Infants and the decision to provide ongoing child welfare services

Abstract

BackgroundInfants are the most likely recipients of child welfare services; however, little is known about infants and families who come into contact with the child welfare system and factors that are associated with service provision. Investigations involving infants and their families present an unparalleled opportunity for the child welfare sector to enhance infants’ safety and well-being through early identification, referral and intervention. Understanding how the child welfare system responds to the unique needs of infants and caregivers is critical to developing appropriate practice and policy responses within the child welfare sector and across other allied sectors. This study examines maltreatment-related investigations in Ontario involving children under the age of one to identify which factors are most influential to predicting service provision at the conclusion of a child welfare investigation.MethodsA secondary analysis of the fifth cycle of the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (OIS) for 2013 was conducted. The OIS is a cross-sectional child welfare study that is conducted every 5 years. The most influential factors that were associated with the decision to transfer a case to ongoing services were explored through a multivariate tree-classification technique, Chi square automatic interaction detection.ResultsThere were an estimated 7915 maltreatment-related investigations involving infants in 2013. At least one caregiver risk factor was identified in approximately three-quarters (74%) of investigations involving infants. In the majority of investigations (57%), at least one referral for specialized services was provided. Primary caregiver with few social supports was the most highly significant predictor of the decision to provide ongoing child welfare services. Primary caregiver risk factors were predominant in this model. The analysis identified subgroups of investigations involving infants for which the likelihood of being transferred to ongoing services ranged from approximately 11–97%.ConclusionCaregivers of infants are struggling with numerous challenges that can adversely compromise their ability to meet the unique developmental needs of their infant. The findings underscore the importance of community and social supports in decision-making.

Infants Investigated by the Child Welfare System: Exploring a Distinct Profile of Risks, Service Needs, and Referrals for Support in Ontario

“…Caregivers of children involved with the child welfare system have also been noted to experience unmet service needs [ 26 , 27 ]. In Ontario, being a victim of intimate partner violence (IPV), having few social support (i.e., social isolation or lack of social supports), and mental health issues have consistently emerged as the most frequently identified caregiver risk factors in maltreatment-related investigations involving infants [ 16 , 28 ]. Access to social supports from the community can help to buffer stress and reduce social isolation, a risk factor for both infant maltreatment and poor infant psychosocial functioning [ 29 , 30 ].…”

“…Access to social supports from the community can help to buffer stress and reduce social isolation, a risk factor for both infant maltreatment and poor infant psychosocial functioning [ 29 , 30 ]. The importance of social supports in child welfare decision-making is highlighted by research indicating that a caregiver with few social supports is an influential predictor for transferring a case to ongoing child welfare services in two studies exploring maltreatment-related investigations involving infants and their families in Ontario [ 16 , 28 ]. A caregiver’s social support network is particularly consequential for infants as it can impact the quality of infant-caregiver relationship [ 30 ].…”

“…Despite the consequential nature of the service referral decision to the provision of services, child welfare decision-making research has primarily focused on the provision of ongoing child welfare services [ 16 , 24 , 28 , 34 ] and the decision to place children out-of-home [ 24 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. The applicability and generalizability of the available extant service referral research to the Ontario child welfare context is limited by the lack of uniformity in several aspects of studies, including methodology, sample, variable type, definition of referral to services, the types of services referred to, the country of origin, and the broader policy and practice contexts.…”

“…Findings from the research on Canadian incidence studies at both the provincial and national levels suggest that infants are a unique subgroup of children involved with the child welfare system [ 16 , 28 , 34 , 37 ]. The age of children influences the risk of maltreatment and how the child welfare system subsequently responds to it [ 23 , 25 , 47 ].…”

“…Key drivers of service provision decisions differ by age. Caregiver risk factors have been found to drive the decision to provide ongoing child welfare services [ 16 , 28 , 34 ] and out-of-home placements for infants [ 48 ]. In contrast, child functioning concerns are key contributors for both decisions involving older children and adolescents [ 36 , 37 ].…”