Toward a Child-Centered, Neighborhood-Based Child Protection System: A Report of the Consortium on Children, Families, and the Law

by Gary B. Melton (Editor), Ross A. Thompson (Editor), Mark A. Small (Editor)

Overview

The current system of protecting society's children from abuse is failing miserably. In this volume, scholars affiliated with universities and professional associations nationwide pinpoint a better strategy. Their research spotlights neighborhood-based child protection systems and provides a comprehensive approach for creating procedures that meaningfully address child maltreatment.

The volume discusses the challenges of moving toward such a system within the current legal, political, and cross-cultural contexts of child protection. Examples of promising applications of a community-based approach are cited. Also cited are the legal and practical structural steps to be taken in creating caring communities that effectively address child abuse and neglect.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275969103
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/30/2001
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

GARY B. MELTON is Director of the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life at Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina. A professor of psychology, he is also a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and eight of its divisions.

ROSS A. THOMPSON is a Carl A. Happold Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Nebraska. He is Director of the university's developmental psychology program.

MARK A. SMALL is Professor of Psychology and research associate at the Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life at Clemson University. He is also a licensed attorney.

Table of Contents

Overview
The Conceptual Foundation: Why Child Protection Should be Neighborhood-Based and Child-Centered by Gary B. Melton and Ross A. Thompson
Some Initial Ideas About Implementation of a Child-Centered, Neighborhood-Based Child Protection System: Impressions from Focus Groups in Nebraska by Alan J. Tomkins and Kathryn A. Olson
The Social Context: What Comes Naturally in Child Protection by Susan P. Limber and Patricia Y. Hashima
The Nature and Efficacy of Child-Centered, Neighborhood-Based Child Protection Programs: The Record Thus Far by Sarah L. Cook, Dickon Reppucci, and Mark A. Small
Foundations for a Child-Centered, Neighborhood-Based Child Protection System
Neighborhood-Based Services: Lessons from the Settlement House Movement and the War on Poverty by Murray Levine and Adeline Levine
The Cross-Cultural Context: Lessons from Community Development Projects by Clifford R. O'Donnell, Kathleen Wilson, and Roland G. Tharp
The Political Context: Lessons from Efforts to Reform Child and Family Services by Josephine Gittler
The Legal Context of Child Protection: A Proposal for a Child-Centered Policy by Mark A. Small, Catherine A. Crosby-Currie, and N. Dickon Reppucci
Toward a Child-Oriented Child Protection System by Ross A. Thompson and Mary Fran Flood
Some Current Applications
Exemplary Neighborhood-Based Programs for Child Protection by Kathleen Wilson and Gary B. Melton
Healthy Start: A Statewide System of Family Support for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect—And More by Loretta Fuddy and Ross A. Thompson
The Self-Help Movement and Neighborhood Support for Troubled Families by Virginia Murphy-Berman and Gary B. Melton
Research Issues: New Methods for New Problems: Client Life-Histories as a Construct for Evaluation of Child and Youth Services by Edward P. Mulvey and William Gardner
Next Steps
Creating Caring Communities: The Need for Structural Change by Mark A. Small, Gary B. Melton, Kathryn A. Olson, and Alan J. Tomkins
Appendix A: Member Affiliate Centers of the Consortium on Children, Families, and the Law
Appendix B: Reports of the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect
Appendix C: The U.S. Advisory Board's Proposed National Child Protection Policy
Appendix D: The Nebraska Child Protection Commission's Proposed Safe Children Policy Act
Appendix E: The Nebraska Family Policy Act