Using child welfare assessments and latent class analysis to identify prevalence and comorbidity of parent service needs

Who Are the Men Caring for Maltreated Youth? Male Primary Caregivers in the Child Welfare System

“…Drug dependence was more common among mothers compared to fathers, but no other significant differences were revealed. This appears to differ from to findings from Jarpe-Ratner and colleagues (2015), who identified substance use as an area of particular need among both fathers and mothers in the child welfare system: in that study 38% of fathers reported substance use needs versus approximately 10% of fathers in the current study. However, it is worth noting that the sample examined by Jarpe-Ratner and colleagues (2015) consisted of parents whose children had been placed in foster care, whereas the current study excluded such cases, focusing specifically on in-home primary caregivers.…”

“…In one sample of high-risk families, fathers with substance use and mental health problems were more likely to use corporal punishment and aggressive discipline with their children (Lee, Kim, Taylor, & Perron, 2011; Lee, Perron, Taylor, & Guterman, 2011). Another study examined the mental health and substance use needs of the parents of over four thousand children placed into foster care in Illinois (Jarpe-Ratner, Bellamy, Yang, & Smithgall, 2015). The analyses in this study found that while most parents had low service needs in these two areas, a substantial proportion (about one third) of fathers had especially high substance use-related service needs.…”

Identification of Domestic Violence Service Needs Among Child Welfare–Involved Parents With Substance Use Disorders: A Gender-Stratified Analysis

“…The strongest association of a domestic violence service need for both men and women was a concurrent need for mental health services. This is in accordance with the findings of Jarpe-Ratner et al (2015) who identified classes of parents with frequently co-occurring substance misuse, domestic violence, and mental health needs. Given the prevalence with which these three needs co-occur in child welfare–involved families (Jarpe-Ratner et al, 2015), the association of each with child maltreatment (Barth, 2009), and their ability to complicate intervention (Lipsky et al, 2010), substance misuse, domestic violence, and mental health might rightly be thought of as a child welfare syndemic (see Meyer, Springer, & Altice, 2011, for a discussion of the substance abuse, domestic violence, and HIV/AIDS [i.e., SAVA] syndemic among women).…”

“…When focusing on parents with children in foster care, substance misuse emerges as a common service need that often co-occurs with domestic violence and mental health issues. For instance, Jarpe-Ratner et al (2015) examined assessment data collected from 4,089 families (3,847 mothers, 2,521 fathers) at intake into foster care to classify parents based on similar needs profiles including mental health, substance misuse, and domestic violence (no distinction made between perpetration and victimization). The largest class of mothers (40% of the sample) was characterized by high rates of substance misuse (53%) and mental health needs (46%), along with moderate rates of domestic violence (31%).…”

“…Attention is increasingly being paid to the complex, co-occurring service needs of child welfare–involved families (Simon & Brooks, 2017). Recognizing that problems rarely occur in isolation, scholars have attempted to identify the patterns and prevalence of co-occurring needs for mothers and fathers at various stages of child welfare practice (Flanagan, Sullivan, & Connell, 2015; Jarpe-Ratner, Bellamy, Yang, & Smithgall, 2015). This research can help child welfare workers anticipate specialized service needs and build capacity to link families with tailored interventions.…”