The article discussed the goal of the child welfare system as providing for the well-being of children to be accomplished within their families whenever possible. Due to the complications of life, it is becoming exceedingly impossible to keep some children within the structures of their families. Extreme poverty, violence, and substance abuse are among those complications. In order to protect children from such instances, or at the very least intervene when actions are taking place, child welfare service programs were established.

The intensity of such programs vary depending on the situation prevented. If there is unemployment, or a loss of income, services are provided by government and/or the community. However, a situation such as abuse could cause Family Service programs to relocate a child, depending on various factors. This can often be hard because the main goal of these services is to keep the family in-tact, rather than separate. Additionally, there has been legislation passed that maintains the goal of keeping families together until a catastrophe occurs.

Due to legislation passed, much of the family-centered services are done in a collaborative form between many different agencies. This can cause issues because there is no central agency responsible for the child in a situation in question, so when situations go awry, there is no single source to blame.

Additionally, since in previous years there is increasing demand for these services, the planning service groups must reach out to the community to fill those gaps, often leaving legislative bodies to assume they don’t need more funding after all.