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Social service systems for vulnerable children and families in low‐ and middle‐income countries: Establishing definitions and key components
Author(s) -
Crea Thomas M.,
Reynolds Andrew D.,
Bunkers Kelley McCreery,
Bishop Caroline M.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 1369-6866
DOI - 10.1111/ijsw.12306
Subject(s) - terminology , key (lock) , social work , social welfare , public relations , service (business) , field (mathematics) , set (abstract data type) , perspective (graphical) , business , economic growth , political science , computer science , marketing , economics , computer security , philosophy , linguistics , mathematics , pure mathematics , law , programming language , artificial intelligence
Systems strengthening in low‐ and middle‐income countries has long been a topic of concern in global health. By comparison, until very recently, little attention has been paid to the importance of strengthening social service systems to provide a holistic perspective of children's and families' multifaceted strengths and vulnerabilities. This study has reviewed existing literature on the definitions and components of social service systems and provides an analysis of data from key informants in the field of global social welfare. Based on this information, a set of key components is presented and compared, derived from the literature and expert interviews. Existing challenges for the field include establishing consensus on terminology and critical components, implementing and documenting critical components, and linking these components to client outcomes.