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20 AUGUST 2008

NO 1336

Group care

What is the place of group care in today's society? What must the field of group care do to regain its status in a society that came to view it as a placement of last resort, and, worse, destructive of family life? If there is a place for it, what must that be, and what must it become in the future? How does the field take charge of its own destiny? Can the field address the forces of society that shape the public policy that affects it? What kind of children are in need of group care, and what services will be effective in helping them? How can the services be delivered efficiently? How do group care agencies engage parents who themselves may be fragile and without hope? How do we help children to go home, find permanent surrogate families for them, or establish them as independent persons? How essential is it to develop a spectrum of services and a continuum of care? And, most especially, how do organizations better serve children of different cultural or ethnic backgrounds?

These and other current issues and questions facing group care and child welfare have not arisen suddenly but have evolved over time in the fabric of society. Moreover, they have been accelerating, as a comparison with the Child Welfare League of America's Group Care Conference over a decade ago will show.1

What are the changes in American society affecting group care: Social attitudes and a shift in economic thinking have created one level of effect on public social policy. Slow economic growth, the soaring national debt, the trade imbalance, and the decline of the industrial base in the United States have all sharpened the focuson near-term profitability; that is, emphasis on short-term gain. The belief that the individual has complete control over his or her own destiny has been rekindled and is a preemptive argument against social programs. Changes in federal policy about domestic spending, a decrease in federal dollars to states and cities, and an emphasis on local control and states' rights are the by-products of these trends. In the public policy arena, the idea of large-scale social investment in human service programs has been abandoned by the federal government. The legislative intent designating "the least restrictive environment" has been reinterpreted to be "the least expensive alternative." With each fiscal year the focus of public policy seems to be narrowing to the children most severely in need, instead of expanding intervention in the early problem stages. Consequences of these changes have been a decline in, and more restrictive funding for, group care, along with a greater emphasis on more accountability and better results in shorter periods of time. What has largely been ignored is that the children coming to group care have greater problems than was true earlier and have usually failed out of a weak foster family care system.

EDWIN BALCERZAK

Balcerzak, E.A. (1989). Foreword. In Balcerzak, E.A. (Ed.) Group Care of Children: Transitions owards the year 2000. Washington D.C. Child Welfare League of America. pp. 3-4.

NOTE

1. Mayer, Morris Fritz; Richman, Leon H. and Balcerzak, Edwin A. (1977). Group Care of Children: Crossroads and Transitions. New York. Child Welfare League of America.

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