Community-based child care in Ethiopia vs. the individual centered model in the United States: A closer examination of family group decision making in child placement.

Source: (2013) Children’s Legal Rights Journal. 33:348-376.

This Article examines culturally sensitive practices to
community-based care, and compares the role of kinship care as the
norm among the various ethnic groups of Ethiopia to the emergence
of the child welfare system in the United States, based on a standard
of parental care. Part II provides a brief analysis of the situation for
orphaned children in Ethiopia and the development of their tribal
system of care, with child welfare services supplementing the
traditional practices among the various ethnic groups of the country.
Part III examines the advent of the U.S. child welfare system, its laws
and practices, and the tendency to focus on the individual rather than
the community in these forums. Part IV analyzes the experiences of
American Indian and Alaska Native children in the U.S. child welfare
system, and their cultural tendency to rely on internal tribal communities for the support and care of orphaned children. Part V
concludes by recommending widespread implementation of the
Family Group Decision Making (“FGDM”) model as a more
culturally sensitive and community based practice to empower
families and communities to work together and care for their
children. (excerpt)