ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors outline the mission, goals or outcomes, philosophical underpinnings, and selected areas of practice transformation. They believe that a core set of philosophical principles can be used to inform the selection of key outcomes for child welfare and the strategies for achieving them. The authors propose one primary goal and two secondary goals for child welfare services: The primary goal is to protect children from harm and all other goals. The second goal is to preserve existing family units, which they includes both birth-family or relative families as appropriate. The third goal is to promote children's development into adults who can live independently and contribute to their community, which may require a variety of permanency planning alternatives such as family reunification, adoption, and planned long-term foster care or kinship care with some kind of legal safeguards such as guardianship.
