Urgent Protection versus Chronic Need: Clarifying the Dual Mandate of Child Welfare Services across Canada

Trocmé, Nico; Kyte, Alicia; Sinha, Vandna; Fallon, Barbara

doi:10.3390/socsci3030483

Cited by 60 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 37 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Changes to the child welfare legislation and practices in Ontario have broadened the investigation mandate, contributing to the increased identification of vulnerable infants to the child welfare system for reasons other than specific incidents of alleged maltreatment [19, 22, 23]. The 2008 cycle of the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (OIS-2008) was the first to track risk-only investigations in the province [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infants and the decision to provide ongoing child welfare services

Filippelli

Fallon

Trocmé

et al. 2017

Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infants and the decision to provide ongoing child welfare services

Filippelli

Fallon

Trocmé

et al. 2017

Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is well established that such a notion of “threshold” excludes the majority of child welfare concerns, where harm is often cumulatively “the result of neglect stemming from poverty, substance abuse, mental health problems, and inadequate housing” (Saskatchewan Ministry of Social Services, , p.5). Although the rate of Canadian protection investigations driven by urgent child protection needs has remained steady, the rate of investigations involving risk of maltreatment and chronic needs doubled in years 2003–2013 (Trocmé et al, ). But Trocmé et al () are concerned that children and families with chronic needs are neglected because priority is given to immediate protective concerns over broader child welfare concerns.…”

Section: The International Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the rate of Canadian protection investigations driven by urgent child protection needs has remained steady, the rate of investigations involving risk of maltreatment and chronic needs doubled in years 2003–2013 (Trocmé et al, ). But Trocmé et al () are concerned that children and families with chronic needs are neglected because priority is given to immediate protective concerns over broader child welfare concerns. However, a number of Canadian jurisdictions have adopted differential response models separating acute safety concerns from those related to longer term development and well‐being needs, to offer more effective responses.…”

Section: The International Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although there is no specific mention of the construct of cumulative harm, most of the legislation emphasizes the need to consider immediate protective concerns (safety, security, or survival of the child, for example) alongside child well-being and development (Trocmé et al, 2014). Ontario is quite specific in its Child and Family Services Act 1990 that a "pattern of neglect in caring for, providing for, supervising or protecting the child" 2003-2013(Trocmé et al, 2014. But Trocmé et al (2014) are concerned that children and families with chronic needs are neglected because priority is given to immediate protective concerns over broader child welfare concerns.…”

Section: The North American Child Protection Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Cumulative harm in the child protection system: The Australian context

Sheehan

2019

Child & Family Social Work

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cumulative harm is a major child protection concern, with significant consequences for child well-being and development often into adult life. This systematic literature review examines how the construct of cumulative harm is understood and operationalized within current Australian child protection legislation, policy, and practice and situates this within an international context. Scholarly articles and grey literature were qualitatively analysed to explore two main research questions: How is cumulative harm to children identified, assessed, and ultimately incorporated into child protection and legal structures? And what are the most effective responses to cumulative harm identified for child protection practice?What was found was that although the construct of cumulative harm is increasingly incorporated into child protection practice and legislation, in practice, this remains crisis-driven. Although the literature emphasized prevention and early intervention as responses to reducing the cumulative impact of adverse childhood experiences, there is negligible research on what constitutes an effective response to cases involving cumulative harm. They are cases which are less visible within the child protection paradigm; attention to the impact of risk of maltreatment and its influence on longterm developmental outcomes is less well addressed creating uncertainty and ambiguity about effective responses for child protection. KEYWORDS child abuse research, child protection legal decision making, cumulative harm

show abstract

“…However, substantiated cases (18,595 distinct children) were, in turn, a tiny proportion of the total of 148,659 notifications (of which 57,766 were police notifications for domestic violence) [24,105]. In Canada, 85% of referrals to their child protection service can be categorised as chronic needs, while the remainder are urgent protection cases [106]. Thus, practice responses attempt to respond to both high-end perpetrators, who may well have individual psychological risk markers for serious physical or sexual abuse, as well as the much more common diffuse, chronic situations of a combination of mental illness, poverty, drug and alcohol addiction, discrimination and domestic violence [24,107].…”

Section: Constructions Of Abuse and Its Causesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Current Debates on Variability in Child Welfare Decision-Making: A Selected Literature Review

Keddell

2014

Social Sciences

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article considers selected drivers of decision variability in child welfare decision-making and explores current debates in relation to these drivers. Covering the related influences of national orientation, risk and responsibility, inequality and poverty, evidence-based practice, constructions of abuse and its causes, domestic violence and cognitive processes, it discusses the literature in regards to how each of these influences decision variability. It situates these debates in relation to the ethical issue of variability and the equity issues that variability raises. I propose that despite the ecological complexity that drives decision variability, that improving internal (within-country) decision consistency is still a valid goal. It may be that the use of annotated case examples, kind learning systems, and continued commitments to the social justice issues of inequality and individualisation can contribute to this goal.

show abstract

Urgent Protection versus Chronic Need: Clarifying the Dual Mandate of Child Welfare Services across Canada

Cited by 60 publications

References 37 publications

Infants and the decision to provide ongoing child welfare services

Infants and the decision to provide ongoing child welfare services

Cumulative harm in the child protection system: The Australian context

Current Debates on Variability in Child Welfare Decision-Making: A Selected Literature Review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About