Impacts of child welfare worker and clientele characteristics on attitudes toward trauma informed-care

2020 ◽  
pp. 251610322096313
Author(s):  
Delphine Collin-Vézina ◽  
Denise Brend ◽  
Karen Black ◽  
Irene Beeman ◽  
Steve Brown
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Child Welfare Workers ◽  
Frontline Staff ◽  
Worker Attitudes ◽  
Trauma Informed Care ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
Welfare Workers

Background: There is increasing recognition of the need to integrate trauma-informed care (TIC) into child welfare practices, given the high rates of trauma experiences among children and youth across these settings. The implementation of TIC is facilitated by various elements, including worker attitudes, yet further research is needed to illuminate the factors that influence child welfare workers’ positive regard for TIC. Objectives: This study aims to explore the relationship between child welfare worker attitudes regarding TIC with workers’ and clients’ individual characteristics. Methods: N = 418 child welfare workers from 11 agencies completed two measures: a demographic questionnaire as well as the French translated version of the ARTIC-35 questionnaire comprised of five subscales. Linear mixed effects models were run for each ARTIC subscale, examining how child and worker factors affect attitudes toward TIC. Results: Participants indicated relatively positive attitudes toward TIC. Managerial staff in offender units scored higher on the subscale regarding their beliefs about the causes underlying child behaviors and on the subscale regarding beliefs about the secondary effects of trauma, than their counterparts in protection units serving boys. Managers scored higher than frontline staff on worker self-efficacy, response to problem behavior, and on-the-job behavior subscales. Workers with a community college degree—and not a university degree–indicated greater sense of self-efficacy. Conclusions: This study points to the importance of paying attention to the characteristics of both workers and clients that may influence inclination toward TIC principles, as a means to build effective integration of this approach in child-serving settings.

scholarly journals Implementing trauma-informed care through social innovation in child welfare residential treatment centres serving elementary school children

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 222-232
Author(s):  
Denise Brend ◽  
Nicolas Fréchette ◽  
Arnaud Milord-Nadon ◽  
Tim Harbinson ◽  
Delphine Collin-Vezina
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Residential Treatment ◽  
Complex Trauma ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Worker Attitudes ◽  
Trauma Informed Care ◽  
Trauma Informed

Objectives: This article presents the theoretical basis, initial deployment strategies, and resulting preliminary findings of a program implemented in residential treatment centres (RCs) in child welfare. “Program Penguin” aimed to help workers develop trauma-informed attitudes and implement trauma-informed practices, make the workplace more responsive to the well-being of RC workers, and reduce the use of restraints and seclusion among school-aged children in RCs. Methods: Informed by the theories of complex trauma (National Child Traumatic Stress Network Complex Trauma Task Force, 2003), polyvicitimization (Finkelhor et al., 2007), Attachment, Self-Regulation and Competency (ARC; Blaustein & Kinniburgh, 2018) and Positive Behavioural Interventions and Supports (PBIS; Sugai & Horner, 2002), Program Penguin was developed and deployed using the social innovation approach (Fixsen et al. 2005). The key stages of social innovation will here be used to describe the implementation process. Results: Changes in practices were observed, RC worker attitudes towards trauma-informed care were assessed and showed strong effects between multiple covariables. RC worker support needs were identified, and a reduction in the use of restraints and seclusions was shown. Key strategies towards the development and maintenance of buy-in and meaningful change in practices are also described. Implications: Changes observed at all levels of this implementation suggest Programme Penguin is a promising approach, despite local issues that arose and the challenges inherent to program deployment within child protection settings. It appears a trauma-informed program using positive behavioural approaches and leveraging existing organizational strengths may impact intervention strategies, worker attitudes, and the use of restraints and seclusions against children in RCs.

Frontline Staff Characteristics and Capacity for Trauma-Informed Care: Implications for the Child Welfare Workforce

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 104536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily A. Bosk ◽  
Abigail Williams-Butler ◽  
Debra Ruisard ◽  
Michael J. MacKenzie
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Frontline Staff ◽  
Trauma Informed Care ◽  
Child Welfare Workforce ◽  
Trauma Informed

scholarly journals Self-Efficacy in Newly-Hired Child Welfare Workers

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 318-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna Cherry ◽  
Bruce Dalton ◽  
Angela Dugan
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Retention Rates ◽  
Child Welfare Workers ◽  
Supervisory Support ◽  
Training And Supervision ◽  
Worker Characteristics ◽  
Welfare Workers ◽  
Newly Hired

Child abuse and neglect in the United States resulted in 676,569 reports in 2011 (U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2012). Workers in this field struggle with low pay, high caseloads, inadequate training and supervision, and risk of violence, all of which contribute to worker burnout and poor worker retention rates. Worker self-efficacy is predictive of worker retention, job performance, and persistence in this difficult field. This paper reports the development of a new measure of self-efficacy from a sample of 395 child welfare workers. Factor analysis revealed two domains of self-efficacy, direct practice and indirect practice, which can be modestly predicted by worker characteristics upon hire and the training program the workers attend. Worker self-efficacy can be used to identify vulnerable workers who may be especially in need of strong supervisory support as well as understand who to target for recruitment. A review of the literature of self-efficacy in child welfare workers is included.

scholarly journals Title IV-E Child Welfare Training and University Partnerships: Transforming State Child Protection Services into a Trauma-Informed System

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 235-249
Author(s):  
Robin Hernandez-Mekonnen ◽  
Dawn Konrady
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Child Welfare Workers ◽  
University Partnerships ◽  
Children In Foster Care ◽  
Title Iv ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
State Child ◽  
Welfare Workers

Children who are involved in the child welfare system have experienced trauma, and research indicates that parents of those children also frequently grapple with their own unresolved trauma. In addition, child welfare workers face high rates of secondary traumatic stress. Federal legislation from 2011 requires states to conduct universal trauma screening on children in foster care. The Administration on Children and Families (ACF) urges state Child Protection agencies (CPS) to become trauma-informed, however, many states still struggle to integrate a trauma focused practice model. This article describes the outcomes of a national, empirically driven, Core Concepts in Child Trauma for Child Welfare curriculum utilized in a Title IV-E university partnership program to teach graduate level child welfare agency supervisors. Findings suggest that the graduate trauma course demonstrates statistically significant gains in confidence, and also has a profound impact on the agency’s transformation into a trauma-informed system

Children’s Participation in Decision Making From Child Welfare Workers’ Perspectives: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
pp. 104973152098484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karmen Toros
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Child Welfare Workers ◽  
Children’S Participation ◽  
Participation In Decision Making ◽  
Children's Participation ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
Welfare Workers

This article explores child welfare workers’ experiences of children’s participation in decision making in the child protection system. The systematic review follows the principles of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement and includes 12 peer-reviewed articles published in academic journals from 2009 to 2019. Findings indicate that children’s participation in decision making is generally limited or nonexistent. The age of the child is an important determining factor concerning whether the child is given the opportunity to participate in decision making. Potential harm for children that may result from participation is considered when deciding on whether to include a child in the decision-making process.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document