Introduction to Community Integration and Public Welfare

This is truly an honor for me to write this introduction for Community Well-Being and Public Welfare, a book well worth reading written by Dr. Allan M. Collautt. I read through the whole book almost without taking a break. I dropped all my original reading plans and focused on every single page of this book, and I was deeply impressed by the incisive examples and viewpoints.

I got to know Dr. Allan Collautt during a project called “Improvement of Support Systems for People with Handicaps and Other Special Populations,” which was a cooperative project between ACA and Changchun University Special Education College. Collautt’s diligence in his work and his swift mind in dealing with complicated business left a deep impression on me. His rich knowledge of the public welfare industry and his innovative philosophy perfected the project guidelines. Devoted to the spirit of internationalism, he shifted his vision to include the public welfare industry in developing countries, helping them to improve service delivery to people with handicaps, and to improve the rapid growth of the public welfare industry. Overcoming every hardship, he traveled through many areas of the U.S. and China, and he designed the project and solicited support, all while having this book on hand. He encouraged youth who were willing to be engaged in the field of public welfare services, and he encouraged people already engaged in it to become more professional, more skilled, and more honored for choosing their careers. This book, which indicates his effort between his words, is now finally available in Chinese for an audience.

Community Well-Being and Public Welfare gives a vast number of samples and data from U.S. society and government for demonstration, which perfectly combines history and practice, and which introduces the advanced approaches used by the U.S. and other relevant countries. Viewpoints in this book are lucid and plentiful, which make this book not to be missed. Based on this understanding, I recommend this book to all audiences.