Federal and state legislative actions affect the number of programs available to help children and their families. In this book, the author, a professor of social welfare as well as an attorney, provides an overview of the child welfare and judicial systems, then examines the federal and state legislative and judicial foundations of modern child welfare practice; court decisions and their impact on the rights of birthparents, foster parents, and children; class action suits and their impact on child welfare; and the role of child welfare workers in the legal process. Appendices provide detailed instruction on conducting legal research and excerpts from a consent decree.
