Fostering community in the South Bronx: Social support as an alternative to foster care.
Item
-
Title
-
Fostering community in the South Bronx: Social support as an alternative to foster care.
-
Identifier
-
AAI9130294
-
identifier
-
9130294
-
Creator
-
Berman, Ellyn Schiff.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Michael J. Smith
-
Date
-
1991
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Social Work | Sociology, Individual and Family Studies
-
Abstract
-
This exploratory-descriptive study was undertaken to identify key elements of a family support program designed to prevent the placement of children in foster care. As the number of children needing out-of-home placements continues to grow and the shortcomings of the foster care program become apparent, there is greater interest in home-based, family-centered programs designed to strengthen families so that a disruption of kinship bonds is unnecessary. This project studied social work practice in a New York City child welfare "prevention" program in an attempt to understand its content and to generate practice principles for social workers.;A review of the relevant literature indicates that services to prevent the placement of children in foster care represents a rapidly growing area of interest in child welfare. There is also evidence of renewed interest in an ecological perspective which emphasizes social work practice in the community and building social support networks to help families. However, not enough is known about the day-to-day working of family support programs and how to translate the ecological perspective into practice. A description of service activities was needed to understand what social workers do to provide family support and promote community networks. With "thick" description of a family support program there was potential for expanding social work practice principles and models of social work practice in child welfare.;Data from client interviews, social worker interviews, case record reviews and direct observation were collected in weekly visits to a Bronx agency from April 1989 to June, 1990. From these data, eight case studies were developed and 25 group meetings were analyzed. Findings indicate that key features of this prevention program were: the location of the program in the neighborhood, the close and informal relationship developed between the client and the social worker, the range of interventions (including practical help) offered by the agency and the emphasis on enhancing social support by building a sense of community.;The study highlights the importance of small, community-based, prevention programs where workers are able to make frequent home visits, and are willing to establish close relationships with their clients. These findings have implications for the design of child welfare agencies and for social work education.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
D.S.W.
