavioral changes for the parents and ways to support the parents in making these changes, continuing services social workers monitor the family’s case and provide emotional support, advising, and resource connections throughout the process. Services and support that continuing services social workers might recruit to assist children and their parents include counseling and psychotherapy; guidance on how to apply for health care benefits, food stamps, etc.; and connections to supportive groups within the community (substance abuse therapy groups, educational resources, etc.). Continuing services social workers also report on the family’s progress to the Dependency Court, and update families on the status of their case in relation to the Court.

Due to the many responsibilities that back-end social workers have upon the opening of a child welfare case (i.e. in-depth investigation of child maltreatment allegations, development of case plan with behavioral changes for parents, continued monitoring of parents’ progress, and development of a long-term foster care or adoption plan if necessary), some child welfare agencies have different units of back-end social workers that focus on a specific area of continuing services.

III. What Child Welfare Social Workers Do

1.Investigative Work (in Collaboration with CPS and Dependency Court)

2.Case Plan Development

3.Counseling and Psychotherapy

• 4.Coordination of Support Services for Child and Parents

5.Resource Connections and Navigation Services