Have child maltreatment and child placement rates declined?

It is argued that the actual incidence of child maltreatment remains elusive and is, in fact, indeterminate. Factors that might be reflected in variations in child maltreatment rates, other than child harm or endangerment at least partially attributable to caretakers, are explored. But since most children residing in foster care in the United States have been placed there for the alleged reasons of child abuse and neglect, we might expect trends over time in the rate of alleged maltreatment to have some bearing on the out-of-home placement population rate. On the contrary, it is shown that the child placement population rate has risen in recent years, even though the overall child maltreatment rate has not. Based on existing data, the child placement population in the United States is calculated to have been nearly one million children on any given day in 2011, higher than at any point throughout the previous century. Brief comparisons are made with child maltreatment and child placement trends in other countries.     

Who should care for our kids? The effects of infant child care on early child development

This paper examines the relationship between various types of child care during the first year of a child's life and the child's language and social development measured at age three. A unique contribution of the paper is the estimation of a general selection-correction model that accounts for non-random selection of children into different types of child care. The analysis uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), a birth cohort of children born to predominantly low-income single mothers. The results indicate that compared with maternal care, relative care during infancy has more beneficial effects on a child's language development, while day care centers have more beneficial effects on a child's behavioral development.     

Invisible children? Professional bricolage in child protection

In the last decades, child protection has been heavily criticized in many countries as fatal cases have caused public debates and political revisions. A study on the child protection system in Germany is presented. Responding to public criticism of fatal cases, new laws aimed for a stronger involvement of further professions beyond social workers who are traditionally holding the main responsibility. The study enquires in how far these revisions allow for a higher level of attention given to the children's conditions and sufferings. Data was gathered in five communities by interviewing practitioners of the social work profession, pediatric medicine, and midwifery on recent cases. By applying concepts of interpretive sociology of professions, 93 cases were systematically reconstructed. A typology of the different “mandates” of the occupations was developed, referring to the practitioners' interpretation of their main tasks in their case work. Validation of the qualitative analysis was sought by quantifying important characteristics of case trajectories. The results show that a mere addition of professional groups does not lead to a comprehensive consideration of the child's situation. The three professions only take specific aspects of children and according to their ‘mandates’ into account. Furthermore, social workers, having the competence of case coordination, occasionally exclude the knowledge of other professions from further proceedings.     

Who uses child care subsidies? Comparing recipients to eligible non-recipients on family background characteristics and child care preferences

The federally funded, state-administered child care subsidy program provides subsidies to low-income families. Despite being among the government's most significant investments in early care and education, recent national estimates suggest that fewer than 30% of eligible families receive subsidies and the predictors of subsidy receipt remain poorly understood. This study investigates the predictors of subsidy receipt among eligible families, with data drawn from the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study — Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). Using logit regression models, we compare subsidy recipients to the eligible non-recipients of subsidies as a group, and then classified by the type of care the non-recipients do use: Head Start, public pre-kindergarten, or unsubsidized care. Results indicate that subsidy recipients are generally more advantaged than the eligible non-recipients of subsidies. In particular, subsidy recipients have more resources and fewer hassles than eligible non-recipients. These findings can aid state subsidy administrators in more effectively targeting their outreach and enrollment efforts and ultimately in increasing the use of this important program.     

Does the sectoral composition of growth affect child stunting reductions?

This article uses a natural experiment based on random and exogenous variations in temperature to examine whether the sectoral composition of growth has an effect on child stunting reductions. Agricultural growth is central to food security strategies in developing countries, as it is often considered the most effective way to fight (child) undernutrition. The evidence base to support the putative superior role of agricultural growth is, however, relatively weak, possibly because studies have ignored growth faltering. Accounting for the latter, we find that while both agricultural and non‐agricultural growth decrease stunting, agricultural growth is significantly superior to non‐agricultural growth in this regard. The estimated impacts are large, in that a 10% increase in agricultural GDP per capita reduces child stunting by 9.6% (as opposed to 8.4% for non‐agricultural).     

Should cloning be banned for the sake of the child?

It is widely believed that reproductive human cloning is morally wrong and should be prohibited because it infringes on human uniqueness, individuality, freedom and personal identity. The philosophical and ethical discussion has, however, shown that it is far more difficult than might initially be supposed to sustain arguments against cloning on these and related grounds. More recently, a potentially viable argument, initially put forward by Hans Jonas, has regained new prominence. The argument holds that cloning is wrong because it denies the clone an `open future', that is, the ability to freely shape her own personal identity, life plans, self-chosen goals, etc. After a critical exposition of the argument, I argue as follows: If one understands the Open Future Argument as an argument about the welfare of the cloned child, then it cannot show that cloning harms the child in a person-affecting sense of harming and benefiting. If, on the other hand, one understands the argument in a non-person-affecting sense, then some, but not all, reproductive cloning decisions can be shown to be wrong. The argument does not show, however, that cloning ought to be prohibited by law. While cloning, like other widely accepted reproductive decisions, will sometimes fail to minimize harm to `the child', such acts – to the extent that they do not constitute harm in a person-affecting sense – ought to be tolerated by proponents of the Open Future Argument. Attempts to prohibit reproductive choices on the basis that they are not optimal, will undermine the same set of values that the Open Future Argument seeks to uphold.     

Parents in child custody disputes: Why are they disputing?

Since 2000, the number of custody disputes has increased in Sweden. Living in the midst of a parental conflict places the children under great stress. Research on parental conflicts is predominantly theoretical; thus, there is a need for empirical studies to better understand the problems and needs of the children and parents. This article examines parental disputes regarding custody, residence, and access for children, and aims to understand the characteristics of the conflicts behind the disputes. The article is primarily based on qualitative analyses of court documents. The results show that the majority of the parents’ conflicts are defined as conflicts of values, stemming from concern about the other parent’s capability to care for younger children.     

Mechanisms underlying parent–child occupational consistency: a critical review

Parents’ and children’s occupations are often similar on a variety of dimensions, including income, gender typicality, and Holland’s job types [Whiston, S. C., & Keller, B. K. (2004). The influences of the family of origin on career development: A review and analysis. The Counseling Psychologist, 32, 493–568]. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are not well understood, limiting both research and application to real-world contexts such as career counseling settings. The present article has three main goals: (1) To critically examine individual mechanisms underlying parent–child occupational consistency; (2) To propose a multiple mechanisms model that accounts for the limitations and assumptions of individual mechanisms; and (3) To propose future research directions while critically examining implicit assumptions of past research and research methodology. By addressing these goals, this paper has the potential to inform future research on parent–child occupational consistency and vocational intervention efforts.     

Youth transitions and interdependent adult–child relations in rural Bolivia

There are few studies which document youth transitions from school to work in rural areas of the majority world. This paper, based on ethnographic fieldwork in a rural community in Bolivia, considers how young people make decisions about different types of school-to-work transitions which include migrating to continue their formal education, working in the community, or seeking migrant work in the regional town or in neighbouring Argentina. The paper explores how young people negotiate structural constraints over their choice of transition, including the rural location, economic resources, parental attitudes and family background, gender, birth order, social networks and role models. Importantly the paper highlights that underlying young people's choice of transition are interdependent household relations. In the majority world, in this case in Bolivia, rural young people may achieve economic independence sooner than those in the minority world, but long-term family interdependence tends to be maintained throughout the life-course. This paper suggests that the notion of negotiated interdependence is a more appropriate way to understand youth transitions and relations between young people and adults in rural areas of the majority world.     

Do families in poverty need child and family social work?

This article attempts to contribute to the historically relevant debate about the role of social work in poverty situations, focusing on the emblematic and radical question whether the poor actually need social work. In the context of the currently dominant policy framework in European welfare states, that is underpinned by the emerging paradigm of social investment, we argue that it is extremely relevant to readdress this question. Within this development, the eradication of child poverty has been considered a key target of poverty reduction strategies and child and family social work has consequently been assigned a pivotal role in the fight against the intergenerational transmission of poverty. We demonstrate that the rhetoric of social investment has found a practical implementation in social work constructing the problem of poverty in terms of education and activation of both the child and the individual parent. Based on an extensive review of literature, we discuss underlying assumptions, consequences and pitfalls of the paradigm of social investment for social work and tease out whether, and on which conditions, poor families need child and family social work.     

Use of evidence-based interventions in child welfare: Do attitudes matter?

Implementation of evidence-based programs in child welfare has progressed slowly, with the majority of services in child welfare settings lacking empirical evidence for effectiveness. In other settings, research has identified providers' attitudes about evidence-based practices (EBPs) as a potential barrier to adoption of EBPs. As little research has focused on the role of attitudes in influencing use after training in an EBP in child welfare, the potential for attitudes to impede implementation efforts in child welfare is unclear. This study addressed this question in a sample of 55 caseworkers and therapists randomly assigned to enhanced support to use an EBP following training or a training-only condition. Information on providers' use of the intervention after training and their attitudes about EBPs were measured for up to five time points. Results indicate that attitudes did not predict providers' use of the EBP, and attitudes did not change overall or in the enhanced condition that provided greater exposure to the intervention. Providers perceived of requirements to use a practice as more influential in their use than their openness to EBPs. However, those who were more open to EBPs were more likely to participate in implementation support after the training, suggesting that openness facilitates participation in activities that support use of a new intervention.     

More harm than good? Diagnostic codes for child and adult abuse

This study sought to understand the reasons for the lack of use of ICD diagnostic codes for child and adult abuse. New Jersey professionals were recruited to participate in three focus groups on child abuse, adult or primarily woman abuse, and elder abuse. Participants included health care providers, advocates from the community, and representatives of state agencies and the insurance industry. Concerns about coding abuse included further jeopardizing victims/patients, diagnostic uncertainty, and lack of resources. Members of the child abuse group were somewhat more receptive to coding abuse. Reasons to code, such as for documentation and reimbursement were discussed and rebutted. Most participants concluded that use of the abuse codes should be judicious because they have the potential to do more harm than good. More research is needed on the implications of coding for victims/patients along with medical education in the identification of abuse in general and coding abuse in particular.     

Differential response in child protection: How much is too much?

Recurring maltreatment can have devastating, lifelong consequences for children who are victims of abuse and neglect. The primary mission of child protection services (CPS) agencies is to prevent the recurrence of child maltreatment by offering families services designed to prevent future maltreatment. In order for these services to be effective, however, families must actually engage in them. This study focuses on how differential response programs impact families' successful engagement in services as indicated by long-term child safety outcomes.Differential response refers to a dual track system that allows public CPS agencies to respond to accepted reports of child abuse or neglect with either a traditional investigative response (TR) or an alternative response (AR). The AR is designed to be a less authoritative and less adversarial approach to families presenting a low- to moderate-risk of maltreatment. The AR involves collaboration with the family in a comprehensive assessment of the family's needs, risks and strengths and a referral to services on a voluntary basis. States implementing DR systems statewide vary greatly in the percentage of accepted reports that are assigned to the AR track. The goal of this study is to determine what rate of AR utilization is most effective in reducing subsequent reports of abuse and neglect for cases assigned to the AR.This study compares child safety outcomes for children assigned to the AR and those assigned to the TR within each of the fourteen states which implemented DR statewide between 2000–2012. The analysis uses Cox proportional hazards regression. Data for this observational study are drawn from the 2000–2012 data in the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) child files. Child safety is measured by re-reporting of the child to CPS.The theoretical model underpinning the study is McCurdy and Daro's (2001) Integrated Theory of Participant Involvement (ITPI) which outlines a conceptual model of parental engagement in services. This study hypothesizes that AR utilization rates affect the risk level of cases assigned to the AR. The ITPI model offers a possible explanation as to why higher risk cases may not be as responsive to the AR approach which depends upon the family's voluntary participation in services.The key finding of this study is that, in states assigning > 33% of reports to the AR, children on the AR track are being re-reported at equal or higher rates than those on the TR track. Only in those states utilizing the AR track for < 33% of the cases are AR cases being consistently re-reported at lower rates than those on the TR track. This article explores ways to improve the accuracy of track assignment decisions to prevent the assignment of higher risk families to the alternative response.     

Why child labour? Evidences from homebased carpet weaving industry of Kashmir

Child labour is a multi-faceted problem. When we hear about child labour, generally we think of market work, i.e. children employed in mines and factories. Yet only small portion of child labour are engaged in market work particularly in developing countries like ours. Those children who are working in household industries are often excluded by researchers and policy planners. Thus leaving us with a limited knowledge about the possible causes of child labour in the home based industries like carpet weaving in Jammu and Kashmir state. To fill this gap, an attempt is made in the present study to analyse various determinants of child labour in the carpet weaving industry of Kashmir, so that necessary measures can be suggested for its reduction. Data has been collected from a sample of 960 sampled households with the help of interview schedules from four selected districts of Kashmir Valley. Our results shows that low socio-economic status i.e. low income of the family, illiteracy of household head and large size of the family force the children to enter into the labour market at their tender age. Further, we found because of growing educated unemployment problem in the state, parents prefer to employ their children in the labour market instead of schooling. The study suggests that child labour can be reduced if parents are compensated equal to the earnings of their children and their educational cost.     

What do we really know about usual care child protective services?

The term “usual care” is often used in clinical research to refer to a comparison or control group that is receiving whatever normal services an organization may provide. In the US child protection system, “usual care” is the practice from the point of screening in a report, to assessment and possible in-home services or a decision to place a child in out of home care. Policy and practice variations across states and counties, as well as changes in policy over time, make research on normative child welfare practice services challenging but necessary. The service delivery mechanism in child protection is understudied, limiting our ability to inform decision-making at the local, state and federal levels. Gaps in knowledge also confound intervention research because a clear understanding of a given service platform is key when interpreting effect sizes against usual care controls. This article overviews what is known about “usual care” in child protective services and seeks to encourage more research in this area by reviewing six key factors related to measuring the impact of usual care from the point of initial report through the provision of services.     

Children’s health-related life-styles: how parental child care affects them

This paper examines parental influence on school children??s everyday activities that are related to a healthy or an unhealthy lifestyle. Using the Danish Time-Use and Consumption Survey from 2008/2009 with information on fathers??, mothers?? and children??s time use, we found no evidence of a relationship between parental working hours and children??s time allocations, while a 1-h increase in parental child care reduces the time children spent on TV/computer games by 12?C19?min. We also found a relationship between parents?? and their children??s time use, as the amounts of time the two generations spent on exercise were positively correlated, which indicates that parental time use on some healthy activities affects children??s lifestyle behavior more than parental child care.