The organizational structure of child welfare: Staff are working hard, but it is hardly working

Blome, Wendy Whiting; Steib, Sue D.

doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.06.018

Cited by 51 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Overall, the child welfare workforce has undergone a decades-long process of deprofessionalization, in which casework is largely routinized, with checklists, structured assessments, layers of oversight, and increased compliance-related documentation (Ellett & Leighninger, 2006). Moreover, the work of child welfare, and foster care in particular, is increasingly diffused across numerous agencies and employees (Blome & Steib, 2014;Ellett & Leighninger, 2006). For a single child in a foster care placement, there may simultaneously be a public agency placement caseworker, a private agency case manager, a permanency specialist, an independent living coordinator, a licensing caseworker, and various supervisors, in addition to child and family service providers (e.g., therapists).…”

Section: After Evaluation: Accountability For Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Foster Care: How We Can, and Should, Do More for Maltreated Children

Font

Gershoff

2020

Social Policy Report

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Foster care provides round-the-clock substitute care for nearly 700,000 U.S. children who are temporarily or permanently separated from their family of origin each year. Each state manages its own foster care system according to federal regulations. Despite numerous large-scale federal policy reforms over the past several decades, substantial concerns remain about the experiences and outcomes of children in the foster care system. The most recent effort to reform foster care, the Family First Prevention Services Act of 2018, attempts to both reduce the use of foster care and increase the quality of care. In this report, we review how policy has shaped the experiences and outcomes of children in foster care, where policy has succeeded, and where it falls short of achieving its goals. We then identify opportunities for federal and state policy to better support the safety, health, and well-being of children in foster care.

show abstract

Section: After Evaluation: Accountability For Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Foster Care: How We Can, and Should, Do More for Maltreated Children

Font

Gershoff

2020

Social Policy Report

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Miller et al made similar assertions (2018). Kim et al, 2011 , Blome and Steib, 2014 reported that child welfare workers experience high caseloads and lower perceptions of personal accomplishment, when juxtaposed with workers in other contexts. Lizano, Hsiao, Barak, and Casper (2014) explained that the work-related strain experienced by child welfare workers negatively impacted overall worker wellbeing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child welfare workers and peritraumatic distress: The impact of COVID-19

Miller

Niu

Moody

2020

Children and Youth Services Review

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Highlights This exploratory study examined COVID-19 related peritraumatic distress among child welfare workers (N=1,996) in one southeastern state in the United States (U.S.). Nearly half of all participants were experiencing mild or severe distress. Those identifying as married, heterosexual/straight, a supervisor, more financially stable, and in better physical and mental health (respectively) were experiencing less distress than others in the sample.

show abstract

“…This study also highlights the prominent role of policy change in the usual care environment. Policy shifts are typically not emphasized in the implementation literature despite common reference in the organizational literature (Blome & Steib, 2014; Hasenfeld, 2010; Powell et al, 2012). Further research into ways to anticipate such changes and maintain flexibility in implementation approaches while still maintaining methodological rigor are needed.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trying to bridge the worlds of home visitation and child welfare: Lessons learned from a formative evaluation

Stahlschmidt

Jonson‐Reid

Pons

et al. 2018

Evaluation and Program Planning

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Young children in families contacting the child welfare system are at high risk of recurrent maltreatment and poor developmental outcomes. Home visitation programs to support parenting may offer hope as a preventive resource but these programs are rarely linked with child welfare. This article describes findings from a formative evaluation of a program designed to connect child welfare-involved families to an existing evidence-supported home visitation program. The program, Early Childhood Connections (ECC), was developed by a field-university partnership including leaders from a public state child welfare system, regional early childhood education systems, and several local agencies providing family support services. Despite extensive and rigorous planning by the workgroup and collaborative refining of the intervention approach as agency needs changed, the continued structural and policy changes within both the home visitation agency and the child welfare agencies created significant ongoing barriers to implementation. On the other hand, child welfare-involved families were receptive to engaging with home visitation. Implications of lessons learned for ongoing program development in this area are discussed.

show abstract

The organizational structure of child welfare: Staff are working hard, but it is hardly working

Cited by 51 publications

References 39 publications

Foster Care: How We Can, and Should, Do More for Maltreated Children

Foster Care: How We Can, and Should, Do More for Maltreated Children

Child welfare workers and peritraumatic distress: The impact of COVID-19

Trying to bridge the worlds of home visitation and child welfare: Lessons learned from a formative evaluation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About