CHILD WELFARE

Child Welfare

Child Welfare

Introduction

Children, youth, and families involved with the child welfare system have a right to the privacy of their records and personal information, except under certain circumstances. Developing and coordinating a system of policies and practices that guides information sharing among the agencies that serve families is an important part of providing sound and ethical services. The following resources address the ethical issues that surround the confidentiality of personal information, including State and local examples. (Dede, Palumbo 2004:15)

Discussion

Despite society's deep concern for children, they still suffer many forms of harm to their health and well-being (e.g., poverty and poor nutrition). Although macro-level efforts (e.g., welfare systems, statutes to decrease safety hazards, and abuse reporting) can ameliorate their plight, behavioral science efforts that target their main caregivers—parents—are important as well (Liller & Sleet, 2004Go; Tremblay & Peterson, 1999Go). This article focuses on two areas where this has occurred: child maltreatment and unintentional childhood injuries. The first, child maltreatment, affects over 1 million children each year, with approximately 2,000 child deaths (Administration for Children Youth and Families, 2001Go), and parental behavior is the main target of intervention (Azar & Wolfe, 1998Go). Although unintentional injuries (e.g., drowning in bathtubs and poisoning) affect a much larger number of children (8 million each year with over 10,000 deaths; National Center for Injury Prevention, 2001Go), parental behavior is less often targeted (Tremblay & Peterson, 1999Go). Until recently, efforts were directed more often at improving environmental safety (e.g., playground equipment, bike helmets, and car seats), with parents merely being encouraged to use these passive environment interventions (e.g., through pamphlets, media campaigns, and subsidies for purchasing). Lizette Peterson, (Collins, Brown, Newman 2001:12) in whose honor this special issue was published, was an important figure in changing views that more active parent intervention could do little. She alerted ...