Social work and artefacts: social workers' use of objects in client relations

Social workers' use of physical objects—i.e. artefacts such as paper, computers and plastic models—in client relations is rarely investigated. Most often, research focus is on interpersonal relations, user groups, professional skills and treatment methods in social work. In a study of decision-making tools and their impact on caseworkers' decision making, examples were found of caseworkers using artefacts in client relations. This paper presents these findings and discusses the purposes for which the caseworkers use artefacts. The empirical data consist of 30 qualitative interviews with caseworkers from a study of three different decision-making tools used in eldercare, employment services and child protection in Danish municipalities. The analysis shows that the caseworkers are concerned with the issue of how to justify the questions they ask clients and their assessment of clients. Job counsellors use artefacts to justify sensitive questions, for instance, questions concerning substance abuse. Family counsellors use artefacts as proof that they are guided by a model rather than making up the questions themselves. The caseworkers who grant homecare service use artefacts when rejecting an application.     

Teaching social workers to use psychological assessment data

Psychological assessments of children and parents are frequently used by social service caseworkers when making case planning decisions. Often, however, the two disciplines--psychology and social work--have difficulty collaborating in and coordinating their respective work. Caseworkers may lack formal training in how to understand and use psychological reports. Psychologists may lack formal training in forensic assessment and in understanding the constraints of the social service and child welfare systems. This article describes how caseworkers may become more sophisticated consumers of psychological assessments, and how collaborative relationships between evaluating psychologists and caseworkers can be fostered.     

What is the purpose? Caseworkers’ perception of performance information

Caseworkers in welfare organisations play a pivotal part in the production of performance information (PI), since the information they record determines the quality of the PI. Previous studies have demonstrated how tasks that are considered illegitimate are stressful for the professionals performing them and are not performed properly. Caseworkers’ perception of the PI, which their recordings feed into, must therefore be of great importance with regard to how the caseworkers perform the task of recording. From a qualitative study of the production and use of PI in municipal disability services in Denmark, we gained insight into how caseworkers perceived the purposes of PI. We conclude that PI used in the planning of services to meet clients’ needs is recognised as a legitimate purpose. The distance between the manager and caseworkers seems to be important for the degree of understanding of the purpose of the tasks: The shorter the distance, the more understanding. Furthermore, caseworkers also see more subjective purposes of doing the recordings properly. Firstly, it makes management aware of the size of their workload. Secondly, the recordings serve as a documentation tool, which can be useful when clients file complaints.     

“Like a marriage”: Partnering with peer mentors in child welfare

A growing number of child welfare programs have incorporated peer mentors – individuals in long-term recovery from substance use disorders – into their service delivery models. Whereas existing literature suggests the collaboration between peer mentors and child protective service workers brings both opportunities and challenges, few studies have described these experiences from the perspectives of mentors, caseworkers, and supervisors. Understanding how these team members experience partnership is critical for the further evaluation and development of mentor models in child welfare. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of mentors, caseworkers, and supervisors working through an integrated team model in Kentucky. A qualitative approach was used, combining a phenomenological lens with constructivist grounded theory analysis techniques. Our results indicate that successful partnerships between mentors, caseworkers, and supervisors involve four processes: sharing a common vision, developing working relationships, learning with open-mindedness, and identifying the benefits of partnership. These findings have implications for practitioners in a variety of child welfare settings, particularly those interested in developing and training teams for peer mentor integration.     

Can Machine Learning Create an Advocate for Foster Youth?

ABSTRACT

Statistics are bleak for youth aging out of the United States foster care system. They are often left with few resources, are likely to experience homelessness, and are at increased risk of incarceration and exploitation. The Think of Us platform is a service for foster youth and their advocates to create personalized goals and access curated content specific to aging out of the foster care system. In this article, we propose the use of a machine learning algorithm within the Think of Us platform to better serve youth transitioning to life outside of foster care. The algorithm collects and collates publicly available figures and data to inform caseworkers and other mentors chosen by the youth on how to best assist foster youth. It can then provide valuable resources for the youth and their advocates targeted directly toward their specific needs. Finally, we examine machine learning as a support system and aid for caseworkers to buttress and protect vulnerable young adults during their transition to adulthood.     

A qualitative study of collaboration between guardians ad litem and caseworkers in the child welfare system

Various agencies and professionals in the child welfare system work together to prevent and treat child maltreatment. Prior research suggests their ability to collaborate is related to outcomes for children and families and agencies often implement strategies to improve collaboration. However, a review of the literature indicated a lack of research on collaboration between Guardians ad litem (GALs) and child protective services caseworkers. Examination of this relationship is warranted considering federal law mandates GALs be appointed for children in all court-involved child protection cases. This qualitative study begins to address this gap by exploring the GAL perspective on factors that promote or inhibit collaboration between themselves and caseworkers. Interviews were conducted with 12 GALs in a mountain region state. Participants emphasized five individual-level factors that impact the frequency and quality of collaboration with caseworkers. These include frequent and open communication, mutual respect, understanding the other's role and responsibilities, having an open mind, and valuing collaboration. Participants described in detail how these factors facilitate collaboration despite the organizational and systemic obstacles to working together. The findings may help explain why collaboration does not necessarily occur in frontline practice despite the presence of organizational policies and procedures intending to improve collaboration. These findings have several implications for improving GAL–caseworker collaboration in order to better serve children and families in the child welfare system.     

Talking about return. Governmental caseworkers' regulative,normative and cultural-cognitive strategies during “return conversations” with irregularised migrants

Caseworkers of the Repatriation and Departure Service (DT&V), responsible for enforcing return orders in the Netherlands, systematically orchestrate “return conversations” with rejected asylum seekers and apprehended irregular migrants in hopes of realising the return of their “clients” without physical force. Based on semi-structured interviews, we analyse which strategies the caseworkers use under which conditions and what they think about their strategies' (in)effectiveness. The analysis is informed by Scott's institutional theory and Lipsky's concept of street-level bureaucracy. Our results show that caseworkers prefer regulative strategies but are under organisational pressure to also use normative and cultural-cognitive strategies, especially when migrants cannot be deported. According to the caseworkers, these cases are often the most labour-intensive and the normative and cultural-cognitive arguments used are considered rarely successful. Also, these arguments seem to conflict with their social norms and cultural-cognitive beliefs. We develop three hypotheses which can be used in future research.     

Child welfare workers: who they are and how they view the child welfare system

This article examines the characteristics of child welfare caseworkers, their views of the child welfare system, their clients, their agency of employment, and child welfare policies, and whether these views vary according to caseworkers' characteristics. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze in-depth interviews conducted with caseworkers in New York and Chicago. The major themes that emerged from the analysis indicate caseworkers believed that the child welfare system does not meet the needs of the children in care, lacks the resources to appropriately serve clients, and often establishes goals that cannot be attained by the biological parents. Caseworkers held negative views of the biological parents and, although most described their organization as well equipped, almost as many reported that their organization lacked technical, administrative, and personnel resources. Caseworkers' views of child welfare policies emphasized the need for reforming the system and reevaluating funding priorities.     

Child welfare caseworkers' perspectives on the challenges of addressing mental health problems in early childhood

Although nearly half of child maltreatment victims are under the age of five and at high risk for developing serious emotional or behavioral problems, few young children involved in the child welfare system receive treatment. As the first point of service contact, child welfare caseworkers can play a key role in quickly identifying children with mental health problems and linking them to services. This study examines caseworkers' perspectives on the challenges of addressing mental health problems in early childhood. Based on five focus groups conducted with 50 caseworkers from an urban, public child welfare agency, results suggest that although workers acknowledge the importance of early intervention, difficulty identifying mental health needs in early childhood and workplace barriers impede linkage to services. Given the lasting impacts of early experiences on children's development, it is imperative that these challenges be addressed. Implications for systematic mental health screening and caseworker training are discussed.     

“Parents need a village”: Caseworkers' perceptions of the challenges faced by single parents of system-involved youth

Drawing upon the lived experience of juvenile justice caseworkers, this phenomenological study aimed to describe the challenges faced by single parents with children in the custody of the juvenile justice system, and how parenting practices are affected. Ten caseworkers were interviewed, from which the following essence emerged: “Parents need a village.” Five themes supported and contextualized this essence by detailing how challenges not only fall along each level of the Ecological Model, but also interact with one another, leaving parents with a profound sense of powerlessness and detachment from their children, themselves, and their futures. This study underscores that stakeholders combating youth violence must take an ecological approach in their efforts to support parents. Interventions should target neighborhood and individual needs, such as employment, housing, crime, service accessibility, and mental health problems, while simultaneously addressing issues of classism and racism that trap parents in cycles of poverty and violence.     

Case Management for Community Practice

This article concerns an approach to supervision for statutory youth casework. The model involves caseworkers recording a video of their meetings with their clients and sending it to an external supervisor. The supervisor selects video clips. They then hold an online meeting where they review the clips, and the supervisor gives feedback based on a standardized model. The caseworker then uses the feedback in their future practice and the cycle is repeated. 16 statutory youth caseworkers and 6 supervisors from three municipalities in Denmark participated in semi-structured interviews regarding their experiences with the video supervision and feedback model. The interviews focused on facilitating and inhibiting factors with regard to the use of the model. A thematic analysis was conducted. Communication regarding the law, giving clients space to find their voice, and paying heed to how each relationship was progressing were emphasized as central focus points. Advice had to be concrete and achievable and come from supervisors with statutory experience. Participants highlighted the significance of viewing practice directly via video footage. Film clips used for feedback needed to be short and well chosen. The technology, logistics and infrastructure, including management support, were important. Findings were used to develop the model.     

Facilitating Mental Health Service Use for Caregivers: Referral Strategies among Child Welfare Caseworkers

Unmet needs for mental health care are common among caregivers involved in the child welfare system. Although child welfare caseworkers are well positioned to identify service needs and refer caregivers to treatment, little is known about the types of referral strategies used in practice, or their effectiveness for promoting mental health service use. The current study examined child welfare caseworkers' use of different referral strategies and the extent to which these strategies are associated with caregivers' receipt of mental health services within a national sample of child welfare cases. Analyses of the second cohort of families from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being suggest that child welfare workers more often use informational strategies for referring caregivers, including suggesting treatment or providing information about treatment options. However, social referral strategies such as providing caregivers with direct assistance in completing applications and making and attending appointments were associated with a greater likelihood of caregivers receiving mental health services. Findings support evidence from other service contexts that service use is facilitated by caseworkers' direct support for arranging services. Implications for research and for child welfare managers and administrators are discussed.     

The MySocialworker app system – a pilot interview study

An app system was developed in Denmark by caseworkers and clients from three municipalities, a software company, and a University College. The app system enabled young clients to track their wellbeing, positive behaviours, disturbances in their lives, and their experiences of interventions on smartphones. Statutory caseworkers could follow the change in their client’s situation and have an overview of all their clients on a web interface. This article describes the system and the results of a pilot qualitative interview study with six young clients. Clients used the app to reflect on their lives, to set specific personal goals and to remember their goals. The young clients also used the app to monitor changes in how they had been doing overall and as a reminder to keep up specific behaviours that were counterintuitive. The app became an integral part of the young clients’ relationship with their caseworker. The app was a lens that the client and the caseworker used to explore specific aspects of the client’s life. The app itself also became a joint venture, a shared point of interest. The app strengthened the young persons’ relationship with their caseworker, but there was also concern about whether they might become too close.     

Evaluating Training to Promote Critical Thinking Skills for Determining Children’s Safety

This study examined changes in training participants’ satisfaction with the instruction, knowledge gain, transfer of new skills, and beliefs about family involvement and engagement in working with families to help ensure children have safety. One hundred and forty-five practitioners participated in the training. Findings revealed shifts in knowledge and use of certain kinds of safety and risk assessment. Qualitative training feedback revealed that caseworkers and supervisors are now talking more about their practice and how they are trying new strategies to help children and families rather than how they complete a list of procedural tasks. The combination of workshop-based training followed by agency-based coaching appears to be a promising approach to professional learning in this practice area of child welfare.     

The Relationship Between Caseworker Assessments of Clients’ Social Networks and Child Welfare Placement Outcomes

Policy changes in Ontario, Canada, emphasized the role of social supports as a protective measure for children at risk. The authors examined the relationship between worker assessments of total number and type of social support and whether an infant is removed from the mother’s care. Analyses indicated that infants were less likely to be removed from the mother’s care when caseworkers viewed maternal social supports as positive. This association was strongest when the caseworker identified only positive supports, with nonnegative contacts. Results suggest that caseworkers’ distinctions between positive and nonpositive social networks influence removal decisions.     

A typology of supervision in child welfare: Multilevel latent class and confirmatory analyses of caseworker–supervisor relationship type

Based on survey data collected from 1460 public- and private-agency child welfare caseworkers in Illinois, this study examines the nature of child welfare supervisory relationships by empirically identifying a discrete set of modal caseworker–supervisor relationship types as defined by a combination of positive and negative supervisory support. This study also examines the degree to which differences in the nature of caseworker–supervisor relationships are attributable, respectively, to supervisors, supervisor–caseworker dyads, and agency settings. Results suggest the existence of qualitatively distinct caseworker–supervisor relationship types that coalesce into discrete mixtures of relationship types at the supervisory team level. In contrast, results suggest that little, if any, of the overall variability in supervisory relationship type is attributable to the agency level. Findings concerning the interrelationships among relationship type and caseworkers' job satisfaction and perceptions of their work environment underscore the salience of individual caseworker–supervisor dyads, and suggest the importance of relationship building as means to improve the effectiveness of supervision.     

Gender Differences and Communication Technology Use Among Emerging Adults in the Initiation of Dating Relationships

For many emerging adults, initiating and developing a romantic relationship is likely to be very different from the experiences of previous generations. Many studies address the abundant use of technology among young adults in virtually every aspect of their lives. Few studies, however, have investigated the use of communication technology and its impact on how relationships are discovered, initiated, and maintained among this group. Researchers collected data from 1,003 young adults (ages 18–25 years) through an online survey about communication technology use and dating behaviors. Results were analyzed using chi-square tests to assess for differences between groups. Findings suggest significant differences between men and women and their use of communication technology during the initiation of dating relationships. Additionally, young adults believe that “talking,” “hanging out,” and “sharing intimate details” are more important when compared with using communication technologies to establish a relationship. The information yields valuable understanding about the role communication technology plays in the intimate relationship development of emerging adults.     

The Reunification Partnership: Engaging Birth Parents and Foster Carers as Collaborators in Restoration Casework

Collaboration is recognised as a key factor influencing the success of efforts to reunite children with their family following a protective intervention and a period in out-of-home care. Until now, little research has explored the possibilities of collaboration in this context, especially between parents and foster carers. This qualitative, interpretive study asked child protection caseworkers involved in restoration cases about their perceptions, perspectives, and experiences of collaboration between parents and carers. In-depth interviews were conducted with six caseworkers from five locations in New South Wales. The study found that caseworkers identified factors that influence the development of collaboration. These factors include trust, motivation and willingness, knowledge, and agreement. They also described strategies for promoting these factors in their casework. The research highlighted that a collaborative relationship between parents and carers can be facilitated through casework practice that considers certain factors and that strategically addresses the barriers to collaboration.     

Substance use behaviors by parents and the decision to substantiate child physical abuse and neglect by caseworkers

The changing policy landscape with regards to marijuana and a growing epidemic related to opioid misuse may affect caseworkers' decisions to substantiate maltreatment involving use of those two substances. This study examined whether caseworkers factor marijuana and opioid use, including whether or not the drug was medically prescribed, into substantiation decisions. In this study, each respondent (n = 467) was given two vignettes (one for neglect and one for physical abuse) with one of five drug use conditions. Logistic regression models showed that any drug use was related to higher odds of substantiating neglect. Only illicit opioid or marijuana use was positively related to substantiating physical abuse. Any substance use may impair a parent's functioning and be interpreted as placing a child in greater risk for potential harm from neglect. For physical abuse, caseworkers may view illicit substance use as participating in a deviant behavior making physical abuse seem more likely.