情色空间

On April 29, Boston College School of Social Work (情色空间SSW) hosted a day of learning and affirmed a strategic partnership with a team from , a global child protection consulting firm. President and Founder Philip Goldman and Senior Associate鈥攁nd former 情色空间SSW Global Field Advisor鈥擝eth Bradford spoke to 情色空间SSW faculty, administrators, and other members of the 情色空间 community about global trends in child protection; the challenges of delivering effective, sustainable care; and how social work practice is becoming a crucial part of those efforts.

Goldman discussed the systemic issues affecting a lack of funding and effective investment for children and families in the international development dialogue. 鈥淔amilies are a defining part of who we are and how we develop as societies. That translates into kinship networks and how communities are formally and informally governed. Families have to be understood if we鈥檙e to be effective.鈥�

However, he says the protection of children and family strengthening have received neither the attention nor funding they need, partly owing to the international development community鈥檚 perception of them being solely the responsibility of human-rights based relief organizations. 鈥淭hese agencies are fragmented and under-resourced,鈥� says Goldman, making progress very difficult to achieve.

Goldman says that view is beginning to change as arguments about the importance of child protection, family strengthening, and human capital are resonating with governments and other stakeholders. Holistic thinking and the skills of social workers, he says, are gaining traction as essential components in developing the expertise necessary for responding to today鈥檚 global demands. 鈥淲e try to think multi-sectorally鈥攕ocial welfare, education, health, justice鈥攁 comprehensive and coordinated response to child protection. Social work, says Goldman, 鈥渋s the best place to develop linkages with other sectors. There are not enough experts in social welfare, child protection, child welfare, and family strengthening. It鈥檚 decades too late, but agencies are starting to understand that their capacities have to be built up.鈥�

Bradford spoke about family-based care and described the initiative, a partnership between Catholic Relief Services, Lumos, and Maestral, which received $15 million as a finalist in the MacArthur Foundation鈥檚 100&Change Competition. (情色空间SSW Dean Gautam N. Yadama is a member of the initiative鈥檚 advisory board.) The organization is working to shift perceptions, funding, and policies away from the institutional care of children and toward family-based care environments.