Child Welfare Workers' Adoption of Decision Support Technology

Child welfare workers must process complex information in deciding to refer clients to appropriate mental health services. Decision support systems have been demonstrated in other fields to be an important tool, yet little research has been done in child welfare. This study focused on the adoption of a specific decision support system into child welfare practice. Quantitative analysis was used to demonstrate the diffusion of innovation process among a sample of state child welfare workers, while qualitative analysis was used to explain the facilitators and barriers to decision support systems adoption. Results indicate that for decision support systems to be widely adopted in child welfare practice, they should be integrated into the referral system and include workers' knowledge and experiences with referral resources. For successful adoption, decision support systems need to respect the natural logic and flow of worker interaction as well as organizational constraints.