Models of Child Welfare Practice
Models of Child Welfare Practice
WELFARE PRACTICE
Professor Dr Siti Hajar Abu Bakar Ah
Department of Social Administration & Justice
Universiti Malaya
LECTURE OUTLINES
1. Introduction
2. Casework Model
Social workers act in the best interests of the child, and they believe that
ideally, most children are better served in their own homes with resources to
support and strengthen families. They investigate reports of children in need
of protection, support families who need help caring for their children,
arrange for children to live with family, foster families or licensed group
homes when they aren’t safe at home, arrange permanent adoptive homes,
and support youth leaving foster care.
CASEWORK MODEL
Casework
Practice Model
•Casework Practice is the foundation of Public
Child Welfare. The CEBC defines casework
practice as services, delivered by a caseworker
employed or contracted by a Public Child
Welfare agency, that are designed to help
families strengthen family functioning and
address challenges that may threaten family
stability.
Group activities encourage youngsters to practice their motor and
GROUPWORK cognitive abilities while also promoting overall mental and physical
WITH development. Kids can benefit from engaging in creative activities to
help them learn shapes, measuring, and sorting abilities as well as
CHILDREN creative thinking.
•Working with at-risk youth:
Community Services Workers
FAMILY-CENTRED PRACTICE
MODEL
Family centered practice is based upon the belief that the best way to meet a
person’s needs is within their families and that the most effective way to
ensure safety, permanency, and well-being is to provide services that engage,
involve, strengthen, and support families. Family centered workers strive to
preserve families and prevent out-of-home placements when this can be done
safely. The family-centered model, which views families as having the capacity
to make informed decisions and act on them, differs from models in which
professionals make decisions alone or with only the assistance of the family.
Key components of family centered practice include:
* Engaging with family members to understand their lives, goals, strengths,
and challenges and developing
a relationship between family and practitioner
* Working with the family to set goals, strengthen capacity, and make
decisions
* Providing individualized, culturally responsive, and evidence-based
interventions for each family