Community Approaches to Child Welfare

"Community Approaches to Child Welfare pleads for adults to provide children with the wherewithal to reach their full potential as human beings and acknowledge them as equal partners in the task of growing up. Rooting child welfare in the communities in which children live is seen as a way of achieving this objective. However, to achieve this way of relating to children and responding to their needs in practice requires adults to rethink their relationship with children in terms of interdependence, reciprocity and citizenship. In this framework, securing the welfare of children becomes a global issue which requires active partnerships between children, parents, non-parent adults, the local state and voluntary organisations. Some of these partnerships must operate at both national and international levels so that child poverty and other social problems which are played out in the international arena can be addressed. Research and practice examples drawn from Canada, Sweden and England are used to demonstrate the importance of having social work practice which empowers children and their families in the broadest sense of the word."--Jacket.