Does family preservation serve a child's best interests?

Just the other day, while using State Statute search page (link: http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/state/ ) found at the US Department of Health and Human Services, I glanced at the heading of this page, shown below:

If you look closely, you will see these two phrases:

• PROTECTING CHILDREN
• STRENGTHENING FAMILIES

Why do they have these words listed? Then I remembered. These were actually the two major concerns and responsibilities that the Agencies, dealing with Our Children & Families, were asked to do. Sounds like a great plan.

• I am assuming that "Protecting Children" means to protect those children who are being truly abused.
• I am also assuming "Strengthening Families" could relate partially to "Family Preservation".
•  Finally, I am assuming everyone involved should be held accountable for their actions...ie. Agency, Parents, Children, etc.

Then I remembered a book I recently read, with the same title as this blog." 

• Does family preservation serve a child's best interests? (See Contents)

  May want to read it. And even though it was published in 2000, the controversy is indeed a very big issue today for our children and our families. Every child deserves a secure and permanent home with a family that can guide them through their journey in life.

• Here is little about this book: (Also see Related Reading below)

Authors: Howard Altstein, Ruth G. McRoy

Published: Georgetown University Press, 2000 - Family & Relationships - 156 pages

Brief Description:
In this new volume, two distinguished professors of social work debate the question of whether family preservation or adoption serves the best interests of abused and neglected children.

• Arguing the merits of keeping families together whenever possible, Ruth G. McRoy examines the background, theory, and effectiveness of family preservation programs. She provides practical recommendations and pays particular attention to the concerns of African American children.

• Claiming that there is insufficient evidence that family preservation actually works, Howard Altstein counters that children from truly dysfunctional families should be given the chance for stable lives through adoption rather than left in limbo.

Combining the insights of an economist and a political scientist, this new textbook uses real-world cases to provide students with the institutional and political dimensions of policy problems as well as easily understood principles and methods for analyzing public policies.

Howard Altstein is a professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Maryland in Baltimore.

Ruth G. McRoy is director of the Center for Social Work Research, Distinguished Teaching Professor, and Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professor in Services to Children and Families, at the University of Texas at Austin.

Related Reading: Family Preservation vs Foster Care (15 Issue Papers Relating to this Topic from NCCPR)
_______________________
May you find Strength in Your Higher Power,
Granpa Chuck
Keeper of the web files for http://nfpcar.org