scholarly journals The impact of COVID-19 on child welfare-involved families: Implications for parent–child reunification and child welfare professionals

2021 ◽  
pp. 251610322110452
Author(s):  
Abbie E. Goldberg ◽  
David Brodzinsky ◽  
Jacqueline Singer ◽  
Patience Crozier
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Child Welfare Workers ◽  
Child Welfare Professionals ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Virtual Visits ◽  
Welfare Workers ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Parent Child

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted children and parents involved in the child welfare system and the professionals working with these families. Using survey data collected August–September of 2020, this mixed-methods study examined the perspectives of 196 child welfare-involved professionals (77 attorneys, 99 caseworkers, and 20 therapists) in the United States about the impact of COVID-19 on parents of origin, children, foster parents, and child welfare professionals. Particular attention was paid to the implications of COVID-19 and associated challenges for parent–child contact and reunification. With respect to professional stresses, more than half of participants worried about their own personal safety and health amidst COVID-19, and more than three-quarters expressed concerns about the safety and well-being of child welfare-involved families. Participants, especially attorneys, expressed concerns about parent–child contact and disruptions to reunification. In-person parent–child visits had all but ceased during the early part of the pandemic, and participants identified barriers to effective virtual visits, including lack of foster parent oversight, technology issues, and children’s developmental stage and/or lack of engagement. Attorneys were especially critical of the cessation of in-person visits and viewed this as a serious threat to child-parent bonds and reunification. Participants, especially child welfare workers, voiced concerns about children’s mental health and educational outcomes amidst the pandemic. Findings have implications for attorneys, child welfare workers, and other practitioners who directly and indirectly interface with child welfare-involved families.

scholarly journals Risk of Future Maltreatment: Examining Whether Worker Characteristics Predict Their Perception

2021 ◽  
pp. 107755952110314
Author(s):  
Kristen Lwin ◽  
Joanne Filippelli ◽  
Barbara Fallon ◽  
Jason King ◽  
Nico Trocmé
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Child Welfare Workers ◽  
Perception Of Risk ◽  
Worker Characteristics ◽  
Welfare Workers

Child welfare workers aim to promote the well-being and safety of children and are the link between the child welfare system and families. Families served by the child welfare system should expect similar service based on clinical factors, not based on their caseworker’s characteristics. Using secondary data analyses of the most recent Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2008) and multilevel modeling, this study examines whether child welfare worker characteristics, such as education level and field, age, and experience predict their perception of the risk of future maltreatment. A total of 1729 case-level investigations and 419 child welfare workers were included in this study. Several one-level logistic regression and two-level logistic regression analyses were run. The best-fit model suggests that caseworkers with a Master’s degree, more than 2 years of experience, and more than 18 cases were significantly more likely to perceive risk of future maltreatment. Further, the interaction between degree level and age also significantly predicted the perception of risk of future maltreatment. Results suggest that the perception of risk of future maltreatment may be influenced by caseworker factors, thus service to families may differ based on caseworker characteristics.

Addressing poverty and child welfare: The integrated Community Development and Child Welfare Model of practice

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice K Butterfield ◽  
James L Scherrer ◽  
Katarzyna Olcon
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Training Model ◽  
Child Welfare Workers ◽  
Root Cause ◽  
Family Enterprise ◽  
Welfare Workers ◽  
Skill Building ◽  
Welfare Model

The Integrated Community Development and Child Welfare Model (CD-CW) engages workers with families and communities to reduce poverty, and at the same time, improve the well-being of children. Skill building in asset-based development, family enterprise, and child trauma is delivered through a three-stage, applied training model. CD-CW was pilot tested and implemented with 100 livelihood and child welfare workers in Ethiopia. Data from Learning Portfolios, team consultations, and a 2-day evaluation retreat are reported. Findings include the importance of using asset-based assessments, applied assignments, and integrated training to address poverty directly as a root cause of child maltreatment.

Measuring the impact of public perceptions on child welfare workers

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine K. Lawrence ◽  
Wendy Zeitlin ◽  
Charles Auerbach ◽  
Sreyashi Chakravarty ◽  
Shauna Rienks
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Public Perceptions ◽  
Child Welfare Workers ◽  
Welfare Workers ◽  
The Impact

The Rural Ideal

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Birk
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
The United States ◽  
Child Welfare Workers ◽  
Dependent Children ◽  
Farm Life ◽  
American Mythology ◽  
Welfare Workers ◽  
The Prestige ◽  
The Way

This chapter examines how the rural ideal, or the beliefs about the prestige of farm homes and families, developed in the United States and how it in turn influenced the placement of dependent children. It first considers how the American mythology that glorified agriculturalists gave rise to the notion that any farm was better for a child than an institution. It then shows how the Midwest came to be seen as a popular place for farm placements onto farms, as well as the best representation of the farm environment that reformers and placers sought to give children. It also explores how the reliance on the Midwest for placement homes began and paved the way for children to be sent to farms in need of laborers. Finally, it discusses the host of problems confronting farming in the Midwest that nonetheless did not deter child welfare workers from believing that farm life still represented the American ideal.

scholarly journals Child Protective Service Referrals Involving Exposure to Domestic Violence: Prevalence, Associated Maltreatment Types, and Likelihood of Formal Case Openings

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan G. Victor ◽  
Colleen Henry ◽  
Terri Ticknor Gilbert ◽  
Joseph P. Ryan ◽  
Brian E. Perron
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
The United States ◽  
Child Welfare Workers ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Standard Data ◽  
Protective Service ◽  
Exposure To Domestic Violence ◽  
Formal Case ◽  
Welfare Workers

Childhood exposure to domestic violence (CEDV) is widely understood as potentially harmful to children. Accordingly, many child welfare systems in the United States construe CEDV as maltreatment when the exposure results in harm or threatened harm to the child. The purpose of the current study was to investigate substantiated child welfare referrals directly related to CEDV to better understand the prevalence and patterns of CEDV-related maltreatment and how child welfare workers respond under the “harm or threatened harm” standard. Data were drawn from 23,704 substantiated referrals between 2009 and 2013 in a large Midwestern child welfare system. Approximately 20% of substantiated referrals were CEDV related. A plurality of CEDV-related referrals included both a male caregiver and female caregiver who were co-substantiated for maltreatment. The most common maltreatment types substantiated for these referrals were neglect based rather than abuse based, and just under a quarter (23%) of CEDV-related referrals were formally opened for services. Referrals involving co-occurring substance abuse were most likely to be opened for services based on predicted probabilities derived from multilevel modeling. Implications for policy and practice are considered.

scholarly journals Partnering With Parents: Reviewing the Evidence for Motivational Interviewing in Child Welfare

2018 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avani Shah ◽  
Shawn Jeffries ◽  
Leah P. Cheatham ◽  
Will Hasenbein ◽  
Misty Creel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Motivational Interviewing ◽  
Child Mental Health ◽  
Child Welfare Workers ◽  
Parenting Skills ◽  
Service Plan ◽  
Welfare Workers ◽  
Parent Child Relationships ◽  
Parent Child

Child welfare workers (CWWs) face challenges to engaging families, including initial parental resistance, service plan noncompliance and other barriers. Adopting a motivational interviewing (MI) framework may improve engagement and collaboration between CWWs and parents, thereby leading to better child welfare (CW) outcomes. This comprehensive narrative review identifies the use of MI in CW, the outcomes of MI use and the gaps in the literature. Of the 16 articles that met inclusion criteria for our search, 12 suggested MI’s value in parenting skills, parent/child mental health, retention in services, substance use, and CW recidivism. Four of these studies specifically focused on CWW. Future studies should examine specific CW outcomes such as reunification, parent/child relationships, recidivism and parent/child mental health.

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