Using Administrative Data to Monitor Racial/Ethnic Disparities and Disproportionality Within Child Welfare Agencies: Process and Preliminary Outcomes

Child welfare administrative data are increasingly used to identify racial/ethnic disproportionality and disparities at various levels of aggregation. However, child welfare agencies typically face challenges in harnessing administrative data to examine racial/ethnic disproportionality and disparities at meaningful levels of analysis due to limited resources and/or tools for reporting. This article describes the process through which a multi-state workgroup designed and developed management reports to monitor racial/ethnic disparities and disproportionality using a web-based child welfare administrative data reporting system. The article provides an overview of the process, outcome, and challenges of the group’s work with the goal of offering a starting point for discussion to others who may be seeking to monitor racial/ethnic disparities and disproportionality, regardless of their reporting system.     

Racial Disparities in Service Referrals for Families in the Child Welfare System

Among families in the child welfare system, family reunification depends largely upon the services to which families are referred. This study examines whether race/ethnicity influences the number and types of services to which families are referred. Findings suggest that compared to African American families, Hispanic families were more often referred to psychosocial services (e.g., mental health) than basic needs (e.g., housing). These findings indicate a need to reduce service referral disparities between ethnic groups.     

Child Welfare and the Courts

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study focuses on the relationships between professionals working in the juvenile dependency system, including judicial officers, attorneys, social workers, and court-appointed special advocates. It includes an examination of the quality of professional relationships, factors contributing to tensions, the consequences of difficult relationships, and strategies for improving relationships. It utilizes interviews and focus groups with professionals and focus groups with clients involved in the juvenile dependency system. The major findings address: (a) the nature and quality of professional relationships, (b) the structural and operational factors contributing to tension in those relationships, (c) client perceptions of professional relationships, and (d) respondent recommendations for improving professional relationships. This study is a contribution to the small but growing literature on the complexity of the interface between public child welfare services and the court system.     

Causes and Effects of Child Welfare Workforce Turnover

ABSTRACT

This paper provides an overview of the current state of knowledge on the causes and effects of workforce turnover in child welfare. The causes of workforce turnover are abundant and have been categorized into three areas cited most often throughout the literature: individual factors, supervisory factors, and organizational factors. On the other hand, the empirical research on the effects of workforce turnover in child welfare is scant. This paper discusses the need for new empirical knowledge on the relationship between turnover and child welfare outcomes. The authors conclude with consideration of the gaps in the research and implications for social work practice and profession.     

Keys to Implementation of Child Welfare Systems Change Initiatives

While the research base on implementation in child welfare has grown, applying implementation science to child welfare system change is still relatively new. There is a gap in knowledge of what factors are most important in different implementation stages and system contexts. This study examines 12 implementation keys that support building infrastructure, developing inter-organizational networks, and addressing contextual issues in child welfare system change initiatives in three states. Research questions address which keys are most important in different implementation stages, the major components and context of these keys during implementation, and the overlap between implementation keys.     

Components of the Solution-Based Casework Child Welfare Practice Model That Predict Positive Child Outcomes

While a number of studies have shown the efficacy of the solution-based casework (SBC) practice model for child welfare (e.g., Antle, Christensen, van Zyl, & Barbee, 2012 Antle, B. F., Christensen, D. N., van Zyl, M. A. & Barbee, A. P. (2012). The impact of the Solution Based Casework (SBC) practice model on federal outcomes in public child welfare. Child Abuse & Neglect, 36, 342–353.[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the current analysis examines the top ranked behaviors in cases reaching outcomes of safety, permanency, and well-being in both high adherence and low adherence cases. Sixteen top behaviors seem to have the greatest impact on outcomes, all of which are key to the three major theoretical orientations utilized in SBC. Thus, these results not only narrow in on the key behaviors that drive success in the practice model, but also shows the utility of the theoretical underpinnings of the practice model.     

Child Welfare Practice Model Implementation Projects: Lessons Learned

Child welfare agencies implement practice models to guide their processes and practices, clarify expectations, and enhance service delivery to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families. Changing child welfare practices is a tremendous undertaking requiring assimilation of new concepts, policies, skills, and behaviors. The integration of a new practice model can be facilitated through tailored training and technical assistance (T/TA) grounded in implementation science. Based on qualitative analysis from a cross-site evaluation of Child Welfare Implementation Centers, this article provides an overview and lessons learned from 14 practice model implementation projects and the use of T/TA to support them.     

Social Media and E-professionalism in Child Welfare: Policy and Practice

The professional child welfare literature offers little guidance to child welfare managers and agency policy makers about the use of social media to search for or communicate with clients. Ethical social media use relies upon e-professionalism, defined as the professional identity established by workers through the way they utilize digital communications. This article offers considerations for standards of e-professionalism in child welfare policy and practice. Specific considerations are outlined for social media policy and practice scenarios are offered, which can be used to prompt agency discussions with child welfare workers.     

An Examination of Oversight and Review in the Child Welfare System

Abstract

Child welfare agencies are accountable to the community not only because they spend public dollars, but also, most critically, because they are charged with protecting vulnerable children. Over the past three decades multiple oversight processes have been initiated as part of an effort to improve accountability in public child welfare. In agencies around the country an array of advocates and monitors regularly review the performance of individual caseworkers. While caseloads grow in number and complexity the ranks of the workforce have not kept pace. The result is too many people watching too few workers serve too many vulnerable children and families.

This paper examines the cumulative effect of five groups of “watchers” that oversee child welfare services. It suggests that every group of watchers should be able to demonstrate that their activities contribute directly to the achievement of system goals.     

Vicarious Trauma in Child Welfare Workers: A Study of Organizational Responses

Child welfare is provided within an organizational context that both supports and thwarts the efforts of workers and administrators to meet the myriad of goals established by federal, state, and local regulation and professional bodies. As the field moves toward trauma-informed services for children and families (Ko et al., 2008 Ko, S. J., Ford, J. D., Kassam-Adams, N., Berkowitz, S. J., Wilson, C., Wong, M., Brymer, M. J., &; Layne, C. M. (2008). Creating trauma-informed systems: Child welfare, education, first responders, healthcare, juvenile justice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 39(4), 396–404.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), the effect of trauma on workers has received less agency attention (Middleton &; Potter, 2015 Middleton, J. S., &; Potter, C. C. (2015). Relationship between vicarious traumatization and turnover among child welfare professionals. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 9(2), 195–216.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This exploratory, qualitative study examines the level of knowledge administrators have regarding vicarious trauma and probes the organizational responses of public child welfare agencies to the vicarious trauma experienced by workers.     

Using Qualitative Data-Mining to Identify Skillful Practice in Child Welfare Case Records

Using qualitative data-mining methods, this study analyzed 39 child welfare case records in order to identify examples of skillful practice. Conducted in partnership with a public child welfare agency in northern California, the study found that child welfare workers are implementing many of the practices promoted by statewide and national child welfare practice frameworks. Broad categories of skillful practice identified included: (1) effective communication by social workers, (2) support for client self-determination, and (3) active intervention strategies. Study findings provide support for incorporating case record review processes in training and supervision in order to integrate practice-based expertise with research-based evidence.     

The Role of Supervision in the Retention of Public Child Welfare Workers

Abstract

Contrary to common belief, having a manageable caseload size may not be critical to the retention of child welfare MSW social workers. In this study of the retention of 765 title IV-E MSWs in public child welfare, support from supervisors emerged as a pivotal factor in employee retention. With analyses regressing retention and intent to leave public child welfare agencies, support from supervisors emerged as a predictor, but caseload size did not. The preliminary findings of qualitative interviews corroborated these results. This study corroborates literature indicating that support from supervisors enhances retention of specially trained child welfare workers.     

瑞典儿童福利模式及发展趋势研议

瑞典儿童福利制度完善,以优厚的亲职假给付与普遍的公共托育服务著称,充分考虑到了儿童成长过程中的种种需求,使得儿童在其人生各阶段,都能接受国家资源以达到其发展所需,属于典型的国家支持型、母亲友好型儿童福利政策.是"北欧模式"福利国家的代表,被誉为世界福利国家的"典范".     

Child Welfare Assessment Practices in Scotland: An Ecological Process Grounded in Relationship-Building

Beginning with the initial contact with the family, Scottish child welfare policy and practice are grounded in ecological practice and community relationships. New guidance called “Getting it Right for Every Child in Scotland” (GIRFEC) is focused on universal child well-being and may have a significant impact on social work practice. This article explores the results of a multi-methods case study conducted in Scotland and highlights key aspects of new policy implementation and relational social work characteristics that are important to advance ecological child welfare practice. It may also have implications for other cultural contexts.     

Unheard Voices: Why Former Child Welfare Workers Left Their Positions

This mixed methods study used a snowball sample (n = 54) to capture retrospective insight from former public child welfare workers about job satisfaction and reasons they left their positions. Responses to open-ended questions suggested a theme of lack of organizational support as the primary reason they left. Former workers also reported that they wanted a voice and someone to hear their concerns, greater recognition, and opportunity to practice self-care. Quantitatively, workers in their positions 8 years or longer were the most satisfied on a 19-item global scale examining job satisfaction. Respondents were unhappy with their workloads and emotional impact of their positions.     

Strategies for Empowering the Child Welfare Administrator Facing Class Action Litigation

ABSTRACT

Class action litigation is a current, or imminent, reality in many public child welfare agencies. Over the past three decades, advocates have increasingly used lawsuits to leverage reform in systems they viewed as ineffective in protecting and promoting the welfare of children. Too little guidance has been offered to administrators confronted with litigation. This paper proposes a set of strategies for administrators as they respond to actual or potential lawsuits. An overview of the litigation process is included, as well as a series of issues to be considered by the administrator and the consulting legal team when an agency or jurisdiction is anticipating or facing a suit.     

Implementing Developmental Screening Programs for Infants and Toddlers in the Child Welfare System

In 2003, revisions to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act required states to develop plans to refer children younger than 3 years of age with a substantiated case of abuse and neglect for developmental screening. A decade after legislation was passed, its implementation varies considerably across states. This article explains how research informs the need for careful developmental monitoring of young children, especially those experiencing trauma or living under stressful conditions. Finally, this article presents how one community used colocation to increase developmental screenings for young abused and neglected children.     

Dual-System Families: Cash Assistance Sequences of Households Involved With Child Welfare

Dual-system families, those involved with the child welfare system and receiving public cash assistance, may be more vulnerable than families connected to only one of the two systems. This study advances our understanding of the heterogeneous and dynamic cash-assistance histories of dual-system families in the post–welfare reform era. With merged administrative data from Washington over the period 1998–2009, we use cluster analysis to group month-to-month sequences of cash-assistance use among households over the 37-month period surrounding child removal. Close to two thirds of families who received any assistance either had a short spell with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or lost TANF. Smaller percentages had steady support. Families who lose assistance are less likely than average to reunify while those who connect to benefits are more likely, suggesting that coordination between systems may serve dual-system families well.     

Four Principles of Big Data Practice for Effective Child Welfare Decision Making

Large administrative data systems are powerful tools that can aid child welfare decision making by allowing populations, trends, and risks to children to be described. But realizing the value that this “big data” can bring to improving the lives of children and their families requires one to (a) start the process by asking a question, (b) take a disciplined approach to converting data to evidence, (c) commit to the cyclical process of improvement using evidence, and (d) arrange and analyze the data in ways that maximize evidence yield. This article describes how these four principles can help agencies and researchers use big data wisely and in accordance with scientific standards as an instrument to generate evidence that fuels the cycle of continuous quality improvement.