Funding is still being sought for the implementation and replication of successful interventions and the critical data analysis to measure outcomes." (Clark, Buchanan, Legters, 2008)
Critical Perspective
The NSW Human Services organization operates for a noble cause and is subject to the ethical issues inherent to its operation such that any existing organization is subject to ethical issues inherent to its industry and operating environment. How an organization addresses these ethical dilemmas in a sense of either rectification, mitigation, or remediation, will determine the overall effect of how ethics plays as a role in the organizational dynamic.
According to Paulsen (2011), "One of the most influential care ethicists, Joan Tronto, distinguishes between four different phases of care
. Caring about, she says, focuses on the attentiveness of caregivers, so that they become aware of the needs of the other (or even themselves). Being able to perceive needs with as little distortion as possible is a moral quality." (Paulsen, 2011)
A Canadian example is provided by Burge & Jamieson (2004), "Following the ethical approval of the Research Ethics Board of Queen's University, one of us (Burge) approached the Executive Directors (EDs) at the 17 child welfare agencies operating in south-central and southeastern Ontario to recruit adoption applicants. Of the nine EDs who expressed interest in allowing their agency to assist us, six were asked to participate." (Burge, Jamieson, 2004)
These issues exist and are often not addressed by committees designed to correct operational efficiencies within government funded programs. Adoption services are critical throughout the developed and undeveloped world as the system links and enables children to be cared for by parents with reasonable financial and educational means. Foster services are a similar service to adoption services in so far as they are a temporary version of the permanent solution.
An approach that will provide a more stable solution to the issue at hand is offered by Kozma (2011), "Professional standards are to inform social policy makers, financiers, local authorities, social services' managers, social workers, inspectors, other professionals obliged to cooperate in services delivery, and last but not least, the users of social services about:
What the services are for, that is what are the expected outcomes of the service delivery.
Which are the basic principles that shape social service delivery.
What the necessary actions and procedures are on the basis of the available and evidence-based professional knowledge which should be...
By adopting an actual approach that involves professional standards as a framework to institute ethical practices and guidelines which require social workers and executives to sign-off on to verify compliance and ensure accountability, the approach can exact the program objectives/goals. The ability to enable this practice in a cost-effective manner is critical to the retention of these practices going forward.
http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/about_us/about_the_community_services.html
Baird, C., Wagner, D., Healy, T. & Johnson, K. 1999, Risk assessment in child protective services: Consensus and actuarial model reliability, Child Welfare League of America, Inc.
Burge, P. & Jamieson, M. 2009, Gaining Balance: Toward a Grounded Theory of the Decision-Making Processes of Applicants for Adoption of Children with and without Disabilities, the Qualitative Report.
Cash, S. & Berry, M. 2002, Family characteristics and child welfare services: Does the assessment drive service provision?, Alliance for Children and Families.
Clark, P., Buchanan, J. & Legters, L. 2008, Taking Action on Racial Disproportionality in the Child Welfare System, Child Welfare League of America, Inc.
English, D. & Pecora, P. 1994, Risk assessment as a practice method in child protective services, Child Welfare League of America, Inc.
Igelman, R., Taylor, N., Gilbert, a., Ryan, B., Steinberg, a., Wilson, C. & Mann, G. 2007, Creating More Trauma-Informed Services for Children Using Assessment-Focused Tools, Child Welfare League of America, Inc.
Kozma, J. 2011, Developing Professional Standards for Social Services, University of Bucharest.
Manthorpe, J. 2007, Risk assessment: an international view, Reed Business Information UK.
Mumpower, J.L. 2010, Disproportionality at the "Front End" of the Child Welfare Services System: an Analysis of Rates of Referrals, "Hits," "Misses," and "False Alarms," Southern Public Administration Education Foundation.
Paulsen, J.E. 2011, Ethics of caring and professional roles, SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC.
Schene, P., Caffaro, J. & Fluke, J. 2004, the Importance of ASSESSMENT in Child Welfare, American Public Human Services Association.
Tronto JC. An ethic of care. in: Holstein M. And Mitzen P (eds). Ethics in community-based elder care. New York:
Springer Publishing, 2001.
