ABSTRACT
To this point we have located child welfare, that is, child protection, in the United States within the context of the governing structure. The Constitution provides authority for and limits to child welfare intervention into family life. We have also looked at the dispersion of authority that is an important aspect of our constitutional framework. This chapter turns to the organizational context for child welfare practice. The context as described here is meant to include the environment in which the line level social worker practices, including the agency that employs the social worker and administers child welfare programs. In the broadest sense, this context includes the federalist structure. However, it also includes at the local level the context of the community and the employing agency.
