Richard J. Gelles: Out of Harm’s Way: Creating an Effective Child Welfare System

Excerpt

A response to the nation’s fractured and undoubtedly imperfect child welfare system, this book examines the shortcomings of all individuals involved and proposes ideas for reform that can be embraced at both the federal and local levels. But ultimately, Richard J. Gelles calls attention to the entire culture of the child welfare system and challenges existing and potential advocates to take steps toward furthering the interests of children by shifting the focus of the mission from the parent to the child. Serving as a revision to his earlier book The Book of David: How Preserving Families Can Cost Children’s Lives (Gelles 1996), Out of Harm’s Way, expands on various policy implications of our distracted system and employs evidence from numerous studies that surfaced in his professional experience. While he acknowledges that restructuring the child welfare system is unlikely, Gelles effectively pressures readers to facilitate change by delineating problem areas and rethinking the system’s institutional purpose. …