Introduction

This volume has been compiled to serve as a much needed sourcebook of readings on the current state-of-the-art of professional child and youth care in North America. The manner in which this collection was developed is worth noting. After some discussion of how best to compile such a collection, the editors decided to write to 40 of the leading practitioners, academics, researchers, and administrators in the field asking each of them to propose, in a one page outline, a topic of current importance on which she or he would be prepared to write a chapter. Based upon the proposals which came back, the editors made various comments and observations, and gave the go-ahead for the various chapters to be written. As a result of this process, the content of this book represents the cutting edge of the field of child and youth care as perceived by leaders in the field themselves.