ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part focuses on promising services intended for young children. It discusses the idea that different service types should be integrated will suffer if policymakers embrace the concept without realizing that the continuum of services must be composed of evidence-based elements best suited to the target population. The part also focuses on the epidemiological perspective to examine child welfare services and promising approaches to services. It shows that infancy and early childhood are high-risk developmental periods characterized by high utilization of child welfare services. Indeed, the federal framework for child welfare services is almost completely silent on ways to account for age or development. Older children with mental health needs belong to a second high-risk developmental group marked by service trajectories that differ significantly from those of younger children.
