Faced with large caseloads and poor outcomes for children, child welfare agencies across the country are developing new strategies for serving vulnerable families. Many of the recent approaches move the locus of services from centralized, distant bureaucracies to local neighborhoods, where families at risk are most likely to reside. Current innovations in part suggest that treatment interventions such as foster care should also be located in children's communities of origin. This article offers a critical examination of the neighborhood approach to foster care placement. Although neighborhood foster care placements have potential benefits for some children, the research reviewed here does not fully support the existence of these benefits for the development and well-being of many children. An evidence-based practice approach that takes into account many factors besides neighborhoods thus is more likely to produce beneficial outcomes for children placed in out-of-home care. © 2006 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

This study includes a sample of 29 kin and 33 non-kin foster parents who participated in an in-home interview to assess quality of care. On a number of measures relating to the home environment, non-kin homes were rated as more safe. Family relations between children and their caregivers were similar for kin and non-kin. Trends in the data point to the need for further research; changes in policy and practice that might strengthen the resources currently available to dependent children are also suggested.

Welfare reform has been a subject of heated debate for years. The Family Support Act of 1988 is the latest attempt at overhauling the American welfare system. The act represents a significant departure, both programmatically and philosophically, from the original intent of such welfare programs as A id to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). The early approach encouraged women to remain at home and raise their children, but the emphasis is now on moving adult welfare recipients into the labor market. This article provides a brief historical development of AFDC, along with specific policy recommendations that address the child care needs of the working AFDC population. © 1991, by the National Association of Social Workers, Inc.