Evolution of social services for children with emotional disorders

In this article, the authors examine the evolution of America's varied and often conflicting responses to the needs of its children--more specifically, the historical responses to dependent, neglected, and emotionally disordered children. The authors discuss America's historical ambivalence about whether to institutionalize children or keep them with their families, the relationship between social work professionals and clients, and the lessons that can be learned and applied to current practice. The analysis suggests that social work challenge some of the assumptions upon which prior service and advocacy efforts have been based. The magnitude of the current service system problems warrants a family-centered advocacy stance aimed at improving community-based services. This approach could free social workers to operationalize key values of the profession.