Child protection fathers' experiences of childhood,intimate partner violence and parenting

Research on mothers in child protection families has revealed that they often have a history of childhood abuse. Research has also shown that a considerable proportion of child maltreatment co-occurs with intimate partner violence (IPV) towards the mother. However, there is a dearth of research on the childhood histories and IPV victimization experiences of fathers in child protection families. To address these gaps in the literature this exploratory mixed method study of 35 men associated with a parenting program in Australia investigated fathers' childhood experiences, exposure to IPV and concern for their children's safety. Although this study was conducted with a specific group of fathers screened for serious personal problems, the findings suggest that, similar to mothers in child protection families, there are some fathers within typical child protection populations who have histories of childhood abuse and IPV victimization. In addition, many of the fathers in this study tried to protect their children from maltreatment related to the other parent. The main implication of the findings is that child protection fathers who have histories of abuse and IPV victimization should be afforded the same support and assistance as mothers in similar situations.     

Risk assessment in a multicultural context: Risk and protective factors in the decision to place children in foster care

Decision-making in the child protection services is a challenging task, in particular for workers who operate in a multicultural context. Studies have found that children from immigrant groups are overrepresented in the rates of cases reported to CPSs because of the higher prevalence of some distal risk factors. However, it remains unclear whether these distal factors may also lead to child removal interventions by CPS workers. This research compared immigrant and Italian families on the factors included in the Protocol of risk and protective factors to deepen the knowledge of CPS professionals' decision-making process (Di Blasio, 2005). Social records of 175 immigrant families and 153 Italian families referred for child maltreatment to CPSs were analyzed. The results confirmed the higher prevalence of specific distal risk factors (chronic poverty, low educational level, lack of network and social integration, approval of violence, and punishments as educational practices) among immigrant families. Furthermore, the analysis identified diverse factors that appear to lead to the CPSs workers' intervention (child out-of-home placement or monitoring and parental abilities support) for immigrant and Italian families.     

Responding to child deaths: the work of Australia's Victorian Child Death Review Committee

The Victorian Child Death Review Committee (VCDRC) in Australia is a multidisciplinary Ministerial Advisory Committee established to review the deaths of children either currently child protection clients or known to the statutory child protection system. The Committee provides advice about each child death as well as insights into what are the surrounding patterns and issues. Key to this role is examining the contribution of the service sectors to the protection of children and the routine practices that are in place to respond to children and vulnerability. This paper provides a snapshot of the cases referred to the VCDRC and the key messages for practice drawn from them. What emerges is that often the threshold for when statutory child protection services must be involved in child and family matters can be ambiguous and that agreement about intervention, the level and nature of need or risk, and when cumulative harm and neglect require statutory responses are not always shared between agencies. It is clear that the lack of common frameworks about what constitutes child protection intervention challenges services. It is recommended that there be and used agreed definitions and frameworks to ensure shared understandings and collaborative responses across the service and legal systems.     

Differential response in child protection: How much is too much?

Recurring maltreatment can have devastating, lifelong consequences for children who are victims of abuse and neglect. The primary mission of child protection services (CPS) agencies is to prevent the recurrence of child maltreatment by offering families services designed to prevent future maltreatment. In order for these services to be effective, however, families must actually engage in them. This study focuses on how differential response programs impact families' successful engagement in services as indicated by long-term child safety outcomes.Differential response refers to a dual track system that allows public CPS agencies to respond to accepted reports of child abuse or neglect with either a traditional investigative response (TR) or an alternative response (AR). The AR is designed to be a less authoritative and less adversarial approach to families presenting a low- to moderate-risk of maltreatment. The AR involves collaboration with the family in a comprehensive assessment of the family's needs, risks and strengths and a referral to services on a voluntary basis. States implementing DR systems statewide vary greatly in the percentage of accepted reports that are assigned to the AR track. The goal of this study is to determine what rate of AR utilization is most effective in reducing subsequent reports of abuse and neglect for cases assigned to the AR.This study compares child safety outcomes for children assigned to the AR and those assigned to the TR within each of the fourteen states which implemented DR statewide between 2000–2012. The analysis uses Cox proportional hazards regression. Data for this observational study are drawn from the 2000–2012 data in the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) child files. Child safety is measured by re-reporting of the child to CPS.The theoretical model underpinning the study is McCurdy and Daro's (2001) Integrated Theory of Participant Involvement (ITPI) which outlines a conceptual model of parental engagement in services. This study hypothesizes that AR utilization rates affect the risk level of cases assigned to the AR. The ITPI model offers a possible explanation as to why higher risk cases may not be as responsive to the AR approach which depends upon the family's voluntary participation in services.The key finding of this study is that, in states assigning > 33% of reports to the AR, children on the AR track are being re-reported at equal or higher rates than those on the TR track. Only in those states utilizing the AR track for < 33% of the cases are AR cases being consistently re-reported at lower rates than those on the TR track. This article explores ways to improve the accuracy of track assignment decisions to prevent the assignment of higher risk families to the alternative response.     

Re-examining child welfare's response to ICWA: Collaborating with community-based agencies to reduce disparities for American Indian/Alaska Native children

Many state and county child protection systems (CPS) are attempting to reduce the documented disproportionality in out of home placement rates for American Indian/Alaska Native children. This article presents a case example of collaboration between Colorado CPS and an urban American Indian family services agency that was intended to impact this disproportionality. The Denver Indian Family Resource Center created and evaluated a family preservation model that includes both direct services to Native families and CPS-level systemic interventions designed to reduce out-of-home placement. Direct services addressed family stressors and caregiver substance abuse and mental health issues, and incorporated Native cultural values. Systemic interventions focused on collaborative partnerships and provided CPS with practical ways to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act. Agency data showed an increase in the number of children remaining at home or with extended family. Statewide data showed a decrease in the disparity ratio for placement of Native children compared to White children.     

From Invisibility to Protection — Children in Prison with their Parent in Finland

This article explores the process through which children in prison with their imprisoned parent have become a target of social concern in Finland. It is asked how the new social problem of ‘children in prison’ has been constructed. The data consist of relevant parts of the legislation and official documents. Three phases of social problem construction are named: (i) Children in prison as a practical and private matter; (ii) intense debate, problem formulation and developing practices and (iii) a public institutionalised practice. The position of children changed from one of invisibility to the target of protection. On the basis of children's rights, children in prison became understood as a group of children who are in need of child protection services. This example demonstrates how the images of problems construct solutions for practices.     

Fear management: How child protection workers engage with non-citizen immigrant families

Drawing on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a sample of 24 child protection workers in the northeastern United States, we analyze how workers engage with non-citizen immigrant families. Confirming findings from previous scholarship on immigrants' fears when interacting with Child Protection Services (CPS), workers reported encountering different fear factors—the organizations, events, or people that instill fear in immigrant families. These included fear of deportation, fear of CPS workers as the people who remove children, and fear of CPS as a potentially repressive government agency. We also found that workers seek to minimize or leverage these fears in the engagement process—we refer to this process as fear management. Most of the workers interviewed seek to minimize immigrant families' fears, and we show that they employ four strategies to do so: providing knowledge, brokering services, doing dignity and status work, and learning culture.     

Adolescent fathers involved with child protection: social workers speak

This study examined adolescent paternity through structured interviews with their social workers. It adds to the literature by exploring if there were young men involved with the child protection services (CPS) system who are fathers, identifying their unique needs, and beginning discussions on working with these young men. CPS social workers from six area offices and one juvenile detention facility completed surveys for each father on their caseload. A 3.5% rate of adolescent paternity was observed across these offices. Information about the nature of the young men's involvement with CPS, their involvement with their children, and their unique needs as fathers are provided. This paper also identifies some practice and policy implications for adolescent fathers and CPS charged with their care.     

Risk of maltreatment recurrence after exiting substitute care: Impact of placement characteristics

This study examines the recurrence of substantiated reports of maltreatment among children who have been placed in out-of-home care by child protective services, with particular attention given to the effect of placement characteristics. The sample consisted of 4120 children reported to Quebec CPS in 2003–2004 and 2007–2008 and removed from their homes. A survival analysis found that the overall risk of recurrence 5.3 years after intervention was 33%, but varied depending on the child's age. Cox regression analyses indicated that the number of moves and the number of different substitute homes experienced by the child did not predict CPS recurrence. However, for the youngest children, there was an association between the number of failed reunifications and recurrence. Other placement, service, and child factors were associated with recurrence and varied with the child's age. The results underscore the importance of preparing properly for exits from care and providing more support to families, especially those with young children, when they are reunited, as well as the importance of taking an age-based approach in efforts to reduce CPS recurrence.     

Women in Substance Use Treatment

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the differences between women with children in substance use treatment who are involved in Child Protective Services (CPS+) and those who are not involved (CPS-). Using a sample of all alcohol and other drug (AOD) clients (N = 6,023) receiving substance use treatment over a three-year period (1997-99), the study found that CPS+ women were more likely to be younger, have more children, have been arrested less often, be mandated to receive treatment, to have an unsatisfactory exit status or be transferred to another treatment program at discharge. CPS+ women were also more likely to have attended outpatient or day treatment for the AOD treatment. This study points out that there may be specific risk factors in place for a subgroup of women with children in AOD treatment.     

The impact of emotional and physical violence during pregnancy on maternal and child health at one year post-partum

Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy is increasingly recognized as having a negative impact on both the mother and her unborn child. The current study extends previous work to examine the impact of both physical and emotional IPV separately and cumulatively on the mother and her child. Specifically, we used the Fragile Families dataset (N = 3961) to determine the effect of emotional and physical IPV on women and children at one year postpartum. Analyses revealed that both physical and emotional victimization have independent and negative impacts on mothers and their children. Emotional victimization was associated with poorer overall health for the mother, elevated maternal depression, poorer overall health for the child, and difficult child temperament. Experiencing a combination of physical and emotional victimization resulted in more problematic outcomes. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Maternal experiences of intimate partner violence and adolescent delinquency: Pathways through parenting stress and harsh parenting behaviors

Abstract

Women with children in the home are more likely to report experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) compared to women without children in the home. Consistently, research has identified an association between maternal experiences of IPV and adolescent delinquency. While research has suggested that this link may be explained through parenting factors, there are limited studies exploring sequential mediators that may explain how maternal experiences of IPV are related to distal outcomes, such as adolescent delinquency. The present study investigated mechanisms that might explain the association between early maternal experiences of IPV and adolescent delinquency. Data were collected as part of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), a longitudinal birth cohort study. Using a structural equation modeling approach, parenting stress and both physically and psychologically harsh parenting behaviors were examined as sequential mediators in the association between the latent construct of maternal experiences of IPV and adolescent delinquency. Findings supported one sequential mediation mechanism: maternal parenting stress at child age five and psychologically harsh parenting at child age nine mediated the association between maternal experiences of IPV and adolescent delinquency at child age 15. In contrast, support was not demonstrated for the other proposed sequential mediation mechanism: maternal parenting stress at child age five and physically aggressive parenting at year nine did not mediate the link between maternal experiences of IPV and adolescent delinquency child age 15. The present study suggests maternal parenting stress and psychologically harsh parenting behaviors should be examined when referred for psychological services for experiences of IPV.     

Child abuse,child protection and disabled children: a review of recent research

This paper reports the results of a scoping study that reviewed research about child abuse, child protection and disabled children published in academic journals between 1996 and 2009. The review was conducted using a five stage method for scoping studies. Several studies have revealed a strong association between disability and child maltreatment, indicating that disabled children are significantly more likely to experience abuse than their non‐disabled peers. Those with particular impairments are at increased risk. There is evidence that the interaction of age, gender and/or socio‐cultural factors with impairment results in different patterns of abuse to those found among non‐disabled children although the reasons for this require further examination. It appears that therapeutic services and criminal justice systems often fail to take account of disabled children's needs and heightened vulnerability. In Britain, little is known about what happens to disabled children who have been abused and how well safeguarding services address their needs. Very few studies have sought disabled children's own accounts of abuse or safeguarding. Considerable development is required, at both policy and practice level, to ensure that disabled children's right to protection is upheld. The paper concludes by identifying a number of aspects of the topic requiring further investigation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Risk assessment in child sexual abuse cases

Despite continuing improvements in risk assessment for child protective services (CPS) and movement toward actuarial prediction of child maltreatment, current models have not adequately addressed child sexual abuse. Sexual abuse cases present unique and ambiguous indicators to the investigating professional, and risk factors differ from those related to physical abuse and neglect. Incorporation of research on risk factors specifically related to sexual offender recidivism into existing CPS risk assessment models may improve the ability to assess the risk of future sexual maltreatment to children. This article reviews the literature on risk factors for sexual offense recidivism and discusses their relevance and application to CPS assessment models. An evidence-based model for assessing risk in child sexual abuse cases is proposed.     

From surviving to thriving: Understanding reunification among African American mothers with histories of addiction

Child maltreatment cases involving substance abuse have increased. Estimates reveal that between 40% and 80% of all families involved with child protection have substance-abuse issues. Only 12%-20% of substance-abusing families regain custody of their children. Little is known about the factors that contribute to substance-abusing women regaining or losing custody of their children. Using the Multiple Embedded Case Study method, this study illuminates the experiences and feelings of mothers struggling to overcome addiction and highlights the main differences between women who regained custody and those who permanently lost custody of their children. In this study, 50% of the women lost custody and 50% regained custody of their children. The women who lost custody of their children tended to be in survival mode, characterized as going through the motions, engaging in acting-out behaviors, and failing to follow treatment recommendations. The women who regained custody of their children tended to thrive, characterized as having internal motivation, taking responsibility, and engaging the material. This study advances our knowledge of the factors contributing to reunification. Understanding these factors can lead to the development of practices that increase the likelihood of reunification for families struggling to overcome addiction.     

Children’s Descriptions of Participation Processes in Interventions for Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

In recent years, interventions have been developed to meet the needs of children exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV). This study explores and analyses processes of participation during counselling as described by 29 children who had received community-based intervention for children exposed to IPV. The results of the analysis show how participation processes in the different phases of the intervention are related to three prerequisites for children actually receiving the intervention offered, namely (1) the child getting in contact with the unit, (2) the child starting the intervention process, and, because the intervention is directed at their experiences of IPV, and (3) the child actually talking about the violence. The implications of these results are used to discuss children’s willingness and reluctance to talk about IPV during interventions in which talking about their experiences is thought to be of therapeutic value.     

Predictors of child protective service contact between birth and age five: An examination of California's 2002 birth cohort

This study utilizes population-level birth data to describe those children who may be at greatest risk of maltreatment during the first five years of life. Based on a unique dataset constructed by linking California's administrative child welfare data to statewide vital birth records, a cohort study design was employed to track reports of maltreatment involving children born in 2002. Twelve variables captured in the birth record were selected for analysis. Generalized Linear Models were used to estimate adjusted risk ratios (RR) for each independent variable. Predicted probabilities of CPS contact were computed based on the count of risk factors present at birth. Results suggest that many of the associations previously observed between birth variables and subsequent maltreatment have sustained value in foretelling which children will be reported to CPS beyond infancy. Of the 531,035 children born in California in 2002, 14% (74,182) were reported for possible maltreatment before the age of five. Eleven of the twelve birth variables examined presented as significant predictors of contact with child protective services.