Protecting Children from Abuse and Neglect

"This is not a book about reducing the child welfare system's growing caseload. It is a book about developing approaches to protecting and nurturing children....Political figures, policy makers, program designers, as well as human service practitioners, trainers, and educators should work their way through this volume...." --James P. Gleeson in "Social Service Review" .."..This book is of prime value to policy and program developers. The content is a rich sourcebook of recent research and thinking on issues related to the etiology, treatment and prevention of child abuse and neglect. The strong reference listings in all chapters will aid researchers and students...." --Leonard H. Feldman in "Child and Family Behavior Therapy" "Public child welfare systems are under siege. Media accounts of scandals and mismanagement in these systems are commonplace. They are also fertile ground for class action litigation on the part of child advocates interested in protecting the welfare of children. Needless to say, policy makers and practitioners are desperately searching for solutions to the problems they are confronting. They will find "Protecting Children from Abuse and Neglect "to be a particularly useful resource. It should be mandatory reading for everyone interested in public child welfare services." --Ira M. Schwartz, M.S.W., Dean, School of Social Work, University of Pennsylvania ""Protecting Children from Abuse and Neglect "is a book every policy maker, child advocate, and community developer must read if this nation is to build communities that strengthen and support families. This state-of-the-art book also should be required reading for professionals in the fields of mental health, social services, and law because these groups, more than others, are on the front line providing services, representing clients, and impacting families and children on a daily basis. If we truly want to protect children and strengthen families we must understand and embrace the neighborhood-based approach to reducing the incidence of child abuse and neglect. Healthy neighborhoods, as discussed in this book, are able to offer shelter, safety, employment, health and mental health care, education, a social support network, and recreation for families living within their confines. The opposite of this is a neighborhood where unemployment is high, violence abounds, families are dysfunctional, neighbors are distrustful of each other, and children are not safe. This timely, informative, and well organized book teaches us how to strengthen neighborhoods; provides us critical information on the impact of material and social support needs of families; discusses the role of sociocultural influences and intervention and treatment services in the prevention of child abuse and neglect; discusses system reforms and suggestions for broad strategies that can reduce out-of-home placements; and tells us how to strengthen neighborhood-based programs. If we as a Nation followed the new 'social fabric' outlined in this book, we would make tremendous progress toward protecting children and strengthening families. This book, written by well-known and extremely knowledgeable professionals, provides us with a blue-print for action." --Diane J. Willis, Ph.D., Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center "Melton and Barry have used their positions on the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect not only to educate those in Washington but also to provide the field with a solid summary of what we know and what has to be done to better protect children. Too often Federally commissioned efforts like those included in this volume simply gather dust in some office. "Protecting Children" offers the field well researched and critical discussions of key issues with which we struggle--poverty and its role in maltreatment, the capacity of social supports to mitig

Gary B. Melton, Ph.D., is Professor of neuropsychiatry, law, and psychology at the University of South Carolina, where he directs the Institute for Families in Society. A past president of the American Psychology-Law Society and the American Psychological Association (APA) Division of Child, Youth, and Family Services, he has received distinguished contributions awards for public service from the APA, three of its divisions, and the National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse. He is past vice-chair of the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, he coordinates a regular briefing series for congressional staff, and his work has been cited by courts at all levels, including the U.S. Supreme Court. The author or editor of more than 200 publications, he has lectured or conducted research in 15 countries. Frank Barry, M.S., is a Senior Extension Associate at Cornell University's Family Life Development Center in the College of Human Ecology, where he currently directs a demonstration project to prevent child abuse by strengthening neighborhoods, and provides training for rural social service commissioners. His interest is in community development, especially in rural areas: organizing community road, school, and water projects in Mexican villages, training community action agency board and staff members during the War on Poverty era, encouraging parent involvement in Head Start programs and schools, and organizing community task forces on child abuse and neglect. He served four years on the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect, where he advocated neighborhood strengthening strategies to reduce child abuse and neglect. His chapter on neighborhood-based approaches was included in the 1992 Advisory Board Report, and he coauthored the Board's 1993 report with Dr. Melton. Other publications include manuals, articles, and a book chapter on organizing community efforts, interagency collaboration, and delivery of human services in rural areas.

R.D. Krugman, Foreword. G.B. Melton, F.D. Barry, Neighbors Helping Neighbors: The Vision of the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect. F.D. Barry, A. Neighborhood-based Approach: What Is It? R.A. Thompson, Social Support and the Prevention of Child Maltreatment. L.H. Pelton, The Role of Material Factors in Child Abuse and Neglect. J.E. Kobin, Sociocultural Factors in Child Maltreatment. D.A. Wolfe, The Role of Intervention and Treatment Services in the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. J. Garbarino, K. Kostelny, Neighborhood-based Programs. P. Lerman, Prevention of Child Maltreatment in Out-of-home Settings. Appendix. Reports of the U.S. Advisory Board on Child Abuse and Neglect.