How Teen Mothers Are Faring Under Welfare Reform

We examine socioeconomic and psychological well-being among 88 low-income minor mothers. Half of the young mothers receive cash welfare assistance and face new policy mandates regarding coresidence status and school attendance. Although most appear to be "complying" with the requirements of the new welfare rules and are satisfied with their current living arrangements, many are faring poorly on dimensions of psychological well-being and life stress. Receipt of cash welfare is not a significant correlate of school success, parenting stress, or economic strain. Teen coresidence with their mothers does not appear to buffer against the experience of child care problems, depressive symptoms, or domestic violence. We discuss the implications of the results forresearch, policy, and services for teen parent families.     

Helping foster youth find a job: a random‐assignment evaluation of an employment assistance programme for emancipating youth

A primary task for youth aging out of foster care is finding and maintaining a job. In recognition of the challenges that foster youth face, employment assistance has become an important part of child welfare agencies' efforts to prepare youth for emancipation. The current study uses random assignment to evaluate the impact of an employment assistance programme for foster youth on the rate of employment, income and other self‐sufficiency outcomes among a group of adolescents in substitute care in Kern County, California. Data were collected via multi‐wave, in‐person interviews of 254 foster youth. At the second follow‐up interview, only two‐fifths of the sample report being employed. However, three‐quarters of the sample are either working or attending school, and a quarter reports both working and attending school. Nevertheless, significant minorities report experiencing financial hardships and receiving financial assistance. No statistically significant impacts of the evaluated programme are found on any measured employment or self‐sufficiency outcome. Implications for child welfare policy are discussed.     

The division of child care among couples with young children: An empowerment model

In this article, we present a qualitative analysis of couples’ child care arrangements using an empowerment model. Data are taken from gender-segregated focus group interviews with eight married, co-residential couples parenting young children. We analyze this data using an empowerment model that focuses on individuals’ experiences recognizing and acting on opportunities to exercise control, which in this case we conceptualize as preferences for child care involvement. In addition to this focus on interpersonal negotiation between parents, we build on Bronfenbrenner's (1979, 1986) ecological perspective and understand child care arrangements as emerging within complex social systems, demanding constant negotiation between the person and environment. Thus, our attention to empowerment includes a focus on the notable contexts of work, school, and community. We find that in many ways, both mothers and fathers in our sample felt little control over ecological factors shaping child care arrangements. For mothers, empowerment was a process that involved varying degrees of control over fathers’ involvement in child care within the further confines presented by work and school. Fathers generally felt empowered to engage in child care tasks when they chose to do so. This stands in contrast to mothers’ implicit responsibility for the care of their children and need to request fathers’ involvement unless social contexts demanded it.     

Experiences of child welfare social workers in addressing substance use among maltreated young mothers to prevent child maltreatment

Substance use during the perinatal period and while parenting can pose a significant risk to children's safety and well-being. Mothers who have experienced child maltreatment are more likely to use substances than mothers without a history of maltreatment. This study explores how child welfare social workers experience supporting young, maltreated mothers struggling with substance use to prevent the intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with four social workers working with young mothers with a history of maltreatment and substance use. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis revealed two themes: (1) grappling with system challenges and (2) supporting strategies for disrupting intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment. The results highlight the need for systemic changes around support for social workers who work with young mothers who use substances and have a history of maltreatment, and substance use treatment and mental health programs themselves. Mothers need access to prenatal programs that are trauma-informed, non-judgemental and that support participants' basic needs and parenting skills.     

Engagement strategies and change: an intentional practice response for the child welfare worker in cases of domestic violence

In order to engage mothers who are victims of domestic abuse, the child welfare worker needs to be challenged to develop an intentional practice response that includes knowledge and skill concerning the complexities of domestic violence, as well as the process of change. Developing a supportive relationship, understanding the stages of change (SOC) and engaging mothers as leaders in the change process are essential to successful child protection outcomes. Within the context of the SOC model, this practice‐based paper focuses on the importance of engaging mothers who are victims of domestic violence in conversations about their own unique dilemmas, challenges and barriers regarding change. Through the inclusion of engagement strategies such as signs of safety, active listening and cost/benefit analysis, in concert with the SOC theory, the child welfare worker would be equipped with an approach to successfully assist mothers through their change journey, ultimately keeping children safe.     

Family Configurations and Child-Care Patterns: Familes with Two or More Preschool-Age Children

Objectives . This article examines the extent to which mothers must find child-care arrangements for more than one preschool child and, when they do, the strategies they adopt to juggle their work and family roles. Methods . We use national data from numerous studies with information on fertility and child care among employed mothers with children. Results . We find that it is a common life-course experience for mothers to need child care for two or more preschool-age children. Employed mothers' preferred strategy for child care for their multiple preschool-age children is to place all preschoolers in the same type of arrangement, choosing parental care more often and center care less often than employed mothers with one preschooler. Conclusions . Previous child-care research has ignored the complexities parents face when they must make child-care decisions about all their preschool-age children simultaneously. Child-care decisions need to be studied within the family and household context.     

A tangled web: parental contact with children in kinship care

Contact between parents and children in care is a contested area. Parental contact is recognized to be important, yet may present protective issues; in the kinship care environment, it brings the particular challenges of complex family relationships. Seeking the parents' perspective in a child protection context is difficult and therefore under‐researched. This paper describes a nested study within an Australian research project on family contact in kinship care in which the perspectives of 18 mothers and 2 fathers were sought via in‐depth interviews. Mothers and fathers described strong feelings of disempowerment in the context both of their family and the child protection system. The relationship between parent and caregiver emerged as a significant issue. All of the parents wished to remain in contact with their children in a meaningful way, whether or not they were likely to resume their children's care; however, contact arrangements presented many difficulties for them. Mothers articulated the need for services that are more empowering and respectful, rather than oriented towards them as failed parents. In order to build appropriate models of support and intervention, we argue for a more inclusive conceptual frame for family life that gives greater recognition to the role of non‐custodial parents in the lives of their children.     

Living Arrangements and School Dropout Among Minor Mothers Following Welfare Reform*

Objectives. The 1996 welfare reform laws required that parents under the age of 18 live with their parents or an adult relative and enroll in school to be eligible for welfare benefits. This study examines whether minor mothers were less likely to drop out of school and more likely to live with parents following welfare reform. Methods. Data from the National Education Longitudinal Survey 1988 and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 were used in difference‐in‐difference analyses. Results. Following welfare reform, minor mothers' co‐residence with parents increased and their drop‐out rates decreased. Conclusions. Welfare reform requirements are associated with changes in living arrangements and drop‐out rates of minor mothers.     

Lone mothers and the puzzles of daily life: do care regimes really matter?

Kröger T. Lone mothers and the puzzles of daily life: do care regimes really matter? Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 390–401 © 2009 The Author, Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This article studies childcare patterns and day‐to‐day strategies of 111 working lone mothers from Finland, France, Italy, Portugal and the UK, and asks whether their arrangements are prescribed by care regimes. Lone mothers' arrangements are grouped into five based on the availability and use of different formal and informal childcare resources. The article argues that, even though lone mothers have a more favourable starting point in Finland and France compared with Britain, Italy and Portugal where formal childcare coverage is patchier, childcare arrangements are not very dissimilar within different care regimes. Instead, similarities across care regimes are highlighted. Formal provisions have their limitations in all the countries studied and in all cases significant expectations are placed on informal childcare. The availability of informal childcare cannot, however, be taken for granted in any country, and working lone mothers whose informal and formal resources do not adequately meet their childcare needs were located in every care regime, facing care poverty.     

‘I want to be better than you:’ lived experiences of intergenerational child maltreatment prevention among teenage mothers in and beyond foster care

The growing body of research on teenage motherhood in foster care has largely focused on the risks involved for both mother and child, yet these mothers depict a much more complex picture of their own experience of becoming and being mothers. The current study employed interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore 18 in‐depth, qualitative interviews from six participants on the meaning and experience of motherhood among teenage mothers in foster care and in the years immediately after ageing out. This study focused on a particular dimension of motherhood: participants' efforts to break the cycle of child abuse and neglect with their own children. Two themes emerged as characteristic of these experiences: (i) treating children well/parenting differently and avoiding the system; and (ii) reducing isolation and enhancing support. Given the increased likelihood of the children of teen mothers – particularly those who have been maltreated – becoming involved with the child welfare system, study findings suggest possible strategies for disrupting cycles of intergenerational child welfare involvement generated by young mothers themselves. Practice implications for addressing possible substance abuse, mental health and relational and parenting needs are discussed.     

Inter-country Adoption: Australia's Position

Although each Australian state and territory has its own adoption legislation and its own social welfare department, they have combined to send inter-country adoption delegations to Asian countries to negotiate working arrangements on a uniform basis. When a child is adopted by people in another country, care needs to be taken in both countries by authorities, professional workers and parents to ensure that the best interests of the child are paramount. Over 1,000 children from Asian countries have been adopted by Australians. There is a dearth of published research material, but there are indications that most of these adoptions are proving very satisfactory for the children. To protect the child's status in terms of name, nationality and guardianship, it is important that policies and procedures in relation to adoption practice, immigration, and statutory recognition of overseas adoptions adequately complement each other.     

Mostly the mother: Concentration of adverse employment effects on mothers of children with autism

Creating comprehensive and effective social welfare and anti-poverty policy is an ever-elusive task. A key component of such policies and their related programs is the encouragement and protection of parents’ employment. However, such efforts become more complicated when families are faced with additional challenges such as difficulties, which may arise when parenting a child with a disability. Although both paid employment and parenting are widely understood as far from gender-neutral activities, how adverse employment effects become concentrated on mothers is less well understood. This article examines circumstances under which negative employment effects become concentrated on mothers of children with autism. The results of the analysis suggest focusing policy on addressing short term threats to the continued success of established careers and on workplace reentry could help counter factors which tend to result in having mothers’ careers disproportionately affected as a result of having a child with a disability.     

Department of Health Research Overviews – Past, Present and Future: An evaluation of the dissemination of the Blue Book, Child Protection: Messages from Research

Since 1985 the Department of Health has been providing child care research overviews as a means of bringing together the findings of its funded research programmes. With each successive publication a pattern of design and dissemination has emerged. This is illustrated by Child Protection: Messages from Research ( Department of Health 1995 ), an overview of 20 studies of child protection. It included an introductory essay, summaries of each project and a set of 'True for Us' exercises. Publication was followed by national seminars and widespread distribution of free copies. Given the substantial investment, it seems timely to assess the impact of the dissemination process in terms of reaching and affecting practice. The survey sought to assess awareness, use and opinions of the report from social services, education and health professionals. It consisted of questionnaires administered by post and telephone calls to a representative sample of 600 professionals working in child protection, 292 of whom replied. The results demonstrate that the book is very well known among most professionals working in child welfare, particularly in social services, and is perceived to have affected the practice of over half of the respondents. The study supports the structure adopted for the report but suggests further benefits in employing a variety of dissemination strategies for different professional groups. Finally, the paper discusses the relationship between overviews and evidence-based services.     

Manufacturing ghost fathers: the paradox of father presence and absence in child welfare

Fathers exist in the lives of women and children involved with child welfare authorities, and yet, they are rarely seen by child welfare. This invisibility exists whether or not fathers are deemed as risks or as assets to their families. Using an analysis of fundamental child welfare policies and practices and relevant literature, the paper examines how 'ghost' fathers are manufactured, and how this phenomenon affects families and professionals in child welfare. An analysis of gender, class, race and culture of child welfare discourses shows how these fathers are seen as deviant, dangerous, irresponsible and irrelevant, and even further, how absence in child welfare is inextricably linked to blaming mothers. In failing to work with fathers, child welfare ignores potential risks and assets for both mothers and children.     

Child welfare policy and services in Korea

Over the past 20 years, the Korean government has developed child welfare laws to respond to an increasing number of child maltreatment cases and create a centralized child welfare delivery system. However, the system remains fragmented and under-developed due to a lack of understanding of child maltreatment and limited government support. Further, few studies have comprehensively reviewed the system. This study examines the Korean child welfare system, identifies challenges for child welfare policies and services, and discusses the implications for future policy; the results can be used to improve the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families in Korea. The analysis shows that the government has prioritized family preservation over removal from families, even in substantiated cases of abuse. However, ensuring the safety of children in Korea will require not only working to preserve families but also developing and implementing better options for in-home services and out-of-home placement.     

What kind of people are we? 'Race', anti-racism and social welfare research

Summary This article argues that, to provide reliable and nationallyrelevant information on which to base policy and practice andto afford the Black population equal access to knowledge aboutits social realities, social welfare research needs to includeaccurate representations of minority ethnic groups and theirchanging needs. Using child welfare and community care as examples,a brief research review indicates the continued scarcity ofsuch research and its potential benefits. The methodologicalsupports available to researchers seeking to include minorityethnic populations and anti-racist perspectives are considered,and it is concluded that such supports are limited and patchy.In exploring the reasons for this, the author identifies someof the political, personal and technical challenges an anti-racistapproach presents. The terms 'experiential affinity' and 'experientialinterdependence' are introduced to help conceptualize the knowledgeand power differentials which may impede researchers pursuinganti-discriminatory aims, and a 'costs and benefits' frameworkis suggested to help understand and confront these issues. Then,drawing on existing research and theory, the article considersin detail some of the technical challenges to be overcome, withparticular reference to sample identification and selection,fieldwork processes and data analysis and suggests practicalways in which some of these challenges might be met.     

Between the maternal and the professional: the impact of being a child welfare officer on motherhood

Child welfare officers experience stress from exposure to child neglect and abuse and the burden of responsibility for children's well‐being. This qualitative study addresses the question: How do social workers who are child welfare officers perceive and cope with the influence of their professional occupation on their relationships with their own children? The research is based on in‐depth interviews with a purposive sample of 10 child welfare workers who are mothers (of 2–4 children aged 2–23 years). The data analysis illustrates how the professional identity and the maternal identity of the child welfare officer fluctuate between two positions. The first is ‘anxious motherhood’ in which anxiety is the prism through which the welfare officer views the world as dangerous for her children, stimulating protective, control‐enhancing actions. The second position is reflective motherhood in which the welfare worker struggles with her own stresses and conflicts as a mother and searches for an experience of meaningful, positive motherhood. The findings reinforce the need to raise the consciousness of child welfare officers regarding the impact of encountering distress and trauma on their own well‐being as parents. In this way, they can prevent secondary traumatization and enhance professional and maternal growth.     

Cross-Cultural Validation of the Child Abuse Potential Inventory in Finland: Preliminary Findings of the Study Among Parents Expecting a Baby

ABSTRACT

In order to decrease physical child abuse, measures to recognize parents' abuse potential are needed. In this article, cross-cultural validation of the Child Abuse Potential (CAP) Inventory, an American measure was used to screen child abuse potential in families. Data were collected in 2012 from Finnish families expecting a baby at maternity and child welfare clinics. The data come from 380 families, including 375 mothers and 303 spouses. The validation was conducted separately for mothers and spouses and was based on basic psychometric properties, such as reliability estimates, abuse scale construct validity, and the abuse scale factor structure. The internal consistency of the abuse scale was high among both the mothers and the spouses. There were some differences in abuse construct validity and the abuse scale factor structure compared to the original measure, which was written in English and tested in an American sample. Those differences were, however, similar to those found by other studies that used translated versions of the inventory. In summary, the CAP Inventory was found to be a valid screening tool for professionals to assess parents' child abuse potential in Finnish service settings, and therefore its implementation is recommended in maternity and child welfare clinics. The validation supports the cross-cultural use of the CAP Inventory and future research on the subject.     

How is ‘welfare‐to‐work’ shaped by contingencies of economy,welfare policy and human capital?

This research weighed the impact made by the economy, welfare policy and human capital on unemployed welfare mothers in the USA. Specifically, it asked how welfare mothers' employment status, poverty status, and enrolment for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) are affected by these three factors. Longitudinal data from the Survey of Income Program Participation (SIPP) provided a sample of TANF mothers. The SIPP data shed light on modes of economic adaptation exhibited by these mothers. Event history analysis was applied to the data (for years 1996–2000), and results were obtained showing that restrictive welfare policies combined with high unemployment can boost the number of working poor Americans by severing them from TANF. Human capital contingencies – which here comprised development of the sample's occupational skills, work experience and education – helped TANF mothers gain employment and even leave welfare. Some were able to do so and live above the poverty level. Social support, especially family support, was another factor included in this study that was found to be of some use to unemployed mothers in terms of finding work. Results bear several implications for TANF policy.