What’s On Kevin’s Bookshelf?

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month! Check out our list of powerful and informative books to learn more about child abuse and prevention. 

A Child’s Journey Through Placement by Vera I. Fahlberg

Children in a foster care placement are in need of support and stability. This classic text offers information and advice for professionals and caregivers on how to help these children, who often have attachment difficulties. Vera I. Fahlberg, M.D. shares her experience and expertise, outlining the significance of attachment and separation, the developmental stages specific to adoptive children and providing guidance on minimizing the trauma of moving. The book also features practical advice on case planning, managing behavior and direct work with children. Throughout are case studies and exercises that provide opportunities for further learning. A readable, compassionate and practical text, A Child’s Journey provides the foundation, the resources and the tools to help students, professionals, parents and guardians to support children on their journey through placement to adulthood.

The Book Of David: How Preserving Families Can Cost Children’s Lives by Richard J. Gelles

Using the true story of a murdered child as a point of departure, a leading expert on family violence argues that society’s first priority must be protecting children rather than preserving families. Richard Gelles was once one of the most widely published and vocal defenders of family preservation, the social policy of keeping troubled families together as a primary goal. He then ran into the  tragic case of David Edwards, an infant murdered by his mother after falling through the cracks in the child welfare system. David’s story convinced Gelles that the system must change. Nearly half the children who are killed by their parents each year are killed after they have come to the attention of child welfare agencies. These children must be protected by getting them out of harm’s way. That means a radically new child welfare system must be developed. The first priority must be to protect children rather than preserve families. This hard-hitting book critically examines family preservation programs and argues that they do not work. Gelles goes beyond mere criticism of the child welfare system into specific changes, such as eliminating mandatory reporting of abuse, giving better training to caseworkers, and separating the investigation of abuse from case management.

Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk A Caseworker’s Story by Marc Parent

Why does an infant die of malnutrition? Why does an eight-year-old hold a knife to his brother’s throat? Or a mother push her cherished daughter twenty-three floors to her death? Marc Parent, a city caseworker, searched the streets – and his heart – for the answers, and shares them in this powerful, vivid, beautifully written book.

For more information about Child Abuse Prevention, CLICK HERE