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Family-Centered Services
Family-centered services, a constellation of services that employ the family-centered practice approach, promote the primary goals of child welfare—safety, permanency, and well-being. Family-centered services may be formal or informal and are provided to children and families across the service continuum under the auspices of a child welfare agency and many other organizations and groups, including service agencies, schools, neighborhood associations, and faith-based and civic groups.
Family-centered services strengthen the capacity of parents to care for and protect their children and promote the family's capacity to manage their own lives. These services are accessible and individualized, and they are available to families that may not initially seek services. Family-centered service providers reach out to families, conveying the message that all families can benefit from support and families can learn from one another.
- Relationship between family support, family preservation, child protection, & child welfare services
- Family resource, support, & education services
- Intensive, family-centered crisis intervention services
CWLA Standards of Excellence for Services to Strengthen and Preserve Families With Children
Child Welfare League of America (2003, rev. ed.)
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Recommends family-centered practices in family support, family-centered casework, and intensive, family-centered crisis services. Introduction traces the development of family-centered services in child welfare.
Family-Centered Services: A Typology, Brief History, and Overview of Current Program Implementation and Evaluation Challenges
Pecora, Reed-Ashcraft, & Raymond (2001)
In Balancing Family-Centered Services and Child Well-Being: Exploring Issues in Policy, Practice, Theory, and Research
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Traces the history of family-centered services, from friendly visitor programs in the 1800s to the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980. Describes recent family-based services where the needs of the whole family are considered within a continuum of services.
Family-Centered Services for Children
Savage (2001)
In Exploring Child Welfare: A Practice Perspective
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Describes the wide range of family-centered services, including programs, service models, values, and worker skills.