Table of Contents

1. Child Abuse and Neglect Today The Role of Child Protective Services The Demographics of Children in Need of Protection Consequences of Reporting 2. A Comparative Perspective Operation of Child Protective Services Sample Data Criteria for Reporting Procedures after Reporting Differences in Outcome by Type of Reporter Outcomes Why Are U.S. Reporting Rates So High? 3. The Current Child Protective Services System Scope A Brief History of CPS Underlying Assumptions A Critical View of the System Implications for a New Paradigm 4. Entry into the System History of the Reporting Laws The Reporting, Screening, and Investigation System Reforming the Intake System Contents 5. Narrowing as a Strategy to Improve Child Protection The Case for Narrowing What Would "Narrowing" Mean? Evaluating the Case for Narrowing How "Narrowing Plus" Might Be Accomplished Unresolved Issues 6. Differential Response: A New Paradigm for Child Protective Services Paradigms for Child Protective Services The Diversity and Complexity of Families Referred to CPS Features of the Differential Response Paradigm Moving to Differential Response 7. Working Together: Child Protection Reform in Britain The Development of the British CPS System The Impetus for Reform The Children Act of 1989 Beyond the Children Act 8. Changing Frontline Practice Implications of the New Paradigm Lessons from Earlier Initiatives to Change Frontline Practice How States and Localities Can Help 9. Reforming Child Protection The Current Child Protective Services System A New Paradigm for Child Protection Moving toward a More Fully Differentiated System Improving the Effectiveness of the CPS System's Response Increasing the Role of Community Partners in Child Protection The Endpoint of the Reforms Notes Index

Promotional Information

Through a carefully balanced analysis, The Future of Child Protection advances the policy debate beyond the 'child abuse as a problem of poverty' and the 'criminalization of child abuse' perspectives in the current literature. Waldfogel develops a powerful case for the reform of the CPS system through a differential response model--a compelling alternative that policy makers are well-advised to study. The book is clearly written and the scholarship first-rate. -- Neil Gilbert, University of California, Berkeley

About the Author

Jane Waldfogel is Professor of Social Work and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

Reviews

Through a carefully balanced analysis, The Future of Child Protection advances the policy debate beyond the 'child abuse as a problem of poverty' and the 'criminalization of child abuse' perspectives in the current literature. Waldfogel develops a powerful case for the reform of the CPS system through a differential response model--a compelling alternative that policy makers are well-advised to study. The book is clearly written and the scholarship first-rate.
*Neil Gilbert, University of California, Berkeley*