This chapter provides a brief overview of the book highlighting the modest progress from child welfare to child well-being re?ected in these chapters, and the parallel movement in Kahn¿s career and research, as his scholarship developed over the years. It then moves to explore the relationship between two overarching themes, child and family policy stressing a universal approach to children and social prot- tion stressing a more targeted approach to disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals including children and the complementarity of these strategies. Introduction To a large extent Alfred J. Kahn was at the forefront of the developments in the ?eld of child welfare services (protective services, foster care, adoption, and family preservationandsupport). Overtimehisscholarshipmovedtoafocusonthebroader policy domain of child and family policy and the outcomes for child wellbeing. His work, as is true for this volume, progressed from a focus on poor, disadvantaged and vulnerable children to a focus on all children. He was convinced that children, by de?nition, are a vulnerable population group and that targeting all children, empl- ing a universal policy as a strategy would do more for poor children than a narrowly focused policy targeted on poor children alone, As we ?rst argued more than three decades ago (Not for the Poor Alone; ¿Universalism and Income Testing in Family Policy¿), one could target the most disadvantaged within a universal framework, and this would lead to more successful results than targeting only the poor.

Describes the history of the last 50 years of child welfare as well as its current status and future

1. From 'child saving' to 'child development'? Alfred J. Kahn, School of Social Work, Columbia University, USA. 2. From Child Welfare to Children Well-being: The Child Indicators Perspective Asher Ben-Arieh, School of Social Work and Social Welfare, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. 3. An Historical Perspective on Child Welfare Brenda McGowan, School of Social Work, Columbia University, USA 4. Testing Practice Wisdom in Child Welfare Anat Zeira, School of Social Work and Social Welfare, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. 5. Understanding Child Maltreatment Systems: A Foundation for Child Welfare Policy Barbara Fallon, Canada; Nico Trocme, Canada; John Fluke, USA; Bruce MacLaurin, Canada; Lil Tonmyr, Canada; Yuan, USA 6. Fact-Based Child Advocacy: The Convergence of Analysis, Practice, and Politics in New York City Gail Nayowith, Laurie M. Tisch Foundation, USA 7. Using Early Childhood Wellbeing Indicators to Influence Local Policy and Services Claudia Coulton, Case Western Reserve University, USA; Robert Fischer, Case Western Reservce University, USA 8. Social Policy and the Transition to Adulthood for Foster Youth in the US Mark Courtney, University of Washington, USA 9. The Ecological Perspective on the Human Rights of Children Jim Garbarino and Edmund Bruyere, Center for the Human Rights of Children, Loyola University Chicago, USA. 10. Social problem construction and its impact on program and policy responses Karen Staller, School of Social Work, University of Michigan, USA. 11. The development of international comparative child and family policies Shirley Gatenio Gabel, School of Social Services, Fordham University,NY, USA. 12. Using Child Indicators to Influence Policy: A Comparative Case Study. J. Lawrence Aber, Juliette Berg, Erin Godfrey, & Catalina Torrente. Department of Applied Psychology, NYU, USA. 13. In Children's Voices Peter Burton & Shelley Phipps, Department of Economics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada 14. Assuring Child Support: A Re-assessment in Honor of Alfred Kahn Irwin Garfinkel & Lenna Nepomnyaschy, School of Social Work, Columbia University, USA 15. Child Poverty and Antipoverty Policies and Programs in the U.S.: Lessons from research and cross national policies Sheldon & Sandra Danziger, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan, USA. 16. Income Support for Families and the Living Standards of Children Peter Saunders, The Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, Australia. 17. An international perspective on child benefit packages Jonathan Bradshaw, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, York University, UK. 18. Canadian Policies for Families with Very Young Children in International Perspective Shelley Phipps, Department of Economics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada 19. Child Poverty in Upper-Income Countries: Lessons from The Luxembourg Income Study Janet Gornick, Political Science, Baruch College, CUNY and Graduate Center, CUNY, USA, and Markus Jantti 20. Early Childhood Education and Care Peter Moss, Thomas Coram Institute, University of London, UK. 21. Childcare Policies in France: the Influence of Organizational Changes in the Workplace Jeanne Fagnani, Centre d¿Economie de la Sorbonne-Team Matisse, University of Paris 1 ¿ Panthéon Sorbonne, France 22. Child well-being in Europe Dominic Richardson, OECD 23. Conclusion Sheila Kamerman, School of Social