Case management for child protection services: A multi-level evaluation study

Abstract

This article presents an evaluation study of a case management method for child protection services, the Delta Method for Family Supervision, in terms of supervision order duration and occurrence and duration of out-ofhome placements. Additionally, case and case manager characteristics were examined. Data was collected about 224 cases, 58 case managers and 30 team managers of all 15 offices of the Child and Youth Protection Services in the Netherlands. In all cases the Delta Method was applied. Data were obtained by interviews, questionnaires and case files. Multi-level analysis was performed to study the influence of independent variables on supervision order duration, and the occurrence and duration of out-of-home placements. Case characteristics related to 87% of the differences in the duration of supervision order, case manager characteristics to 13% of the differences. Some case manager characteristics about applying the Delta Method were significantly related to shorter duration of the supervision order and the occurrence and duration of out-of-home placement. Case characteristics also showed strong relations. Together with the more general aspects of case management supported by this study, such as a one family and one worker approach, this contributes to a more effective practice of case management for child protection services.

The intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment: A three-level meta-analysis

“…Parenting practices now regarded as (a type of) child maltreatment may have been acceptable parenting behavior in earlier years. On the other hand, child welfare professionals may have become more sensitive to (different types of) child maltreatment, as child welfare has increasingly professionalized over time (Busschers, Van Vugt, & Stams, 2016). These aspects may limit the accuracy in assessing child maltreatment in parents using official records, and may explain why we found an (almost) equal effect size for official records and self-report methods.…”

The Effectiveness of Parent Training Programs for Child Maltreatment and Their Components: A Meta-Analysis

“…Although no specific contextual factors, structural elements or program components were found that significantly contributed to the overall effect of parent training programs, there are a number of common factors that all interventions need in order to be effective, regardless of the target group and the type of intervention. For example, programs should have a clear structure and a clear goal [64,65]. Furthermore, programs should be delivered as intended (i.e., according to the manual or protocol), as a higher level of program integrity is associated with larger significant effects of programs on various outcomes [66,67].…”

Foster care placement instability: A meta-analytic review

“…Going further back in time would substantially reduce the relevance of our study for the more recent developments in foster care, case management in child welfare, and society at large. For instance, many changes took place in the lives of families after 1990 (e.g., further decline of the extended family, higher divorce rates, non-traditional family arrangements, lower birth rates) in the Western world (OECD, 2011), while case management in child welfare gradually became an evidence-based practice (Busschers, Van Vugt, & Stams, 2016). We included studies on instability if they focused on breakdown (placement is ended unplanned and prematurely, before the goals were achieved), disruption (unplanned move from one foster family to another), or multiple foster care placements.…”