Relationship of risk assessment to placement characteristics in a statewide child welfare population

Risk assessments allow child and youth services to identify children who are at risk for maltreatment (e.g., abuse, neglect) and help determine the restrictiveness of placements or need for services among youth entering a child welfare system. Despite the use of instruments by many agencies within the U.S. to determine the appropriate placements for youth, research has shown that placement decisions are often influenced by factors such as gender, age, and severity of social–emotional and behavior problems. This study examined ratings of risk across multiple domains using a structured assessment tool used by caseworkers in the Rhode Island child welfare system. The relationship between ratings of risk and placement restrictiveness was also examined. Risk levels varied across placement settings. Multivariate analyses revealed that lower caseworker ratings of parent risk and higher ratings of youth risk were associated with more restrictive placements for youth. Implications for the child welfare system are discussed.     

Methamphetamine and the changing face of child welfare: practice principles for child welfare workers

Methamphetamine use and production is changing child welfare practice. Methamphetamine is a significant public health threat (National Institute of Justice, 1999) reaching epidemic proportions (Anglin, Burke, Perrochet, Stamper, & Dawud-Nouris, 2000). The manufacturing of methamphetamine is a serious problem for the child welfare system, yet child welfare has not addressed the needs of children living in homes where methamphetamine is manufactured (U.S. Department of Justice, 2002; DOJ, 2003; Altshuler, 2005). This article presents key issues for child welfare workers related to the use, production, and effects of methamphetamine on children and families, and identifies practice principles for child welfare workers in order to ensure safety for victims, parents, and workers themselves.     

The emotional encounter with child welfare services: the importance of incorporating the emotional perspective in parents' encounters with child welfare workers

The child welfare service (CWS) in Norway represents a growing field. In 2011 about 52,000 children received help. Families mainly received supportive services in their homes while around 8000 children were taken into the custody of the CWS. Although most actions taken by the CWS are deemed to be supportive and have the consent of the parents, many parents find being assessed by the CWS to be distressing, and there is a widespread feeling that there is a stigma attached to receiving help from the CWS. This article discusses the importance of parents' emotions, and how these emotions can influence their cooperation with the CWS by using the concepts of recognition and trust. The data are based on analyses of 385 interviews with parents in which they describe their emotional encounters with the CWS. The results show that certain emotions can create a barrier between the family's need for assistance and the CWS's actions and initiatives. The article concludes by discussing how the emotional encounter challenges child welfare practice.     

Social capital and child welfare

Social and economic inequalities have risen steeply in the UK over the past 20 years. Children and their families have been particularly disadvantaged by this creeping impoverishment, which is associated with negative effects on parenting capacity and developmental outcomes for children. The social capital of communities, which consists of the cultural resources and inter‐personal relationships between members, is also eroded by inequality and social exclusion. Evidence is presented that demonstrates the way in which children's welfare and family functioning are crucially dependent upon the social support available within local communities. It is argued that building social capital in poor communities is a more effective way of promoting children's welfare than the present emphasis on formal child protection and family support services and efforts to increase parenting skills and responsibilities. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Children with developmental disabilities in the child welfare system: a national survey

A survey of state agencies responsible for developmental disabilities/mental retardation and child welfare investigated the coordination of services for children with developmental disabilities. Recommendations are offered with regard to further research and model program development.     

Children with disabilities in Swedish child welfare – a differentiating and disabling practice

ABSTRACT

Research shows that children with disabilities are victims of violence and abuse to a higher extent than other children and thus need support from social services. In Sweden, cooperation between two different social services units is required to support children with disabilities in socially vulnerable families. In this study, we have examined the intersection between children and disability in a Swedish social services context from the perspective of childhood studies and disability studies. The reasoning of the two units including the child perspective emerged during focus group interviews based on two vignettes. The results show two different rationalities, which has consequences for the disabled child. In spite of a social policy where the ‘best interests of the child’ are meant to prevail and disabilities are meant to be interpreted as barriers in society, children with disabilities seem to be reduced to individuals who are lacking in ability and competency and who are profoundly victimised by power structures that favour the adult perspective in social services.     

Children with problematic sexualized behaviors in the child welfare system

This study assessed the utility of the Child Sexual Behavior Inventory (CSBI) in a child welfare sample. In this study, 97 children from ages 10 to 12 from either foster boarding homes or a residential treatment center participated. Researchers interviewed foster parents or primary therapists about children's sexual behavior, traumatic events, clinical symptoms, and their attitudes toward the child. Findings revealed that problematic sexualized behaviors were more prevalent in the residential treatment center (RTC) sample than they were in a normative sample. The pattern of associations between sexual behavior problems, traumatic events, and clinical syndromes in both the RTC and the foster boarding home (FBH) samples was similar to what has been found in samples in which biological custodial parents were the respondents. Analyses comparing youth who met the criterion for having problematic sexualized behaviors and youth who did not meet the criterion revealed that the two groups differed on clinical symptoms, prior traumatic events, and negative reports by caregivers. Results confirm the utility of the CSBI measure for this population and highlight several important clinical and programmatic concerns for addressing problematic sexual behavior in children in the child welfare system.     

Maximin welfare orderings with variable population size

This note deals with some features of social evaluation when the societies which are to be compared can be of different population size. One question arising when the number of people is allowed to vary is how to deal with the addition of one further person to some given society. Using an axiom for this kind of population change together with several well-established fixed population properties, a characterization of a welfare ordering based on the Maximin-criterion is provided.I am indebted to David Donaldson and an anonymous referee for many valuable suggestions which considerably improved the paper.     

The Call-Centre: a child welfare liaison program with immigrant serving agencies

Alberta, Canada, welcomed nearly 16,000 landed immigrants in 2003, of whom more than half came to the Calgary area. Approximately 200,000 immigrants of various ethnic and cultural groups now live in the region. Many of these new arrivals have no natural support networks while struggling with language, cultural, and economic barriers. Recognizing these difficulties, the Calgary and Area Child and Family Services Authority (CFSA) joined with several Immigrant Serving Agencies to develop guidelines and procedures to direct staff working with diverse cultures, including the Call-Centre pilot project, which provided CFSA staff with a one-stop telephone contact for information about an immigrant or refugee family, their culture, and available culturally-appropriate resources. The Call-Centre, which is currently being evaluated by researchers at the University of Calgary, will gradually expand to all CFSA sites in the region. This article describes the Call-Centre and the first phase of the evaluation.     

Transgender children and youth: a child welfare practice perspective

Using an ecological framework, the existing literature and research, and the authors' combined 60 years of clinical practice with children, youth, and families, this article examines gender variant childhood development from a holistic viewpoint where children, youth, and environments are understood as a unit in the context of their relationship to one another. The focus is limited to a discussion about the recognition of gender identity; an examination of the adaptation process through which gender variant children and youth go through to deal with the stress of an environment where there is not a "goodness of fit"; and a discussion of the overall developmental tasks of a transgender childhood and adolescence. Recommendations for social work practice with gender variant young people are presented in the conclusion of the paper.     

Determinants of maltreatment substantiation in a sample of infants involved with the child welfare system

Children under one year of age are highly vulnerable to child maltreatment, which can lead to serious immediate and long-term physical and mental health consequences. Child welfare workers encounter unique challenges when assessing allegations of maltreatment involving infants. This study identifies correlates of maltreatment substantiation in a sample of 793 infants less than one year of age investigated by child welfare. It is based on data from the 2003 Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2003), a national study of reports of child maltreatment. The analysis consisted of two stages. First, bivariate analyses were conducted using unadjusted odds ratios and chi-square tests on variables known to be associated with substantiation. In the second stage, a logistic regression was performed to examine these associations in a multivariate model.Multivariate findings suggest that certain vulnerabilities present in the primary caregiver, such as substance abuse and few social supports, as well as the child's positive toxicology at birth are associated with substantiated infant maltreatment. Exposure to domestic violence, which is reported mostly by the police, and physical harm stemming from maltreatment are strongly associated with substantiation, whereas reports of physical abuse and neglect have an inverse relationship. The authors discuss these results and implications for policy and programs.     

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 ideological context of child welfare

This paper examines consequences for child development and well-being of the prevailing institutional order and ideology of the United States and concludes that child development in our country is severely obstructed because of socially structured violence which permeates our way of life. The paper ends with comments on prospects for social transformation which seems necessary to assure the development and well-being of every child.     

Letters from the future: an exercise with child welfare predictions

Abstract

The article presents an empirical exercise about predictions in child welfare. In the exercise, social workers imagined letters which they could receive from a child and his/her parents in five years’ time. The children had been in care for one year at the moment of letter-writing. When the social workers wrote the imaginary letters, they used their professional imagination, based on practice knowledge and experience, and were involved in a role-play. The analysis of the letters (34 from ‘children’ and 33 letters from ‘parents’) demonstrates four themes shared by the letters: ordinary life, family contacts and return home, social problems as shadows and assessment of the placement. Two narratives were performed: the narrative of future of ordinary life and that of the troubles. It is suggested that imaginary letters are helpful in highlighting practitioners’ sense of the future, professional imagination as well as the empowering and critical points in practice.     

Equity and fairness perceptions in the child welfare workforce

The role ethnic identification plays in worker perceptions of workplace dynamics in child welfare services (CWS) organizations has not often been a topic of inquiry. The current study follows the unexpected finding from a previous study in which African American (AA) social workers were significantly less likely to report that they would remain in their CWS agencies than European American (EA) workers. Utilizing a mixed methods approach, the authors explored whether inequity from bias in CWS agencies related to ethnicity was a contributor to intentions to stay/leave. The results revealed no significant relationships between ethnicity and job satisfaction or intentions to stay in CWS agencies among EA, AA, or Hispanic/Latino (HL) workers. However, striking findings emerged related to worker perceptions of court duties concerning inequitable workloads and pay.     

Folk-healing among Mexican-American families as a consideration in the delivery of child welfare and child health care services

If practitioners in cross-cultural services do not understand traditional health beliefs and practices and find ways to incorporate a compatible approach to them in their work, their clients and patients will go their own ways, sometimes with dire results. Practices among Mexican-American families are described.