Characteristics of Young Parents Investigated and Opened for Ongoing Services in Child Welfare

Abstract

This study uses a national child welfare dataset to examine the profile of young parents who are the subject of maltreatment-related investigation and to identify which factors determine service provision from the child welfare system at the conclusion of the investigation. Specifically, it examines how workers in the child welfare system decide which young parents require ongoing services the conclusion of a maltreatment related investigation where other risk factors are also being assessed. It found that young parents are struggling with a number of issues including poverty, housing, mental health, violence and children who are exhibiting functioning concerns. Workers in the child welfare system provide ongoing services to young parents particularly in investigations where they have noted concerns around drug/solvent use, cognitive impairment, mental health issues, physical health issues and few social supports. The opportunity to target interventions for the specific concerns for this very vulnerable population is evident.

A review of recent analyses of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS)

“…Police involvement in investigation 31 Opening for ongoing services 16 Opening for ongoing services 15 Opening for ongoing services 19 Opening for ongoing services 26 Opening for ongoing services [8][9][10][11]38 Opening for ongoing services [12][13][14][15]38 Opening for ongoing services 22 Retained Learning/developmental issues 20 Physical disability/health condition 20 Emotional/behavioural disorders 20 Internalizing disorders 6 Externalizing disorders 6 Presence of harm 6 Child functional impairment 8 …”

“…Opening for ongoing services 16 Opening for ongoing services 15 Opening for ongoing services 19 Opening for ongoing services 26 Opening for ongoing services [8][9][10][11]38 Opening for ongoing services [12][13][14][15]38 Opening for ongoing services …”

Examining the Relationship between Economic Hardship and Child Maltreatment Using Data from the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect-2013 (OIS-2013)

“…Research suggests that families with younger children also tend to experience greater socio-economic hardships than those with older children [29,31]. Parental factors such as young caregiver age, substance abuse, and mental health concerns are also established as risk factors for child maltreatment [32,33,34,35]. …”

Food Neglect and Infant Development

“…Our results demonstrate that providing infants with adequate food is as critical to cognitive and language development as is the prevention of other forms of child abuse and neglect. Considering that both food‐related hardships and child neglect are products of poverty, family dysfunction, and parental mental health (Fallon, Ma, Black, & Wekerle, ; Westad & McConnell, ), it is critical to continue to study how family food problems affect child well‐being.…”