Emerging strategies for reducing racial disproportionality and disparate outcomes in child welfare: the results of a national breakthrough series collaborative

Racial disproportionality in child welfare has been discussed as a seemingly intractable challenge with complex contributing factors. Some argue that these dynamics are far too difficult to be significantly impacted by public child welfare systems alone. The Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC) methodology, incorporating an analysis of structural racism and potential system bias, was proffered as a tool for engaging public child welfare agencies in a rapid, action-oriented process for identifying innovative strategies and practices to reduce racial disproportionality and disparate outcomes. This article describes the Disproportionality BSC process, as well as the work of participating jurisdictions with respect to transforming organizational culture and testing/implementing child welfare practice improvements. A theory of change is presented and critical lessons learned are shared in the form of collaborative reflections.     

Addressing disproportionality through undoing racism, leadership development, and community engagement

In 2005 the Texas 79th legislature passed Senate Bill 6, which included mandates to address disproportionality. This article will describe how the Texas Department of Family Protective Services in collaboration with Casey Family Programs' Texas State Strategy systems improvement initiative is addressing disproportionality statewide through promising practices and innovations in undoing racism trainings, values-based leadership development, and community engagement strategies.     

Ethnic disproportionality in the child welfare system: A Norwegian national cohort study

This study of Norwegian child welfare clients examined the extent to which ethnic disparities in involvement with the child welfare system can be attributed to ethnic differences in sociodemographic background. Using logistic regression models and a unique dataset constructed by linking child welfare records to national administrative registers for the 1993–1994 birth cohorts, we computed ethnic disparities in the odds of child welfare involvement at age 6–12 (N = 122,894), both before and after adjustments for sociodemographic background. Compared with ethnic Norwegian cohort peers, non-Western children had twice the unadjusted odds of entering the child welfare system (odds ratio = 2.13). However, the data also indicated pronounced ethnic disparities in eight sociodemographic correlates of child welfare involvement. When adjustments for these background factors were modeled, we found no ethnic differences in the odds of child welfare involvement. Our findings suggest that the association between ethnicity and child welfare involvement is confounded by differences in socioeconomic status, maternal social assistance, family size and family structure.     

Trauma adapted family connections: reducing developmental and complex trauma symptomatology to prevent child abuse and neglect

Families living in urban poverty, enduring chronic and complex traumatic stress, and having difficulty meeting their children's basic needs have significant child maltreatment risk factors. There is a paucity of family focused, trauma-informed evidence-based interventions aimed to alleviate trauma symptomatology, strengthen family functioning, and prevent child abuse and neglect. Trauma Adapted Family Connections (TA-FC) is a manualized trauma-focused practice rooted in the principles of Family Connections (FC), an evidence supported preventive intervention developed to address the glaring gap in services for this specific, growing, and underserved population. This paper describes the science based development of TA-FC, its phases and essential components, which are based on theories of attachment, neglect, trauma, and family interaction within a comprehensive community-based family focused intervention framework.     

Neighborhood perceptions and parent outcomes in family based prevention programs for Thai adolescents: the role of program engagement

Due to concerns over Thai adolescent risky behaviors, effective prevention strategies are needed. Determining the role neighborhood context plays in program engagement and outcomes may inform these strategies. This study includes 170 mother-adolescent pairs (M = 13.44, SD = .52) in Bangkok, Thailand in a prevention program for adolescent substance use and sexual risk. Neighborhoods were related to engagement, which was critical to outcomes. Neighborhood disorganization was related to confidence in program effects and program completion. Completion was related to increased ATOD communication. Neighborhood cohesion was related to less program enjoyment, while neighborhood social control was related to more enjoyment. Enjoyment was related to increased ATOD communication and formation and monitoring of alcohol rules. Prevention strategies should focus on neighborhood contexts and enhancing engagement.     

Delineating disproportionality and disparity of Asian-Canadian versus White-Canadian families in the child welfare system

ObjectiveThis paper builds upon the analyses presented in three companion papers using data from the 2003 and 2008 cycles of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2003 and CIS-2008) and the Ontario Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (OCANDS) to examine disproportionality and disparity of child welfare involvement for Asian-Canadian children involved in the child welfare system.MethodsThis study used CIS-2008 data adjusted by Census child population data to examine rates per 1000 and three disparity indexes (population-based disparity index [PDI], decision-based disparity index [DDI], and maltreatment-based disparity index [MDI]) to determine the representation of child maltreatment investigations for Asian-Canadian versus White-Canadian children involved in the child welfare system. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the odds of case closure for substantiated child maltreatment investigations, and whether Asian ethnicity remained significant while controlling for child demographics and household composition, case characteristics, and clinical concerns.ResultsThis study found that Asian-Canadian children were underrepresented in the child welfare system compared to White-Canadian children (13.9 per 1000 Asian children in the Canadian population vs. 36.1 per 1000 White children in the Canadian population). Child welfare involvement for Asian-Canadian children are almost 2 times more likely to close after an investigation than White-Canadian children. The three disparity indexes (PDI, DDI, MDI) showed substantially different results with respect to the representation of child maltreatment investigations involving Asian-Canadian versus White-Canadian children for physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, emotional maltreatment, and exposure to domestic violence.ConclusionsDisproportionality and disparity are complex phenomena. The variation in results derived from different methods of calculating representation suggests the need for greater clarity and consistency in the definitions and methodology in examining racial disparity in child welfare research. Some methodological considerations for future child welfare research with Asian-Canadian populations were discussed.     

Substance-abusing child welfare parents: treatment and child placement outcomes

The authors present findings from their study of 167 child welfare parents referred for substance abuse assessments. Relationships between gender, prior treatment, court-ordered intervention, significant others' support, and treatment and placement outcomes are examined. Findings indicate significant others' support positively influences all outcomes while court-ordered intervention is not predictive. Prior treatment is associated with continued substance abuse. Gender differences exist for assessment completion and several client characteristics. Implications for practice are drawn.     

The evolving relationship between casework skills,engagement, and positive case outcomes in child protection: A structural equation model

This paper reports a study that aims to increase the understanding of the relationship between workers and their child protection clients through the development of a client engagement model. A conceptual exploratory structural equation model (SEM) of caseworker skills, engagement and client outcomes is presented. Results indicate that including parents in the planning, not ignoring problems parent identify as important, not asking them to do something they would not find helpful, and locating appropriate services, leads to higher client engagement. Although not directly related, having workers return clients phone calls acted as mediator between other worker casework skills and client engagement. Client engagement was also influenced by satisfaction with the case outcome. Worker engagement was also influenced by whether they included parents in the planning, which in turn was influenced by worker experience. Workers who were kind and considerate were more likely to be engaged. Worker engagement predicted satisfaction with the case outcome and whether workers' believed families would contact the agency in the future. Lastly, client engagement predicted worker engagement although it is our belief that this is an iterative reciprocal process.     

Mapping the literature on child marriage: A critical engagement

U.S. “child marriage”—marriage including at least one person under the age of 18—is legal and practiced in 44 states. In this article, I map the existing literature on child marriage and offer insights on how child marriage can expand our sociological understandings of marriage, gender inequality, and youth sexualities. Social scientists have almost exclusively focused on child marriage in the Global South at the expense of understanding child marriage in the Global North, which I argue reinforces racist and xenophobic narratives that cast child marriage as a non-Western social problem. The research on U.S. child marriage that does exist focuses on the consequences, rather than the causes, of child marriage, which may shift focus away from a structural understanding of how intersecting inequalities shape girls' likelihood of getting married as minors. I position a sociology of U.S. child marriage at the intersection of sociological understandings of marriage and gender inequality and critical research on youth sexualities. I conclude by calling for intersectional research on U.S. child marriage that builds on these literatures, examining how girls' sexualities are racialized, gendered, and classed within the institution of marriage.     

Critical factors of intensive family work connected with positive outcomes for child welfare clients

Mechanisms producing positive change in troubled families were analysed. The study aimed to answer the questions: What kind of case and client outcomes does intensive family work (IFW) produce for child welfare clients? From the perspective of family workers, what kind of critical factors for positive child, parent and family outcomes can be identified? The study used child welfare case files of 35 families with 93 children from one social office and interviews with 20 family workers and IFW managers in 5 municipalities in Finland. The shades of worries scale was used in evaluating the change in each family's situation. The case outcome measures for children included changes in the child's status in open care, short-term placement or foster care. During IFW, positive changes took place in 23 families out of 35 (66%). Twenty-seven children from 16 families did not continue as child welfare clients. Eleven children were placed into foster care during IFW and two years after it. The critical processes for outcomes included time, trust building and engagement, practical help, facilitating communication and guaranteeing the best interest of the child. IFW was considered effective for positive outcomes for the majority of families with complex needs.     

The child in family services: expanding child abuse prevention

Child welfare concerns have drifted to an inappropriate focus on crisis intervention and a punitive approach to child protection intervention at the expense of community-based preventive child welfare programs. Recent attempts to divert cases from the child protection system through differentiated response mechanisms have been criticised for failing to provide access to relevant services or preventing vulnerable families from re-entering the child protection process. A tension inherent in providing both child protection and family support within the one agency is also identified as a barrier to effective service delivery. This paper discusses the value of the UK Children in Need approach as a model for enhancing support to children and families outside the statutory child protection system. Information from an evaluation of a trial implementation of the UK Children in Need approach in Victoria is used to discuss the implications for policy and practice of placing responsibility for coordinating a response based on the needs of children and their families within family support services.     

Child poverty and child outcomes

This article reviews the most up to date evidence on the prevalence of child poverty in Britain. It traces how child poverty has changed over the last 20 years, and how child poverty in Britain compares with that in other countries. Then there is a brief section describing the characteristics of poor children. It then reviews evidence of the impact of poverty on the well‐being of children drawing on the ESRC Children 5–16 programme project—Poverty: the Outcomes for Children (Bradshaw, 2001a). It concludes with a discussion of how the Labour Government is doing in its aspirations to abolish child poverty. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using sibling data to understand the impact of family group decision-making on child welfare outcomes

Few studies have examined the impact of family group decision-making (FGDM) on child welfare outcomes. Studies in this area have often suffered from small sample sizes and lack of adequate comparison groups. Since FGDM is administered at the family level, sibling data provides an ideal way to compensate for small sample sizes and low enrollment rates in research evaluating FGDM. This study utilized sibling data from California's Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration Project Evaluation in Fresno and Riverside Counties to compare child welfare outcomes for children of families randomly assigned to receive FGDM (Fresno County, n = 110; Riverside County, n = 87) to children of families assigned to receive traditional child welfare services (Fresno County, n = 74; Riverside County, n = 52). After controlling for clustering effects using general estimating equations (GEE), group differences in child maltreatment, placement stability, and permanence were modeled using linear and logistic regression. Outcomes from both counties suggested no group differences. Though neutral outcomes on child welfare indicators may bring into question FGDM's efficacy for changing child welfare outcomes, this study confirms previous findings with smaller sample sizes on the impact of FGDM and demonstrates a methodological improvement over individual or family-case analyses.     

Rights and the role of family engagement in child welfare: an international treaties perspective on families' rights, parents' rights, and children's rights

According to international human rights treaties, what rights do family members, parents, and children have in family engagement in child welfare decision-making? A socio-legal analytical approach produces a typology of rights, then applies the typology to eight countries' approaches to family engagement to show that strong bundles of rights are available in some countries, but not in others. This study reveals international treaties have articulated many rights necessary to family engagement, but some rights are missing.     

Measuring disproportionality,volatility and malapportionment: axiomatization and solutions

The measurement of disproportionality, volatility and malapportionment often employ similar indices. Yet the debate on the issue of adequate measurement has remained open. We offer a formal and rigorous list of properties that roughly subsume those of Taagepera and Grofman (Party Polit 9(6):659–677, 2003). One of these properties, Dalton’s principle of transfers, is formalized in a manner that resolves the ambiguity associated with it in previous studies. We show that the cosine measure satisfies all the properties. We also show how the Gallagher index can be modified to satisfy all the properties. The cosine measure and the modified Gallagher measure are co-monotone.     

The future of child and family welfare: selected readings

In the decade leading up to the 21st century, a number of authors began focusing on the future in the field of child and family welfare. This review summarizes selected readings in this area, ranging from examination of such broad topics as research and policy issues to indepth analysis of specific topics such as family foster care and child protective services.     

Assessing child welfare outcomes: the American perspective

This paper examines US research on child welfare outcomes, focusing on family preservation, out-of-home care, and family reunification services. The review highlights the range of mixed findings in each of these areas, along with methodological issues and constraints. In light of the complexity of child welfare services, future outcome research should complement the rigorous use of quantitative methods with the careful application of qualitative methods.     

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.