Handbook of Forensic Social Work with Children

This handbook brings together leading experts in the social work, child welfare and protection, medical, and legal fields to provide social workers with the definitive guide to forensic social work practice. The first section will address the history of the child welfare system and how our current child protection policies evolved, and it will explain the impact of poverty on children, especially on their healthcare. The second section discusses the various issues confronting social workers in child protection, such as the importance of social workers and attorneys having an understanding of the psychosocial functioning of children and families; the importance and purpose of the child forensic interview; evidence-based forensic evaluation protocols and their uses by social workers, lawyers, and the courts; and the medical ramifications of child protection and what social workers need to know. Controversial issues that forensic social workers deal with on a regular basis will be the subject of the third section; these include engaging and supporting non-offending caregivers, inter-country adoptions, and failure to investigate child maltreatment. The remaining sections explain the court process and the forensic social worker’s responsibilities in testifying, consider cultural competencies and the practical aspects of interviewing clients from other cultures, and discuss the relevance of collaboration with the court and attorneys if the child’s best interests are to be served.