Jeanne M. Giovannoni

Substantiated and unsubstantiated reports of child maltreatment

Three purposes can be identified: the first was to trigger investigatory action, another to establish a central registry in order to catch repeated offenders who go from hospital to hospital with injured children and the third to amass statistical data on the incidence of child abuse

Reports of Child Maltreatment from Mandated and Non-mandated Reporters.

Abstract This study presents data from a sample of 1150 reports of child maltreatment to Child Protective Services received from both mandated and non-mandated reporters. Differences and similarities between these sources, in the kinds of maltreatment reported, are examined, as well as variations in the maltreatment found in the investigations of their reports by Child Protective Services workers. Similarities and differences are revealed based on reporter status, but these do not attributable to the mandated status of the reporter. The implications drawn from these data challenge some of the assumptions extant about the current issues and proposed solutions surrounding the reporting of child maltreatment in the United States. Particularly challenged is the policy of adjusting reporting demand to meet the supply of resources available to respond to them.

The current threat to protective services and the child welfare system

Abstract This article describes the Personal Responsibility Act (HR 4) as passed by the United States House of Representatives and considered by the Senate. Unless HR 4 is radically altered the potential effects for child protection and the entire child welfare system could be catastrophic. The demands for child welfare services are predicated to increases, while, at the same time, the existing resources and service quality control mechanisms will be drastically diminished.

Consumer Perceptions of Family Resource Center Service Delivery Strategies

Family Resource Centers (FRCs) should be accessible to neighborhood residents and involve them in program design and implementation. However, few studies show whether service delivery methods affect the ability of FRCs to achieve their goals. This study explored 488 consumers’ perceptions of the importance of service delivery factors. Study participants answered questions about how the staff treated them, whether they had any language difficulties, and whether they liked the facility. Overall, FRC consumers were satisfied with service delivery factors, valuing “interpersonal ambience” over “tangible supports.” Results of the study suggest that service delivery plays an important role in FRC utilization. An FRC should involve residents in planning and providing activities to make the facility an important part of the community.

Book Review: Children and Families in the Social EnvironmentChildren and Families in the Social Environment. By GarbarinoJames. New York: Aldine Publishing Company, 1982. 296 pp. Cloth,

tive theory would increase the value of the book for practitioners. The third chapter, focusing on the community and administrative context of practice, is the best-constructed, showing better integration of theory with organizational reality. In sum, the book does not meet the criteria for a master plan for social service delivery; rather it approximates a heuristic model that is a useful beginning in the development of more detailed plans. The authors should be encouraged to take this book and develop the model further. At this time social work needs to develop new paradigms for practice and this book could be an important step in that direction.

24.95; paper,

(1977). Social Policy: An Introduction, by Richard M. Titmuss (edited by Brian Abel-Smith and Kay Titmuss). Pantheon Press, New York, 1974.

14.95.

8.95. 160 Pages. Journal of Education for Social Work: Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 122-124.