Rethinking the Functioning of Child Protective Services

Fluke, John D.; Casillas, Katherine L.

doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9685-9_21

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…There is a large body of literature that suggests caregiver functioning issues, such as depression, may act to compromise the quality of the infant-caregiver relationship which is critical to ensuring the child’s safety and well-being [ 45 ]. This further highlights the important role of the child welfare system as a pathway to vulnerable connecting children and families to the right community supports and services [ 29 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are also other challenges associated with reliably identifying child functioning concerns in infants without the assistance of standardized measures or direct assessment; for instance, caregivers may be hesitant in reporting their child’s functioning issues as a result of perceived consequences, such as blame [ 28 ]. There is minimal research that provides guidance with respect to the implementation of developmental screening and assessment practices and models for infants and young children within a child welfare context; for example, eligibility criteria for screening, which standardized measures to use, the timing, the frequency of use, and which professional should conduct the assessment [ 29 , 30 ]. Yet, despite these challenges, the monitoring of developmental outcomes by the child welfare system has been identified as critical to addressing and evaluating child well-being, a central component of the child welfare mandate [ 29 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Infants and the decision to provide ongoing child welfare services

Filippelli

Fallon

Trocmé

et al. 2017

Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health

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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.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%