When a social worker fails, often a child suffers.
No one is more aware of this than Dr. Richard Barth, dean of the University of Maryland?s School of Social Work in Baltimore. Barth is gaining national recognition for his insight and work in adoption and child welfare.
How important is research to social work?
Research is the basis for policy changes to get more children adopted. In the last 10 years, the needs of children leaving foster care have been identified and though not totally addressed, the new programs and policies have been developed to substantially help them. It?s more than doubled the number of children adopted.
What changes are necessary to keep children safe?
We need and are developing a strong practice model that clearly identifies the risks to children?s safety. [This model] has built into it a range of ways to respond [to problematic situations.] When there?s a problem, we tend to have children remain at home with very little supervision or foster care. … We need a comprehensive array of in-home kinds of services and programs. A lot of parents involved in child welfare have huge cognitive, environmental, mental health issues and drug use.
What advice would you give couples looking to adopt?
Carefully assess your own readiness to be very involved in a lot of ways for a very long time. There will be great opportunities for love and family membership, but also you may have to interact with schools and mental health and justice programs. The best partners will be other adoptive families, who adopted through foster care, to teach you an enormous amount of how to do this and enjoy it.
