Social Work and the Courts

Daniel Pollack, MSSA (MSW), JD, is a professor at Yeshiva University's School of Social Work in New York City. He is also a frequent expert witness on lawsuits involving child abuse, foster care, and adoption. Toby G. Kleinman, JD, is a partner in the law firm of Adler & Kleinman and has litigated or been a consultant on legal cases dealing with domestic violence, child custody, and abuse in over 45 states. She is a director of the advisory board to the Leadership Council on Child Abuse and Interpersonal Violence (LC) and is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Domestic Violence and Legal Empowerment and Appeals Project (DV LEAP) at George Washington Law.

• 1. Child Welfare 2. Social Worker Liability and Immunity 3. Mental Health Issues 4. Aging 5. Women and the Law 6. Income Support 7. Social Workers in Court 8. Social Workers as Employees 9. Public Policy

With the good fortune of reviewing all three editions of Social Work and the Courts while in the manuscript phase, I am able to state that Pollack and Kleinman have continued to produce a brilliant analysis of the impact of law on social work practice. I continue to believe that this work is the best supplemental reading currently on the market. In fact, I continue to believe that social work professors are doing a disservice if they fail to require reading sections of this book as supplemental course assignments.—Stephen M. Marson, PhD, ACSW, is the editor of The Journal of Social Work Values and EthicsThis book is a "must have" for anyone—lawyer, social worker or agency administrator—who is involved with the delivery of social services. By careful analysis of selected cases, each chapter is a springboard into the legal issues that affect social workers. Each analysis contains an "implications" section that explains "what the decision means" and is quite useful as a source of guidance for special workers and those who develop and implement agency policy.—Harvey Schweitzer, JD, is a professor at St. Francis School of LawThis text provides valuable insight into the ways in which law intersects with social work. Pollack and Kleinman review the most relevant court cases in a number of areas including child welfare, mental health practice, and aging, to list just some. In addition to reviewing the facts of cases, the authors summarize the reasoning and implications of the cases for social workers in clear, succinct prose that highlights professional applications.—David R. Hodge, PhD, is a professor in the School of Social Work at Arizona State University and a senior nonresident fellow in the Program for Research on Religion and Urban Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania.