Cover Photo


    The Welfare
    of Children

    Duncan Lindsey
    416pp, line figures, tables, 234×156
    Oxford University Press, 1994.
    1994. Hardback, ISBN: 0-19-508518-3



    Duncan Lindsey, a leading authority on child welfare, takes a critical look at the current child welfare system. He traces the transformation of child welfare into child protective services.

    In a close analysis of the process on investigating and handling child abuse, Lindsey finds that there is no evidence that the transformation into protective services has reduced child abuse fatalities or provided a safer environment for children. He makes a compelling argument for the criminal justice system to assume responsibility for the problem of child abuse in order that the child welfare system can address the well-being of a much larger number of children now growing up in poverty.

    The Welfare of Children is a compassionate blueprint for comprehensive reform of the child welfare system to one that administers to the economic security of the large number of disadvantaged and impoverished children.

    The Welfare of Children is a first-rate work of scholarship-- the most interesting book that I've read in the last ten years.
      --Neil Gilbert, University of California, Berkeley

    A timely call for the redirection of child welfare toward a greater concern for the growing number of children in poverty. Rigorously researched and documented, the book stands as a spirited challenge to current retrogressive policy efforts to reduce support for social programs assisting children.

      --Alfred Kadushin, University of Wisconsin

    Only a seasoned scholar can present the history, parameters, and analysis of a field as Duncan Lindsey does in this volume on child welfare. Both the novice and the seasoned professional will find that Lindsey's book enlarges their understanding of child welfare considerably. Practitioners and policy-makers will find his proposals for reform to be challenging and stimulating. This will be the major text on the field for the next decade.

      --Harry Specht, University of California at Berkeley

    WEBMASTER'S REVIEW

    The Welfare of Children is a stunning achievement. Lindsey examines several vital issues heretofore untouched, charting a course for the future of child welfare with remarkable clarity of vision.

    In this most comprehensive and thoroughly annotated volume, Lindsey traces the transformation of child welfare into child protective services.

    Lindsey explodes the many myths which have served for so long to perpetuate this transformed system. Chief among them are those most commonly held misperceptions that child welfare programs based on the "residual model" have reduced child fatalities by any measure, and that they have served to increase the welfare of children overall.

    Lindsey explores in depth the critical decision-making processes involved in making the determination of whether or not to remove a child from his home. He clearly demonstrates that the field of child welfare lacks a scientific knowledge base from which to draw, and that the critical decisions involving the welfare of children and families are inherently unreliable.

    Rather than offer another book replete with anecdotal "horror stories," Lindsey offers instead a scholarly work which will serve to greatly enhance the reader's understanding of the history and dynamics of child welfare, and the forces driving its transformation from child welfare into child protective services.

    Lindsey offers a blueprint for a future which will better serve children. He offers a compelling argument for the criminal justice system to assume responsibility for dealing with the problem of child abuse, such that the child welfare system can return to its role of addressing the overall well-being of a greater number of children.

    He makes extensive use of charts and graphs, while managing to do so in such a way as not to distract the more casual reader. His use of advanced statistical analysis is explained clearly, for the benefit of all readers. Few books can so magnificently reach out to touch such a potentially diverse audience of readers, reaching the intellect as effectively as it does the heart.

    This is one of those rare volumes that no student of the child welfare system should be without. Put this book at the top of your list.

    --Rick Thoma, Lifting the Veil

    TABLE OF CONTENTS


    Introduction

    Part 1 The Child Welfare System in North America

    Development of the System

    Child Welfare Reform through Research and Demonstration: Permanency Planning

    The Changing Social Portrait of Families

    The Transformation of Child Welfare into Children's Protective Services

    Decision-making in Child Welfare: Linchpin of the Residual Model

    Dealing with Child Abuse, the Red Herring of Child Welfare

    Part II Ending Child Poverty

    The Economic Condition of Children

    Programs and Policies for Achieving Income Equality for Children

    The Underlying Problem of Child Welfare: Families that are Not Economically Self-Supporting

    Developing a Child's Future Security Account Program

    A Vision For The Future

    Bibliography
    Author Index
    Subject Index

    About the author: Duncan Lindsey is Associate Professor at the School of Public Policy and Social Research at the University of California at Los Angeles. He is Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Children and Youth Services Review. He is also on the editorial boards of Social Work Research and Scientometrics and Editor of a new series of books on child welfare from Oxford University.

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    This page last updated: January 20, 1998