As we enter the new millennium, traditional social work values and interventions can effectively improve the fragmented and often inaccessible service delivery systems that children and families utilize. While social workers have always taken the lead in emphasizing the strengths perspective, empowerment of clients, a bio-psychosocial approach, community-based services, and services across the life span, human service agencies and providers have not uniformly embraced these concepts. Community agencies often duplicate services, lack user-friendly or accessible resources, and often provide only fragmented services to children and families. This article examines a Family Support Model that embraces and integrates social work values and concepts in efforts to provide quality, community-based, client-driven, and outcome-based services to children and families. While the Family Support Model originated within public administration and social policy circles, the natural compatibility between social work values and the model's key components are presented. The author advocates for the replication of the model in other communities and identifies the considerations and challenges inherent in this type of collaborative effort.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
2.
Annie E. Casey Foundation. (1996). Kids count data book.Baltimore: Author.
3.
Boyd-WebbN. (1991). Play therapy with children in crisis.New York: The Guilford Press.
4.
BretonM. (1994). On the meaning of empowerment and empowerment oriented social work practice. Social Work with Groups, 17(3), 23–37.
5.
Center for the Study of Social Policy. (1991). Leveraging dollars, leveraging change: Refinancing and restructuring children's services in five sites.Washington, DC: Author.
6.
Center for the Study of Social Policy. (1993). Improving outcomes for California's children: A strategy to build comprehensive community services.Washington, DC: Author.
7.
CowgerC. D. (1994). Assessing client strengths: Clinical assessment for client empowerment. Social Work, 39(3), 262–268.
8.
Daka-Mulwanda, ThornburgK. R., FilbertL., & KleinT. (1995). Collaboration of services for children and families: A synthesis of recent research and recommendations. Family Relations, 44(2), 219–223.
9.
DalakerJ., & NaifehM.U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P 60–201, Poverty in the United States: 1997, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1998.
10.
De AndaD. (1984). Informal support networks of Hispanic mothers: A comparison across age groups. Journal of Social Service Research, 7(3), 89–105.
11.
DziegielewskiS. F. (1998). The changing face of health care social work: Practice in the era of managed care.Springer Publishers.
12.
DziegielewskiS. F. (1997). Time-limited brief therapy: The state of practice. Crisis Intervention, 3, 217–228.
13.
DziegielewskiS. F. (1996). Managed care principles: The need for social work in the health care environment. Crisis Intervention, 3, 97–111.
14.
FraserM. W. (Ed.). (1997). Risk and resilience in childhood: An ecological perspective.Washington, DC: NASW Press.
15.
GrubbsJ. W. (1998). Orange county citizens' commission for children: family support model evaluation report.Unpublished. Delaware: University of Delaware.
16.
GrubbsJ. W. (1998–99). Neighborhood centers for families: 1998–99 comprehensive Evaluation.Unpublished report to the Orange County, Florida Citizen's Commission for Children. Delaware: University of Delaware.
17.
HendricksC. O. (1997). The child, the family, and the school: A multicultural triangle. In CongressE.P. (Ed.). Multicultural perspectives in working with families, (p. 37–60). New York: Springer.
18.
HepworthD. H., & LarsenJ. A. (1993). Direct social work practice: Theory and skills. (4th ed.). CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.
19.
KaganS. L. (1991). United we stand: Collaboration for child care and early education services.New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University.
20.
KittayE. F. (1998). Dependency, equality, and welfare: Effect of welfare reform on poor women and children, Feminist Studies, 24(1), 32–44.
21.
LeonA. M. (1997). Mental health services for juvenile offenders: A university-community collaborative project. Metropolitan Universities: An International Forum, 8(3), 55–70.
22.
LewisJ. A., LewisM. D., DanielsJ. A., & D'AndreaM. J.Community counseling: Empowerment strategies for a diverse society.Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.
23.
MarinG. (1993). Defining culturally appropriate community interventions: Hispanics as a case study. Journal of Community Psychology, 21, 149–161.
24.
McAdooH. P. (1993). Family ethnicity: Strength in diversity.Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
25.
NewmanB. M., & NewmanP. R. (1995). Development through life: A psychosocial approach. (6th edition). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.
26.
NicholsM. P., & SchwartzR. C. (1995). Family therapy: Concepts and methods.MA: Allyn & Bacon.
27.
O'LooneyJ. (1994). Modeling collaboration and social services integration: A single state's experience with developmental and nondevelopmental models. Administration in Social Work, 18(1), 61–86.
28.
PillariV. (1998). Human behavior in the social environment.CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing.
29.
SaleebeyD. (1994). Culture, theory, and narrative: The intersection of meanings in practice. Social Work, 39(4), 351–359.
30.
SaleebeyD. (1996). The strengths perspective in social work practice: Extensions and cautions. Social Work, 41(3), 296–305.
31.
SattlerJ. M. (1998). Clinical and forensic interviewing of children and families.CA: Jerome M. Sattler, Publisher, Inc.
32.
SmithP. K., & YeungW. J. (1998). Childhood welfare receipt and the implications of welfare reform, Social Service Review, 72(1), 1–16.
33.
StanfieldR. L. (1998). Capitalism for the poor: Teaching former welfare recipients about saving money, National Journal, 30(28), 1618–1622.
34.
SullivanW. P. (1992). Reclaiming the community: The strengths perspective and deinstitutionalization. Social Work, 37(3), 204–209.
35.
VoydanoffP. (1995). A family perspective on services integration. Family Relations, 44(1), 63–68.
36.
WolchJ. R. (1998). America's new urban policy: Welfare reform and the fate of American cities. Journal of the American Planning Association, 64(1), 8–12.
37.
ZastrowC. (1996). Introduction to social work and social welfare. (6th edition). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.
