Book Description

This document contains a literature review and annotated bibliography on family support services in Australia and overseas. Literature relating to services for families with dependent adolescent children as well as young children is included. The review and bibliography concentrate primarily on community-based services defined in the literature as family support services to families with children. The review focuses on the following issues: (1) definition of family support services; (2) aims and objectives of family support programs; (3) trends in the development and delivery of family support services in Australia and overseas; (4) model programs aimed at maintaining family unity, providing specialist and intensive input to families with specific difficulties, and preparing families for reintegration of members who have been in alternative forms of care; (5) evaluation of family support services; and (6) policy implications. The review and bibliography show that family support services are multifaceted, difficult to define, and even more difficult to evaluate in terms of their effectiveness. The bibliography contains some Australian and European sources, but the majority of references are American. The 123 citations are arranged alphabetically by author. A list of 96 references and a set of indexes arranged by country source, subject, and program names are included. (NB)