Project Learning Results

   There are interesting numbers in the presentation related to foster children that are not included in this written report. For example, the incidence of homelessness, imprisonment percentages, and entitlement benefit rates, such as welfare, among former foster children (see Appendix C, slide fifteen) is particularly high and/or disturbing. The research related to the child welfare system is massive and fragmented, and more and more data could easily be added to the project or presentation.
   At the outset of this project it was believed that the adult welfare model would be so new and so innovative that it would have virtually been unheard of. The hope of originality went to the wayside as the research progressed. It quickly became apparent that many others before now have called for sweeping changes. In the end the adult welfare model was hardly a new concept at all. In fact, virtually every phase of adult welfare either has been previously proposed or already exists to a certain degree.
   Unique to the adult welfare model, is that it actually takes the processes of many different programs and systems and merely builds on them and unites them into one highly intense and comprehensive program. Adult welfare has at its core these basic ideas: 1) that abused children should remain in their homes, 2) that foster care should become foster adoption, 3) that every substantiated case of abuse should begin with legal charges being brought against abusers and that in every substantiated case of abuse an arrest is made, and a court appearance is required, 4) that abusive parents should be given one of two choices - treatment or jail, and 5) that children and family treatment services be provided in conjunction with one another and simultaneously.
   The most surprising learning result for the Adult Welfare project and presentation is an awareness of the positive opinions and ideas from social service and child welfare professionals who readily endorsed adult welfare concepts. The expectation was that many would be offended by the onslaught of negative research related to the current system, particularly because no one in the current system intends to do harm.
   It was also interesting to hear former victims of child abuse support the idea of rehabilitating perpetrators, and to hear former foster parents call adult welfare a good idea. And while it may not seem to be a paramount learning result, the opinions matter significantly in the development of the adult welfare system. If foster parents and abuse victims endorse adult welfare, in harmony with social service professionals, the model already has a lot going for it. The opposition could have been so great that an adult welfare system would not likely progress. On the other hand, and this is pleasantly one of the main learning results from the presentation, agreement was such that the adult welfare system will likely be further communicated to other professionals in the field so that a larger awareness of the concept will most likely expand.
   Other learning results became apparent in the development of the project proposal. Prior to the development of the proposal, little was known about what child welfare workers were doing in relation to the adults who perpetuate abuse and neglect. The belief was that little was being done, or quite possibly that nothing was being done to and for adults. In the end, it was and is apparent that there are programs that deal with adults in abuse cases. It seems that increased funding for those programs might be a wise step in the right direction. The family centered programs, such as family preservation, shared family care, and family drug courts, appear to be having good results. It is possible that, even while the adult welfare presentation suggested that pilot programs need to be started, those pilot programs can be found within the three existing family centered programs. More simply, pilot programs, that mirror adult welfare concepts, especially family drug courts, are already in place.

Implications

   Support for children who remain in their own homes will be costly - social workers will have to spend weeks and months in a child's home as the new adult welfare system attempts to motivate the abusive adults to change. And even when the professionals, who will rehabilitate adults, all agree that the rehabilitation has occurred, a monitoring system will have to be in place as the reformed abusive adult is moved back into their home of origin. Keeping kids safe, assisting them in dealing with the traumas of their abuse, will continue to be an obvious and costly priority.
   One of the problems with the current system is that child focused treatment exists (as can be found in foster care and group homes) and adult treatment exists (as is evident in chemical dependency treatment and halfway houses) but these seldom work in concert with each other. In adult welfare the current fragmented provision of services to children and to families are united under one model. Group homes, foster homes, therapy, treatment centers, and even detention centers are all components of the existing child welfare system. The point is, that these same components can be applied to adults who abuse and neglect children. How to make such a transition, moving from child only programs to include adult programs, will be at least complicated, and at the very best it will be gradual.
   Child welfare research has already revealed most of the findings that indicate that more could be done to help abused and neglected children. Abused and neglected children continue to be victimized in a system that is supposed to protect and save them. The victimization is not only in ongoing abuse at the hands of different caregivers but also victimization occurs simply in the many shifts that children experience in the modern child welfare system. But child welfare research and outcomes are only one part of the adult welfare suggestion.
It will be important to determine whether or not treating an abusive adult is realistic. If abusive adults, who have already undergone some kind of intensive treatment related to abuse and neglect can rehabilitate, then the adult treatment phase (see Appendix G, phase II) of the adult welfare model will have potential positive outcomes. Credence to treating adults is a critical needed determinant in moving forward with adult welfare concepts. Further research related to the palatability of helping adults heal, will either support the adult welfare concept, or undermine it. Regardless, a look at treating adults will require that more research be done, before adult treatment options can be further considered.
   Contemporary child welfare programs that are showing promise are those that tend to be moving in the direction of an adult welfare model. Some other child welfare programs report success, but a closer look at what defines success is needed. Many programs are largely too new to know whether or not they are accomplishing their goal of keeping families together or accomplishing family reunification. And the question remains, as to whether or not keeping families together is the best option. Regardless of the adult welfare system concept, a trend towards keeping troubled families united, even as they try to rebound from abusive dynamics, may very well be fully underway. Further study of family preservation, shared family care, and family drug courts is needed
   In a broader sense, it would be nice if professionals in the field would begin to pursue the feasibility of placing abusive adults into mandatory treatment programs while providing support services to the children who would remain in their own homes. If parents are successful, and family reunification looks realistic and safe, the costs of the rehabilitation efforts will need to be seriously considered. If the parents fail at treatment, and consequently are sent to jail, it will be important to know if the penal system can handle an influx of new prisoners. In a larger context, and with longer-term goals in mind, maybe feasibility studies can be done, cost analysis can occur, and quite possibly new pilot programs can be developed.
   The adult welfare model can only be fully realized with ample legal and political backing. Legally there will likely be many challenges as more and more abusive parents are charged and arrested. Other legal challenges will likely occur when parental rights are terminated and the child is moved directly into the foster adoption centered child placement phase.
   Politically, the United States government will have to revamp existing child welfare legislature and the current bureaucracy will have to be entirely reorganized. The current vast amount of money that is poured into foster care each year, billions and billions of dollars (Pelton, 1992, p. 296), will need to be redistributed to natural and biological families so that they can fiscally and feasibly be helped under a new adult welfare system.