Editors: Gerald P. Mallon and Peg McCartt Hess
Publisher: Columbia University Press – 749 pages
Book Review by: Sonu Chandiram
In this book, the editors, both experienced educators and practitioners in the world of child welfare, have amassed a large number of writings by others in their field, including professors, researchers, consultants, advocates, and other professionals.
Sixty-five people from all over the United States contributed to this book mainly by authoring its 40 chapters on a large range of subjects, including but not limited to: adoption, Alaskan and American-Indian Native children, birth mothers, child abuse, child protection, child welfare supervision, domestic violence, education, family preservation, family support services, fatherhood, and foster care;
Also: guardianship, healthcare, immigrants, judicial engagement, kinship care, living arrangements, placement stability, post-permanency services, research and evaluation, residential care, reunification, risk assessment, reunification, sexual abuse, sexual orientation, sibling issues, substance abuse, visitation, workforce issues, and youth development.
To give you a broad overview of what you will find in this large book and extensive work, we list below the titles of its four Parts, the Introduction, and an introductory chapter.
Introduction: An Overview of Children, Youth, Family Services, Policies and Programs in the United States
Historical Evolution of Child Welfare Services
- Part I. Child and Adolescent Well-Being
- Part II. Child and Adolescent Safety
- Part III. Permanency for Children and Adolescents
- Part IV. Systemic Issues in Child Welfare
Gerald P. Mallon and Peg McCartt Hess begin this book by acknowledging in their Preface, the importance of A Handbook of Child Welfare: Context, Knowledge and Practice, a book edited by Joan Laird and Ann Hartman, published in May 1985. Mallon and Hess call this a ‘seminal work’ on child welfare. It contained a large number of writings on many related topics in this field of study, and it was 864 pages long.
The other important events in advancing child welfare were the passage of the following laws:
- Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-272) in 1980
- Adoption and Safe Families Act or ASFA (Public Law 105-89) in 1997
- Adoption Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-351) in 1980
Practitioners of child welfare social work, I assume, must be familiar with these significant occurrences – the book and the three laws – in their profession. I point these out to readers of this review which includes students of the subject in their learning stage, who may or may not know of them, and could study them to enlarge their knowledge of the history of child welfare law.
This book expertly put together by Drs. Mallon and Hess, is also a valuable means to learn a lot about the many aspects of child welfare. It is a must-have addition to your library as a practitioner or intending entrant into the profession of social work, which includes child and family welfare.
The materials in each chapter have been very well organized and presented in a systematic way, with illuminating introductory paragraphs, detailed discussions of topics and subtopics, clear conclusions, and large lists of recommended readings for further exploration, broader and deeper study. This is a comprehensive volume on child welfare and social work, with broad coverage of many aspects of this field.
Editors:
Gerald P. Mallon, PhD is the Julia Lathrop Professor of Child Welfare and executive director of the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections at the Silverman School of Social Work at Hunter College in New York City. For more than 35 years, Dr. Mallon has been a child welfare practitioner, advocate, and researcher.
He is the author or editor of 21 books and numerous peer-reviewed articles in professional journals. Dr. Mallon serves as the senior editor of the journal Child Welfare. He earned his doctorate in social work from the City University of New York at Hunter College, his Master of Social Work degree from Fordham University, and his Bachelor of Social Work degree from Dominical College. He has lectured extensively in the United States and overseas.
Peg McCartt Hess, PhD has been a social work educator and child welfare advocate, educator, practitioner, researcher, and supervisor for more than 40 years. She has served on the faculty of five schools of social work, most recently as professor the University of South Carolina School of Social Work and at the Columbia University School of Social Work in New York City.
She is the author or editor of eight books and numerous peer-reviewed articles in professional journals. Her most recent books are: Collaborating with Community-Based Organizations Through Consultation and Technical Assistance (2007), co-edited with Patricia Stone Motes, and Nurturing the One, Supporting the Many: The Center for Family Life in Sunset Park, Brooklyn (2003) with Brenda McGowan and Michael Botsko.
Dr. Hess earned her PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work, and her MA at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.
