Recommended Books on
Family-Centered Practice

For child welfare professionals seeking to learn more about this subject, there are two excellent books about CPS practice that embrace the principles of family support and family-centered services. Building Solutions in Child Protective Services, by Berg and Kelly (2000), provides a framework for taking a traditional, deficit-focused CPS system and turning it into a strengths-focused, collaborative one. Berg and Kelly’s model has been used in public child welfare agencies across the country. The authors integrate years of research and clinical experience, as well as years of experience within the CPS system, into their framework.

Published in 1999, Turnell and Edwards’ Signs of Safety: A Solution and Safety Oriented Approach to Child Protection Casework also discusses how to shift from traditional to solution-focused, strengths-based CPS systems. The book espouses its philosophy, in part, through 12 practice principles for implementing their alternative approach to CPS work. Social workers in Australia, Turnell and Edwards have years of clinical and CPS experience between them.