Investing to Protect Our Children: Using Economics to Derive an Evidence‐based Strategy

Child abuse and neglect are global problems that affect over 25 per cent of children and have serious health, social and economic consequences. Government and other agencies are heavily committed to the provision of services to address the consequences of abuse and neglect. In a climate of scarce resources, there is increasing interest in developing cost‐effective strategies to prevent child maltreatment. Economic evaluation in the context of formal ‘priority setting’ can contribute to the development of an efficient child protection strategy and at the same time develop the arguments to support an increased investment in the prevention of child maltreatment. Key challenges arise from incompleteness of the evidence base of effective interventions and the considerable complexity of the cross‐portfolio effects. The latter has resulted in the widespread failure to capture the full range of impacts, most notably intergenerational effects, quality of life and mortality. This means the benefits of investing in effective preventive strategies to address child maltreatment will be underestimated and too few resources allocated to this important task. Adoption of the proposed priority‐setting framework and translation into action are likely to reduce child maltreatment and associated harms for children at risk now and in the future. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Citing Literature

Number of times cited: 7

• Inga Wagenknecht, Uta Meier-Gräwe and Ute Ziegenhain , Kosten und Nutzen Früher Hilfen - aktuelle Erkenntnisse und zukünftiger Forschungsbedarf/ Economic efficiency of early intervention – current findings and future need for research , Kindesmisshandlung und -vernachlässigung , 18 , 1 , (10) , (2015) . Crossref
• Nicole RS Boyer, Kathleen A Boyd, Fiona Turner-Halliday, Nicholas Watson and Helen Minnis , Examining the feasibility of an economic analysis of dyadic developmental psychotherapy for children with maltreatment associated psychiatric problems in the United Kingdom , BMC Psychiatry , 14 , 1 , (2014) . Crossref
• Madeleine Stevens, Lucy Harris, Megan Ellis, Crispin Day and Jennifer Beecham , Investigating changes in use of services by high‐need families following the Helping Families Programme, an innovative parenting intervention for children with severe and persistent conduct problems , Child and Adolescent Mental Health , 19 , 3 , (185-191) , (2013) . Wiley Online Library
• Madeleine Stevens , The cost-effectiveness of UK parenting programmes for preventing children's behaviour problems - a review of the evidence , Child & Family Social Work , 19 , 1 , (109) , (2014) . Crossref
• Sarah Skeen and Mark Tomlinson , A public health approach to preventing child abuse in low- and middle-income countries: A call for action , International Journal of Psychology , 48 , 2 , (108) , (2013) . Crossref
• Peter Sidebotham , Safeguarding in an Age of Austerity , Child Abuse Review , 21 , 5 , (313-317) , (2012) . Wiley Online Library
• , Public Health Approaches to Safeguarding Children , Child Abuse Review , 20 , 4 , (231-237) , (2011) . Wiley Online Library

Volume 20 , Issue 4 July/August 2011

Pages 274-289     

Child‐Care Usage and Mother‐Infant “Quality Time”

Mothers' time‐use patterns were compared in families in which infants spent more than 30 hours per week in child care (In‐Care group; n= 143) versus 0 hours per week (At‐Home group; n= 183) from birth to 6 months of age. In‐Care group mothers spent about 12 fewer hours per week interacting with their infants, for about 32% less time; fathers of these infants were more involved in caregiving. The groups did not differ in the quality of mother‐infant interaction. In the In‐Care group, quantity of interaction was related to greater separation anxiety and concerns about effects of maternal employment. Time‐use data were not related to child outcomes at 15 months of age. Results suggest that the effect of extensive time spent apart on the quantity and quality of mother‐infant interaction may be smaller than anticipated.     

Peer Exploitation: Findings from a Romanian National Representative Sample of Children Living in Long‐Term Residential Centres

This study emphasises different facets of peer exploitation awareness and experience identified in closed‐type institutions, including a couple of abusive behaviours that have not been previously identified in long‐term residential centres.

‘Emphasises different facets of peer exploitation awareness and experience identified in closed‐type institutions’

A national representative sample of 1391 children (743 boys and 648 girls) seven to 20 years of age living in 44 long‐term residential centres was analysed to identify the prevalence of awareness and experience of peer exploitation. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to identify the predictors of peer exploitation experience. In total, 40.1 per cent of children reported that they were aware of peer exploitation, and 28.5 per cent that they were victims of such exploitation. Additionally, it was shown that (a) children who reported past abuse by a staff member were more likely to be victims of exploitation than those who did not; and (b) an increased number of children in a dorm room predicted a decrease in the odds of peer exploitation experience. This study provides a picture of the developmental environment for children in Romanian orphanages in the late 1990s, prior to subsequent child protection reforms, and underlines the prevalence of exploitation and the risk factors for peer exploitation in closed institutional systems. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Key Practitioner Messages

• Four in ten (40%) institutionalised children reported that they were aware of at least one form of peer exploitation, and nearly three in ten (28.5%) reported experiencing at least some of these types of exploitation practices by their older peers.
• This study highlights the importance of understanding the complex milieu that comprised the daily lives of institutionalised children in Romania, including an environment that consisted of physical abuse by institution staff and awareness and experiences of exploitation.

     

The Impact of Multiple Risk Factors on Young Children's Cognitive and Behavioural Development

The paper maps out 10 risk factors measuring deficits in parent–child interaction, family–child interaction and the home environment. The prevalence of risk factor combinations is quantified using the UK Millennium Cohort Study data. In 2001, 28 per cent of families with young children were facing two or more risk factors at age 9–10 months old. Each combination of multiple risk factors accounted for a very small proportion of all MCS families. Specific risk factors were associated with particular developmental outcomes at age 5 and with changes from age 3 to age 5, but all leading to worse outcomes. The great diversity of risk‐factor combinations and their very small prevalence make the tasks of identifying such families and defining eligibility for support very difficult for policy‐makers. These results support the large body of policy literature advocating early intervention to improve children's development.     

Infant Trafficking and Baby Factories: A New Tale of Child Abuse in Nigeria

Baby factories are new systematic abuse structures that are promoting infant trafficking, neo‐slavery and the exploitation of young women with unwanted pregnancies in Nigeria. Since this practice was first described in 2006, it has been growing rather than abating. This paper reviews the scientific literature, along with media reports, and critiques this phenomenon from a children's rights' perspective. Children born into baby factories are denied various civil rights. They also suffer abuse in the baby factories and as a consequence of being born in such places. This abuse can be classified into immediate and long term. Immediate abuse includes inadequate care and its repercussions, denial of birth registration, illegal adoption and murder. Long‐term or delayed abuse that they may be exposed to includes health‐related consequences, neglect, death, child labour, prostitution and other sexual abuse, organ trafficking and recruitment as child soldiers. Various factors are thought to drive the baby factory phenomenon which include poverty, high infertility rates and the profitability of local and inter‐country adoptions. Programmes directed at addressing the root cause of the problem are needed in order to eliminate infant trafficking. Also, clear laws that delineate inter‐country adoption and infant trafficking need to be enacted. Most importantly, baby factories need to be recognised as child trafficking routes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

‘New systematic abuse structures that are promoting infant trafficking, neo‐slavery and the exploitation of young women’

Key Practitioner Messages:

• A new type of child abuse and human trafficking that targets infants has emerged in Nigeria in what are described as ‘baby factories’.
• Baby factories are criminal entities that exploit young girls with unwanted pregnancies and the practice is growing.
• Children born in baby factories suffer a range of immediate abuses and are exposed to long-term abuses.
• Baby factories violate several articles in the Convention on the Rights of a Child.

‘Criminal entities that exploit young girls with unwanted pregnancies’

Citing Literature

Number of times cited: 5

• Olga B. A. van den Akker , Cross-Border Surrogacy , Surrogate Motherhood Families , 10.1007/978-3-319-60453-4_8 , (199-230) , (2017) . Crossref
• Olusesan Ayodeji Makinde, Clifford Obby Odimegwu and Stella O. Babalola , Reasons for Infertile Couples Not to Patronize Baby Factories , Health & Social Work , 42 , 1 , (57) , (2017) . Crossref
• Peter Sidebotham , Kneeling on Mung Beans , Child Abuse Review , 25 , 6 , (405-409) , (2017) . Wiley Online Library
• Olusesan Ayodeji Makinde, Olufunmbi Olukemi Makinde, Olalekan Olaleye, Brandon Brown and Clifford O. Odimegwu , Baby factories taint surrogacy in Nigeria , Reproductive BioMedicine Online , 32 , 1 , (6) , (2016) . Crossref
• Olusesan Makinde, Bolanle Olapeju, Osondu Ogbuoji and Stella Babalola , Trends in the completeness of birth registration in Nigeria: 2002-2010 , Demographic Research , 35 , (315) , (2016) . Crossref

Volume 25 , Issue 6 November/December 2016

Pages 433-443     

Perceptions of Children’s Parental Preferences in Lesbian Two‐Mother Households

This study explores how lesbian mothers perceive their 3½‐year‐old children’s parental preferences in families in which one mother is genetically linked to the child. Thirty lesbian couples (60 women) were interviewed about their children’s parental preferences, their explanations of why preferences for one parent existed (or not), and their affective and behavioral reactions to such preferences. Many women acknowledged that their children, as infants, preferred their birth mothers due to biological factors (i.e., breastfeeding) or differential time spent with the child. Despite this initial preference, most women perceived little stability in children’s preferences over time, such that children preferred both mothers equally. Findings support the power of “social motherhood” in fostering maternal connections that transcend biological relatedness over time.     

Child protection: a survey of psychiatrists' knowledge and attitudes

The aim of the study was to examine psychiatrists' knowledge of the child protection process and their attitudes toward child protection training. An anonymous questionnaire survey was sent out to all psychiatric staff in a large psychiatric hospital. The response rate was 72 per cent. Fifty‐seven per cent of respondents had never attended child protection training and 16 per cent thought that it was of no relevance to their position. Significant differences in self‐rated knowledge were identified between those who had attended training and those who had not. Variations in the availability and quality of child protection training may result in psychiatrists not attaining the core knowledge required in order to work effectively as part of the child protection process. Hospital management should work towards prioritising and disseminating local child protection policies and procedures more effectively and consider routine child protection training as part of any new staff induction. The Royal College of Psychiatrists should consider inclusion of child protection in junior staff education programmes and as part of the MRCPsych examination curriculum. Likewise, consideration should be given to enhancing the status of child protection training in continuing professional development programmes for career‐grade psychiatric staff. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Familial Factors Associated With the Use of Multiple Child‐Care Arrangements

This study examined the use of multiple, concurrent, nonparental child‐care arrangements among children under 5 with employed mothers in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N= 759). Older children, those primarily cared for in informal child care, those living in cohabitating or single‐parent households, and those whose mothers were employed for 40 or fewer hours per week were likely to be in multiple arrangements. Higher quality primary child‐care and lower maternal satisfaction with primary care predicted the subsequent use of multiple arrangements. Little support for income differences in selection into multiple arrangements was found. Findings highlight the importance of child‐care characteristics and structure in child‐care choice. Policy implications are discussed.     

Are our Frontline Clinicians Equipped with the Ability and Confidence to Address Child Abuse and Neglect?

Previous studies have suggested that child abuse and neglect (CAN) is under recognised and under reported. Our aims were to examine and compare child protection (CP) knowledge, confidence and practice of frontline clinicians in general practice and hospital settings in South Western Sydney (SWS). We surveyed doctors and nurses in general practice and in the emergency department (ED) in a district in SWS using a validated questionnaire. Of the 113 responses, 62 were general practitioners (GPs), 9 practice nurses, 26 ED nurses and 16 ED doctors. The confidence level with identifying CAN was moderate, with a significant difference between groups. The majority (59%) had made previous CP reports, few suspected but decided not to report; reporting rates differed significantly. A majority (80%) reported some CP training; of the 22 with no training, 21 were GPs and practice nurses. Of those reporting some training, more than 70 per cent of ED nurses, GPs and practice nurses felt their training was inadequate, compared with 19 per cent of ED doctors. There are significant differences in confidence and practice between frontline clinicians in primary care and ED. Targeted CP training should be provided for all frontline clinicians with particular emphasis on primary care GPs. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

‘We surveyed doctors and nurses in general practice and in the emergency department’

‘There are significant differences in confidence and practice between front‐line clinicians in primary care and ED’

Citing Literature

Number of times cited: 12

• Lauren E. Lines, Alison E. Hutton and Julian Grant , Integrative review: nurses' roles and experiences in keeping children safe , Journal of Advanced Nursing , 73 , 2 , (302-322) , (2016) . Wiley Online Library
• Emma Barrett, Suzanne Denieffe, Michael Bergin and Martina Gooney , An exploration of paediatric nurses’ views of caring for infants who have suffered nonaccidental injury , Journal of Clinical Nursing , 26 , 15-16 , (2274-2285) , (2017) . Wiley Online Library
• Louise Everitt, Caroline Homer and Jennifer Fenwick , Working with Vulnerable Pregnant Women Who Are At Risk of Having their Babies Removed by the Child Protection Agency in New South Wales, Australia , Child Abuse Review , 26 , 5 , (351-363) , (2016) . Wiley Online Library
• Stephanie Zielinski, Heather A. Paradis, Pamela Herendeen and Paula Barbel , The Identification of Psychosocial Risk Factors Associated With Child Neglect Using the WE-CARE Screening Tool in a High-Risk Population , Journal of Pediatric Health Care , 31 , 4 , (470) , (2017) . Crossref
• Rick Hood, Jayne Price, Daniele Sartori, Daryl Maisey, Jessica Johnson and Zoe Clark , Collaborating across the threshold: The development of interprofessional expertise in child safeguarding , Journal of Interprofessional Care , 31 , 6 , (705) , (2017) . Crossref
• Tara Flemington, Cathrine Fowler, Quang Nhat Tran and Jennifer Fraser , Clinician Response to Child Abuse Presentations in the Vietnamese Hospital Emergency Setting , Journal of Interpersonal Violence , (088626051771322) , (2017) . Crossref
• Simeon J.A. Visscher and Henk F. van Stel , Variation in prevention of child maltreatment by Dutch child healthcare professionals , Child Abuse & Neglect , 70 , (264) , (2017) . Crossref
• Tara Flemington and Jennifer Fraser , Building workforce capacity to detect and respond to child abuse and neglect cases: A training intervention for staff working in emergency settings in Vietnam , International Emergency Nursing , 34 , (29) , (2017) . Crossref
• Annerley Bates , The Impact of Limited Organisational and Community Resources on Novice Child Protection Workers: A Queensland Example , Child Abuse Review , 24 , 6 , (452-462) , (2013) . Wiley Online Library
• Shanti Raman, Michelle Maiese, Katrina Hurley and David Greenfield , Addressing the Clinical Burden of Child Physical Abuse and Neglect in a Large Metropolitan Region: Improving the Evidence-Base , Social Sciences , 3 , 4 , (771) , (2014) . Crossref
• Peter Sidebotham , Culpability, Vulnerability, Agency and Potential: Exploring our Attitudes to Victims and Perpetrators of Abuse , Child Abuse Review , 22 , 3 , (151-154) , (2013) . Wiley Online Library
• , Perspectives of Neglect , Child Abuse Review , 21 , 2 , (77-80) , (2012) . Wiley Online Library

Volume 21 , Issue 2 March/April 2012

Pages 114-130     

“Right Here is the Gateway”: Mobility,Sex Work Entry and HIV Risk along the Mexico–US Border

Women comprise an increasing proportion of migrants. Many migrate voluntarily for sex work or practise survival sex; others are trafficked for sexual exploitation. To investigate how the context of mobility shapes sex work entry and HIV risk, during 2010 to 2011 we conducted in‐depth interviews with formerly trafficked women currently engaged in sex work (n = 31) in Tijuana and their service providers (n = 7) in Tijuana and San Diego. Women's experiences of coerced and deceptive migration, deportation as forced migration, voluntary mobility, and migration to a risk environment illustrate that circumstances resulting from migration shape vulnerability to sex trafficking, voluntary sex work entry, and HIV risk. Findings suggest an urgent need for public health and immigration policies providing integrated support for deported and/or recently arrived female migrants. Policies to prevent sex trafficking and assist trafficked females must consider the varying levels of personal agency involved in migration and sex work entry.

Policy Implications

• There is a need for coordination between public health and immigration policies to ensure that these are not at odds with one another
• Findings suggest the need for public health and immigration policies that provide integrated support for female migrants, especially trafficked women and girls
• Policy changes are urgently needed to protect deportees' health and promote their social integration
• Policies to prevent sex trafficking and assist trafficked females must consider the range of agencies involved in migration and sex work entry

     

Effect of Low‐Income Unmarried Fathers' Presence at Birth on Involvement

The birth of a child represents a unique window of opportunity to understand and support ongoing father involvement among low‐income unmarried parents. Using data collected as part of a randomized controlled trial of a community‐based home visiting intervention provided to 248 low‐income African American women, a propensity score matching approach was used to estimate the effect of fathers' presence at birth on multiple measures of later father involvement over the first 2 years postpartum. The results indicated that participation in child care activities is the only form of involvement predicted by presence at birth at 4 months, and none of the forms of father involvement measured were predicted at 12 months; however, presence at birth was predictive of all 7 indicators of involvement at 24 months. Engaging fathers in the birth experience may represent an important opportunity to provide services.     

Marriage Advantages in Perinatal Health: Evidence of Marriage Selection or Marriage Protection?

Marriage is a social tie associated with health advantages for adults and their children, as lower rates of preterm birth and low birth weight are observed among married women. In this study the author tested 2 competing hypotheses explaining this marriage advantage—marriage protection versus marriage selection—using a sample of recent births to single, cohabiting, and married women from the National Survey of Family Growth, 2006–2010. Propensity score matching and fixed effects regression results demonstrated support for marriage selection, as a rich set of early life selection factors account for all of the cohabiting–married disparity and part of the single–married disparity. Subsequent analyses demonstrated that prenatal smoking mediates the adjusted single–married disparity in birth weight, lending some support for the marriage protection perspective. The study's findings sharpen our understanding of why and how marriage matters for child well‐being and provide insight into pre‐conception and prenatal factors describing intergenerational transmissions of inequality via birth weight.     

From foster care to juvenile justice: Exploring characteristics of youth in three cities

Children placed in foster care are at risk for becoming involved with the juvenile justice system. This study documents the rates at which children involved with foster care enter the juvenile justice system (crossover or dually involved), and the factors associated with this risk. We utilize multiple birth cohorts and prospective, longitudinal data from birth to maturity separately in three major American cities. Analyses consider integrated administrative records from multiple birth cohorts representing populations in Cook County (Chicago; N = 26,003), Cuyahoga County (Cleveland; N = 10,284), and New York City (N = 13,065). Crossover rates ranged from 7 to 24%. African American males, and children who experienced congregate care were at highest risk for juvenile justice involvement. Older age at first foster care placement signaled progressively greater risk, as did more foster care spells for those first placed as infants. We discuss findings in terms of developmental theory, and as actionable intelligence to inform prevention, practice, and policy.     

Consequences of Teen Parents' Child‐Care Arrangements for Mothers and Children

Using the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (2001–2006; N ?7,900), the authors examined child‐care arrangements among teen parents from birth through prekindergarten. Four latent classes of child care arrangements at 9, 24, and 52 months emerged: (a) “parental care,” (b) “center care,” (c) “paid home‐based care,” and (d) “free kin‐based care.” Disadvantaged teen‐parent families were overrepresented in the “parental care” class, which was negatively associated with children's preschool reading, math, and behavior scores and mothers' socioeconomic and fertility outcomes compared with some nonparental care classes. Nonparental care did not predict any negative maternal or child outcomes, and different care arrangements had different benefits for mothers and children. Time spent in nonparental care and improved maternal outcomes contributed to children's increased scores across domains. Child‐care classes predicted maternal outcomes similarly in teen‐parent and nonteen‐parent families, but the “parental care” class predicted some disproportionately negative child outcomes for teen‐parent families.     

Groupwork for Parents whose Children are in Care: Challenges and Opportunities

Until recently, the focus for child protection in NSW has been on risk assessment, supportive measures for parents, and ‘the best interests of the child’. The needs of the birth families, once their children have been removed have not received the same attention. An emerging body of research indicates a growing awareness of the importance of the link between good outcomes for children in care and positive ongoing links with their birth parents. Biological parents of children who have been removed invariably continue to have parenting relationships, if not with the removed child, then with subsequent birth children, step children and children in their extended family. Service provision for this group of parents is critical given the complexity and scale of their emotional needs, and the implications for the children they will care for. In this paper, we describe one such intervention: Kids in Care, a group program offered at Relationships Australia NSW, and consider the arising issues and dilemmas for both parents and group workers. Developed to address the particular needs of parents whose children have been taken into care, the group creates an environment of acceptance and support. This opens up possibilities for parents to consider issues of grief, stigma and trauma, as well as to develop skills in communication, assertiveness and emotional regulation.     

A Public Health Approach to Child Maltreatment Surveillance: Evidence from a Data Linkage Project in the United States

Historically, data concerning children reported for abuse or neglect in the US have been compiled by child protective service agencies and analysed independently from other sources of information. Yet these data suffer from the notable limitations of being both narrow in scope (i.e. containing a limited set of variables) and narrow in coverage (i.e. capturing data for only those children who are reported). In order to extend an understanding of children reported for maltreatment, the California Department of Social Services, in partnership with the University of California at Berkeley, is pursuing a ‘public health’ oriented approach to the surveillance of child maltreatment through linkages between child protective service records and population‐based sources of data. As an example of the information that can be generated through linked records, this article reports results from child‐level matches completed between the state's child protective service records and vital birth records. The cumulative percentage of children reported for abuse or neglect before the age of five is examined based on maternal and child characteristics at birth. This is followed by a discussion of record linkages as a means of furthering a public health approach to child maltreatment. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Citing Literature

Number of times cited according to CrossRef: 28

• Jared W. Parrish, Julia M. Fleckman, John J. Prindle, Andrea L. Eastman, Lindsey E.G. Weil, Measuring the Incidence of Child Maltreatment Using Linked Data: A Two-State Comparison, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 10.1016/j.amepre.2019.11.007, (2020). Crossref
• Muhammad Chutiyami, Shirley Wyver, Janaki Amin, Is Parent engagement with a child health home-based record influenced by early child development and first-born status? hypotheses from a high-income countries’ perspective, Medical Hypotheses, 10.1016/j.mehy.2020.109605, (109605), (2020). Crossref
• Fred Wulczyn, Race/Ethnicity and Running Away from Foster Care:, Children and Youth Services Review, 10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105504, (105504), (2020). Crossref
• Amy Conley Wright, Melissa Kaltner, Assessing the Outcomes of Alternative Care and Treatment Responses, 5G for Future Wireless Networks, 10.1007/978-3-030-05858-6_3, (35-47), (2019). Crossref
• Katharine W. Buek, David L. Lakey, Dorothy J. Mandell, Paternity establishment at birth and early maltreatment: Risk and protective effects by maternal race and ethnicity, Child Abuse & Neglect, 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104069, 95 , (104069), (2019). Crossref
• A J Mason-Jones, J Loggie, Child sexual exploitation. An analysis of serious case reviews in England: poor communication, incorrect assumptions and adolescent neglect, Journal of Public Health, 10.1093/pubmed/fdy227, (2019). Crossref
• Gia Elise Barboza-Salerno, Examining Spatial Regimes of Child Maltreatment Allegations in a Social Vulnerability Framework, Child Maltreatment, 10.1177/1077559519850340, (107755951985034), (2019). Crossref
• Stacy Ann Hawkins, Kathrine S. Sullivan, Ashley C. Schuyler, Mary Keeling, Sara Kintzle, Paul B. Lester, Carl A. Castro, Thinking “Big” About Research on Military Families, Military Behavioral Health, 10.1080/21635781.2017.1343696, 5 , 4, (335-345), (2017). Crossref
• Gillian Henderson, Christine Jones, Ruth Woods, Sibling birth order, use of statutory measures and patterns of placement for children in public care: Implications for international child protection systems and research, Children and Youth Services Review, 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.10.001, 82 , (321-328), (2017). Crossref
• Steven A. Sumner, Matthew J. Maenner, Christina M. Socias, James A. Mercy, Paul Silverman, Sandra P. Medinilla, Steven S. Martin, Likang Xu, Susan D. Hillis, Sentinel Events Preceding Youth Firearm Violence, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 10.1016/j.amepre.2016.08.002, 51 , 5, (647-655), (2016). Crossref
• Michael S. Wald, Beyond CPS: Developing an effective system for helping children in “neglectful” families, Child Abuse & Neglect, 10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.01.010, 41 , (49-66), (2015). Crossref
• Kenneth A. Dodge, Ron Haskins, Children and Government, Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science, 10.1002/9781118963418, (1-50), (2015). Wiley Online Library
• Jane V. Appleton, Peter Sidebotham, The Child at the Centre of Care, Child Abuse Review, 10.1002/car.2383, 24 , 2, (77-81), (2015). Wiley Online Library
• Emily Putnam-Hornstein, James David Simon, Andrea Lane Eastman, Joseph Magruder, Risk of Re-Reporting Among Infants Who Remain at Home Following Alleged Maltreatment, Child Maltreatment, 10.1177/1077559514558586, 20 , 2, (92-103), (2014). Crossref
• Michelle Johnson-Motoyama, Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Alan J. Dettlaff, Kechen Zhao, Megan Finno-Velasquez, Barbara Needell, Disparities in Reported and Substantiated Infant Maltreatment by Maternal Hispanic Origin and Nativity: A Birth Cohort Study, Maternal and Child Health Journal, 10.1007/s10995-014-1594-9, 19 , 5, (958-968), (2014). Crossref
• Christopher Wildeman, Jane Waldfogel, Somebody's Children or Nobody's Children? How the Sociological Perspective Could Enliven Research on Foster Care, Annual Review of Sociology, 10.1146/annurev-soc-071913-043358, 40 , 1, (599-618), (2014). Crossref
• Carol W. Metzler, Matthew R. Sanders, Julie C. Rusby, Multiple Levels and Modalities of Measurement in a Population-Based Approach to Improving Parenting, Emerging Methods in Family Research, 10.1007/978-3-319-01562-0_12, (197-214), (2014). Crossref
• Michael S. Wald, Beyond Maltreatment: Developing Support for Children in Multiproblem Families, Handbook of Child Maltreatment, 10.1007/978-94-007-7208-3_13, (251-280), (2014). Crossref
• Peter Fallesen, Natalia Emanuel, Christopher Wildeman, Cumulative Risks of Foster Care Placement for Danish Children, PLoS ONE, 10.1371/journal.pone.0109207, 9 , 10, (e109207), (2014). Crossref
• Janice McGhee, Fiona Mitchell, Brigid Daniel, Julie Taylor, Taking a Long View in Child Welfare: How Can We Evaluate Intervention and Child Wellbeing Over Time?, Child Abuse Review, 10.1002/car.2268, 24 , 2, (95-106), (2013). Wiley Online Library
• Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Barbara Needell, Bryn King, Michelle Johnson-Motoyama, Racial and ethnic disparities: A population-based examination of risk factors for involvement with child protective services, Child Abuse & Neglect, 10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.08.005, 37 , 1, (33-46), (2013). Crossref
• Rhema Vaithianathan, Tim Maloney, Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Nan Jiang, Children in the Public Benefit System at Risk of Maltreatment, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 10.1016/j.amepre.2013.04.022, 45 , 3, (354-359), (2013). Crossref
• Bryn King, Jennifer Lawson, Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Examining the Evidence, Child Maltreatment, 10.1177/1077559513508001, 18 , 4, (232-244), (2013). Crossref
• Emily Putnam-Hornstein, Mario A. Cleves, Robyn Licht, Barbara Needell, Risk of Fatal Injury in Young Children Following Abuse Allegations: Evidence From a Prospective, Population-Based Study, American Journal of Public Health, 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301516, 103 , 10, (e39-e44), (2013). Crossref
• J.P. Mersky, J. Topitzes, A.J. Reynolds, Impacts of adverse childhood experiences on health, mental health, and substance use in early adulthood: A cohort study of an urban, minority sample in the U.S., Child Abuse & Neglect, 10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.07.011, 37 , 11, (917-925), (2013). Crossref
• Michael S. Wald, Beyond Maltreatment: Developing Support for Children in Multiproblem Families, SSRN Electronic Journal, 10.2139/ssrn.2205471, (2013). Crossref
• Anne Lazenbatt, Lisa Bunting, Julie Taylor, Consequences of infant maltreatment on child wellbeing, British Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 10.12968/bjmh.2012.1.3.171, 1 , 3, (171-175), (2012). Crossref
• Public Health Approaches to Safeguarding Children, Child Abuse Review, 10.1002/car.1196, 20 , 4, (231-237), (2011). Wiley Online Library

Volume 20 , Issue 4 July/August 2011

Pages 256-273     

What is Really Wrong with Serious Case Reviews?

Concern about the effectiveness of Serious Case Reviews for generating improvements in child protection in England led to proposals in the Wood review to replace the current system with rapid local learning inquiries and a national system of learning from significant incidents. This article challenges both the analysis in the Wood review and the proposals themselves. Whilst not uncritical of Serious Case Reviews, this article addresses five criticisms of the current review system. It explores how systemic the focus of reviews has been, and argues that findings and recommendations have become repetitive and lessons not fully appreciated because of an overly simplistic approach to change management. It suggests that there are methodologies that can effectively engage practitioners and managers in case reviews and that criticism of the review process itself can be addressed with refinements rather than wholesale change. The article concludes by questioning the assumptions upon which proposals for changing the current Serious Case Review are based. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

‘Challenges both the analysis in the Wood review and the proposals themselves’

Key Practitioner Messages

• A systemic approach to Serious Case Reviews must engage legislative, social policy and societal systems as well as local policy and practice.
• A linear approach to learning and service development, often reflected in recommendations for training and policy refinements, is a less effective change management approach than engaging with single and multiagency contexts.
• Safeguarding children involves practice which is inherently social and relational, full of complexity and complicated truths; so too is the practice of reviewing cases.

     

Instability in patchworks of child care when moving from welfare to work

We use longitudinal, qualitative interview data collected from 38 initially welfare‐reliant women in Cleveland, Ohio to examine the factors driving instability in child‐care arrangements when women transitioned from welfare to work. Grounded theory analysis revealed that decisions about care were circumscribed by scarce social and economic resources, women went to extraordinary lengths to patch together arrangements that typically involved multiple providers, relative care was central to patchworks of care, and patchworks of child care were often highly unstable. These complex arrangements and their instability were influenced by mothers’ desires to find the most suitable arrangements for their children within resource and job constraints, dissatisfaction with providers, difficulties accessing subsidies, and changes in provider availability. Findings suggest that policymakers must consider instability in patchworks of multiple child‐care providers as they consider alternatives for meeting low‐wage working women's and children's needs for safe, affordable, accessible, and enriching nonmaternal child care.     

From assessing needs to designing and evaluating programs: Case study of a family support program in Portugal

In the last years, researchers have been emphasizing the importance of promoting needs-led, context-specific, user-centered services in the context of child protection. However, policy-makers and service planners around the world largely depend on US-based research evidence of what is effective in the domain of family support. This work presents, in two studies, the process of design and evaluation of a targeted family support intervention that was developed and implemented in Portugal.Following the Common Language Approach to needs assessment (Dartington Social Research Unit, 2001), in study 1 we screened 100 children and their families attending a generalist child care service for risk and protective factors. Four different clusters of needs were identified. One cluster was selected as target-group for the design of a service to match their needs. Results indicated that families in this cluster had socioeconomical disadvantages, a challenging family environment and inadequate parenting practices. Children were showing signs of problematic social behaviors.In study 2 we describe the theoretical process model and the logic model for the intervention, and experimentally evaluate the program's efficacy. Results from pre–post assessments indicate improvements in the intervention group (N = 20) in several areas of parental empowerment and family relations, comparing with the control group (N = 20).This approach to need-service matching seems to be a viable pathway to design needs-led, context-specific, and user-centered services, and to assess their efficacy, thereby informing policy makers and service planners.     

Subsequent child protection contact for a cohort of children reported to child protection prenatally in one Australian jurisdiction

Repeated reporting to child protection is common. One approach to early intervention is for jurisdictions to receive and respond to child protection concerns raised before children are born. Despite this, little research has comprehensively examined subsequent child protection contact for those first reported prenatally. This study aimed to examine the subsequent child protection contact for up to a two-year period for a cohort of children who were reported about prebirth. Child protection administrative data were extracted for 640 children reported for a concern about an unborn child in a single jurisdiction during 2014. Data about child protection contacts included reports, investigations, substantiations and out-of-home placements for children reported prenatally. Of the 640 children, 79% reported about prenatally also had contact with child protection between birth and age two. From birth and up to age two, children reported prenatally had between zero and 21 reports. Twenty-two per cent of the children reported prenatally were removed from their birth parents and placed in out-of-home care prior to age two. These findings highlight the importance of intervening and supporting families prior to and during pregnancy to reduce harm to children and reduce the need for contact with child protection.