“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.     

The Perceptions of Welfare Reform by Michigan Families Whose Children Have Disabilities and Welfare Caseworkers

Abstract

This article examines family and caseworker perceptions of welfare reform and services as they relate to families who have a child with a disability. Interviews were conducted with 39 families and 77 caseworkers. Family questions addressed their perceptions of the welfare system, factors impacting their self-sufficiency, and their perceptions of needed program changes. Caseworker questions addressed their perceptions of welfare practices and policies and their education needs related to serving families who have children with disabilities. Familial perceptions of the welfare system were validated by caseworker reports. Implications for service improvement are discussed.     

The place of “think family” approaches in child and family social work: Messages from a process evaluation of an English pathfinder service

Findings are reported from a process study of an English multi-disciplinary team working with families with long standing and complex problems. The approaches and methods of the team are described and placed in the context of UK policy developments and of UK and USA research on professional practice with families facing multiple difficulties. Basic data are provided on all families referred in the first year and analysed with respect to the first 100 completed cases. A broadly ethnographic research approach is used for the observational study of the team interactions and decision-making on individual cases. For a one-third sub-sample of 33 cases, process and interim outcome data are analysed from information systematically extracted from case records. These are complemented by qualitative data from interviews with managers and caseworkers and by observation of ‘team around the family’ and professionals' meetings. The researchers conclude that the service succeeds in engaging a majority of the referred families who have been hard to reach or hard to change in the past and whose children are either ‘on the edge of care’ or likely to be significantly harmed without the provision of an intensive service. The researchers concluded that improvements were made in the life chances of children in 75% of the families. Aspects of the service identified as associated with more positive outcomes are: the allocation of two key workers (one for the child/ren and one for the parent/s); the centrality of relationship-based practice and flexibility of the approach rather than strict adherence to any particular practice model; the fact that the service is firmly embedded within the statutory children's services department, allowing for continuity of relationships with team around the family members when the intensive service ends; and flexibility about case duration and intensity.     

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.     

An innovative child welfare pilot initiative: Results and outcomes

Successful family reunification is achieved only about 50% of the time when children are in foster care. Parents' ability to access and complete court ordered services are paramount in determining whether the family can achieve reunification. However, the research on how to best facilitate service access and utilization are sparse. A matched sample of 100 families with no prior child welfare involvement and at least one child in out of home care were selected from Department of Children and Family closed administrative case files. This study compared 48 families who received traditional child welfare services to 48 families who received a Family First model intervention (PFFP) from a large urban public child welfare agency. The independent variables were the elements that distinguished the Family First model from traditional child welfare services and included the number of caseworkers for the life of the case, caseload size, and service needs met through community partnerships. The dependent variables were the stability of the children's out of home placement, the time to reunification, the length of agency involvement, the stability of reunification at one year follow up, subsequent substantiated child maltreatment reports one year after the cases were closed, the distance a placement location was from the home of the family at intake, the match between identified needs and the timely access of services. Hierarchal regression and survival models were constructed to examine elements of the intervention for their impact on family outcomes. The results suggested that a community partnership model that incorporated family engagement, enhanced service provider accessibility, reduced caseloads, one caseworker for each family, are associated with successful reunification outcomes. Moreover, the intervention families were more likely to have their needs met with clinical or economic services, experienced fewer days in out-of-home placement, shorter involvement with the agency, reduced placement moves and were more likely to be reunified sooner compared to the group who received standard child welfare services. At one year follow up, the intervention families also had fewer substantiated child maltreatment reports and children were more likely to be living in the parental home. Implications for policy, research and practice are presented.     

Barriers and facilitators to delivering effective mental health practice strategies for youth and families served by the child welfare system

While the gap between need for and access to mental health services is well documented among children of color in foster care, little is known about why they are sustained. To illuminate barriers of service delivery, thirty-six caseworkers participated in one of five focus group meetings in a large urban Mid-Atlantic City. Ground Theory Methods revealed that there are barriers and facilitators at the macro, meso, and micro practice orientations. At the macro-level, development of effective practice strategies and proximity to effective services are likely to influence dissemination of effective practices. Secondly, at the meso-level, job support is needed to facilitate awareness, but for case managers to feel supported, they need effective training and opportunities to facilitate interagency collaboration. Finally, at the micro-level, cultural competence largely impacts implementation of effective practices. However, increased awareness around the social ills of stigma and the salience of “insider work” are needed to increase cultural competence. A “downstream” effect in which there are numerous barriers identified at the macro level has a direct negative impact on organizational capacity and readiness to deliver and engage youth and families in mental health services served by the child welfare system. Findings underscore the need for child welfare agencies to build supports at the macro, meso, and micro practice levels to ameliorate mental health service disparities.     

Integrating Couple Teamwork Conversations Into Child Welfare Practice

This article summarizes the importance of and challenges to addressing couple teamwork issues in the child welfare population. Although there is substantial evidence to support the importance of healthy adult relationships for child well-being and the prevention of child maltreatment, there are a number of barriers to addressing these couple relationships in child welfare. These barriers include diverse family configurations and uncertain relationship commitments, the individual presentation of maltreatment, and worker discomfort with these issues. Additionally, there are few relationship programs designed specifically for low income individuals, and a number of policy and environmental constraints affect couple relationships in this population. However, building upon a comprehensive practice model for child welfare known as Solution Based Casework, this article describes casework skills to initiate and maintain couple teamwork conversations. These initiation skills include assessing patterns in everyday life, building partnerships with families, normalizing and externalizing problems, and tracking interactional sequences related to parent teamwork. The maintenance skills described include maintaining a common language, utilizing family team meetings, recognizing small steps of change, keeping treatment providers on track, and making the most of setbacks. These practical guidelines will assist child welfare professionals with building couple teamwork for child protection.     

Fathers in child welfare: caseworkers' perspectives

Five focus groups substantially agreed about the lack of paternal participation in child welfare services and the reasons for low paternal involvement. The groups had considerable disagreement about whether child welfare professionals should address this issue. Some caseworkers believed that all fathers and mothers should be treated identically with respect to services to be offered and time frames for services; other caseworkers thought that the special circumstances of some fathers, such as lack of child care experience, called for service approaches that differ from those for mothers. Another disagreement was whether more fathers would be more involved if services were gender sensitive, that is, if agencies provided male caseworkers for fathers and had father-only services. Much of the debate focused on pragmatic considerations (would gender-sensitive services improve paternal participation and outcomes?), although some participants were concerned about equity (would such services give fathers an advantage in disputed custody cases?).     

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.     

A Three-Pronged Approach to Addressing Racial Disproportionality and Disparities in Child Welfare: The Santa Clara County Example of Leadership, Collaboration and Data-Driven Decisions

Disproportionality and disparities in the treatment of children of color has been a growing concern in the child welfare system. System stakeholders have begun to recognize the problem through data, which help identify discrepancies within their jurisdictions. Nationally, the primary concern is the overrepresentation of African American children within the child welfare system, where African Americans represent proportions of the foster population at a level more than twice as high as they are represented in the community at large. In some jurisdictions, however, this is only one piece of the disproportionality concern. San Jose, for example, has both an overrepresentation of African American and an overrepresentation of Hispanic children in the child welfare system. Because San Jose’s child welfare population is unique, they have had to take a unique approach to addressing these concerns. This article outlines strategies and tools used to begin reducing disproportionality within the child welfare and juvenile dependency court system, using San Jose’s experience as an example. Some of the key approaches to addressing disproportionality include ensuring a systems approach (creating a Cross Agency Systems Team that prioritizes services for parents and children in various systems, e.g., mental health, substance abuse, etc.); addressing disproportionality from multiple perspectives and examining the roles’ of caseworkers, supervisors, service providers, judges, and attorneys; gaining community and system stakeholder buy-in by maintaining momentum and providing opportunities for dialogue about the complex issues facing families of color; using a data-driven approach to inform ongoing initiatives and changes in policy and practice (e.g., closely examining policies and practices such as the frequency of recommendations to by-pass reunification services); and implementing changes in practice at multiple levels including child welfare and on the bench. The examination of San Jose’s approach reveals challenges, successes, and lessons learned.     

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.     

Family preservation or child safety? Associations between child welfare workers' experience,position, and perspectives

In child welfare, there is sometimes a false dichotomy between child safety and family preservation. In an evaluation of Family Group Decision Making in four child welfare jurisdictions, worker surveys were administered to caseworkers, supervisors, program directors, and program coordinators asking about worker perceptions, demographics, organizational culture and climate, and job characteristics. The surveys contained the Dalgleish Scale, an instrument designed to measure the perspectives of workers across the continuum of child safety versus family preservation beliefs. Assessing a number of worker characteristics, an analysis of the Dalgleish Scale revealed that staff who have worked in child welfare longer are more likely to be oriented toward family preservation, whereas staff working in the field for a shorter time period or rating the shared vision among staff higher are more likely to be oriented toward child safety. Evidence has demonstrated that caseworkers' perspectives influence disposition decision making, and that child and family outcomes, such as maltreatment recurrence or out-of-home placement, are not solely determined by family and case characteristics. The potential utility of developing a better understanding of staff orientation has implications for organizational culture, compliance with policy mandates, workforce development, and most importantly, outcomes for child welfare-involved families.     

Case workers in family court: A therapeutic jurisprudence analysis

This study explores interactions between judges and caseworkers in child maltreatment cases. We examined the extent to which judges demonstrated therapeutic jurisprudence principles (TJ) in their courtroom interactions in light of past findings linking such practices with positive outcomes. Ninety-four child maltreatment proceedings were observed over a one-year period between 2012 and 2013. We found that while some judges created respectful, empathetic, and supportive environments that included caseworkers, other interactions were more negative. Although caseworkers had the most knowledge of, and experience with families, their participation was limited, and conversations were often directed through the attorneys. Shaming rituals also occurred, with judges criticizing workers for the quality of their work, the slowness of the bureaucracy, and other deficiencies. The findings highlight the importance of applying the principles of TJ to all court actors, especially in the family court milieu, where courtrooms are populated by a team of professionals who share the common goal of rehabilitating families when appropriate.     

Association of caregiver social support with the safety,permanency, and well-being of children in child welfare

Focusing on families having contact with the child welfare system, this study aims to assess whether caregiver social support is associated with the three primary child welfare goals: child safety, permanency and well-being. The study uses a national probability sample of children having contact with the child welfare system and a prospective study design. It includes both caregiver and caseworker indicators of social support. Consistent with previous research, study results suggest that different indicators of caregiver social support are associated with different child welfare outcomes. Notably, when caregivers were more satisfied with their social support and caseworkers rated caregiver social support as adequate, children were less likely to be placed out of the home. Also, caregivers who had more people to call on for support rated their children as having less severe behavior problems. Implications for practice are addressed.     

Foster youth emancipating from care: caseworkers' reports on needs and services

This article presents findings from a survey mailed to caseworkers, who answered questions about special needs, independent living skills, educational attainment, and services for 416 randomly selected foster youth in Illinois. A third of the adolescents had a mental health disorder, developmental disability, or other special need that their caseworkers believed would interfere with their ability to live independently. Additionally, urban youth were underserved relative to other youth. Youth with more behavior problems and educational and job skill deficits were less likely than other youth to continue to receive child welfare services past age 18, suggesting that services must be provided throughout adolescence to meet the needs of the most vulnerable clients.     

Open Road or Blind Alley? Welfare Reform, Mothers, and Children with Disabilities

Welfare reform was examined for 39 Michigan families whose children have significant health or intellectual and behavioral disabilities. As a group, these families received little specialized assistance or services to address their unique needs. Family-cited barriers to self-sufficiency included poorly trained welfare caseworkers, limited public transportation, and inadequate child care. Having an older child was the only discriminating variable between working and non-working mothers. However, working mothers only had temporary positions with no benefits and low pay. All families, whether employed or not, lived below the poverty line.     

Housing problems experienced by recipients of child welfare services

This study uses data on the experiences of families involved with child welfare services to examine the nature of housing problems and needs among these families and whether housing status affects case outcomes. First, the article describes the housing difficulties faced by two distinct child welfare service populations: families receiving voluntary in-home services and families with children in court-ordered out-of-home care. Second, the study demonstrates the relationship between housing problems and the likelihood of family reunification for children in out-of-home care. The findings have implications for the delivery of child welfare services and the provision of housing assistance to low-income families with children.     

Strategies for improving child welfare services for families of color: First findings of a community-based initiative in Los Angeles

A disproportionate number of families served in child welfare are families of color. But relatively few strategies for helping families of color have been monitored for their impact. This article reports early findings from a Los Angeles County based public child welfare office that has continuously developed, tracked, and has now begun to assess strategies supporting preservation and reunification of families of color. Some promising trends revealed by a four year data period include the reduction of number of African-American children within the caseload, reductions in substantiated referrals and removals. The most recently developed strategy, which uses specialized four person case management teams, was evaluated through the use of a comparison group. Public agency data revealed that families served by the team, compared with families served through customary agency services, had improved outcomes, including a higher percentage of cases closed with the child remaining in the home, and greater permanency exits from foster care. Additionally the data revealed that the case management team developed to mitigate disproportionality among African-American families also improved outcomes for Hispanic/Latino families.