ABSTRACT
Families with children at risk for out-of-home placement have long been a concern in the child welfare field. The development, expansion, and future of family preservation programs take on more meaning when viewed in the broader context of child welfare service systems. The passage of PL 96-272, The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, added new impetus to family preservation services. The service components and service delivery features of family preservation services hold a number of implications for the training and education of social work and other human service practitioners. Family preservation services differ along a number of dimensions: staffing patterns, auspices (public/private), target population, client eligibility, intensity of service, and components of service. The issue of quality control is paramount since the primary reason most states and jurisdictions are interested in family preservation services is in response to the "reasonable efforts" provision of federal legislation.
