scholarly journals “It's the Only System We've Got”

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria A. Copeland
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Service Workers ◽  
Protective Service ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Intermediary Role

Front-line public “Child Welfare” caseworkers, also known as emergency response or investigative caseworkers, play a significant role in the “Child Welfare” system. Placed in an intermediary role within the system, investigative caseworkers are tasked with making critical decisions while attempting to advocate for families and uphold the system’s policies. To understand the caseworker decision-making processes more in-depth, a qualitative study was conducted with eighteen investigative caseworkers in four different counties. The guiding research question of the current study was: “What impacts the decisionmaking processes in which child protective service workers investigate and substantiate referred cases of child maltreatment?” Findings revealed several nuances and extensive complexities in how workers navigated often contradictory roles within the system. Important emerging themes include caseworkers’ use of surveillance during investigation and multi-institution partnership indecision-making processes. This Comment discusses the ways in which caseworkers react to and navigate ambiguity and parental resistance during investigations, lending an often-overlooked exploration into various nuances within the decision-making apparatus. Understanding nuances in the complex web of decision-making and information-gathering may lead to novel ways of thinking about how the “Child Welfare” system addresses child protection.

Exploring Alternate Explanations for Agency-Level Effects in Placement Decisions Regarding Aboriginal Children

2020 ◽  
pp. 215-234
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Fallon ◽  
John D. Fluke ◽  
Martin Chabot ◽  
Cindy Blackstock ◽  
Vandna Sinha ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Organizational Factors ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Placement Decisions ◽  
Aboriginal Children

This chapter summarizes a series of published papers that used data from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS) to explore the influence of case and organizational characteristics on decisions to place Aboriginal children in out-of-home placements. The premise of the analyses was that these influences were consistent with the framework of the Decision-Making Ecology. In Canada, Aboriginal children are overrepresented at all points of child welfare decision-making: investigation, substantiation, and placement in out-of-home care. Case factors accounting for the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children at all service points in the child welfare system include poverty, poor housing, and substance misuse, and these factors, when coupled with inequitable resources for First Nations children residing on reserves, result in the overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in the Canadian child welfare system. For this study, the authors examine case characteristics and organizational factors in a multilevel context, hypothesizing that children are more likely to be placed out of home in agencies that serve a relatively high proportion of Aboriginal children. According to the statistical models presented, the most important of these factors is whether the provincial government operates the child welfare agency. As with the proportion of Aboriginal children on the caseload, the risk of a child being placed is greater in government-run agencies compared to agencies operated by private funders. Further analysis needs to be conducted to fully understand individual- and organizational-level variables that may influence /decisions regarding placement of Aboriginal children.

Instrumentation to Understand the Child Protective Services Decision-Making Processes

2020 ◽  
pp. 81-108
Author(s):  
Alan J. Dettlaff ◽  
Dana Hollinshead ◽  
Donald J. Baumann ◽  
John D. Fluke
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Protective Services ◽  
Improved Outcomes ◽  
Welfare Systems ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Child Welfare Outcomes

When children come to the attention of the child welfare system, they become involved in a decision-making process in which decisions are made that have a significant effect on their future and well-being. The decision to remove children from their families is particularly complex, yet surprisingly little is understood about this decision-making process. As a result, instrumentation has been developed and adapted over the past 20 years to further understand variations in child welfare outcomes that are decision-based and, in particular concerning the removal decision, in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the intersecting factors that influence caseworker decisions. This chapter presents research and the development and use of this instrument, drawing from the decision-making ecology as the underlying rationale for obtaining the measures. The instrument was based on the development of decision-making scales used in multiple studies and administered to child protection caseworkers in several states. This effort is part of a larger program of research that seeks to better understand decision-making processes in child welfare systems in order to promote fairness, accuracy, and improved outcomes among children and families.

Helping Substance-Abusing Mothers in the Child-Welfare System: Turning Crisis into Opportunity

2000 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
An-Pyng Sun
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Substance Abusing ◽  
Protective Service ◽  
Self Actualization ◽  
Training Child ◽  
Meaningful Relationships ◽  
Depth Interviews

This paper integrates in-depth interviews with eight mothers and existing relative literature, explaining the recovery journey of substance-abusing mothers in the child-welfare system. The results show that these mothers longed for a mainstream dream (a better life, meaningful relationships, and self-actualization), perhaps because of, as well as for the sake of, their children. However, for them to achieve their dreams, the support of various external systems is necessary—treating mothers and children as one unit, facilitating nonusing social networks, and providing case-management and life-skills training. Child protective service caseworkers can serve as key persons to help these mothers turn crisis into opportunity.

scholarly journals Exploring dominant child protection discourses: new possibilities for practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nimo Samater
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Reflective Practice ◽  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Child Protection Workers ◽  
Emerging Themes

This research study focuses on attachment theory as a dominant discourse in child protection and the experiences of child protection workers. The literature on attachment theory and its influence on Eurocentric/Western knowledge is reviewed. As well, the use of reflective practice in child protection practice is discussed. This study includes qualitative interviews with three child protection workers in Southern Ontario who discuss their practice. Four emerging themes were derived from the narratives of the participants: recognition of attachment theory as being the pinnacle of child protection practice, use of observation as a tool to assess attachment, use of reflective practice and lastly, the stigma of Children’s Aid Society and impacts on practice. The findings in this study suggest how practice is led by policies and standards of the child welfare system and is rarely challenged. The need for the child welfare system to validate parent/child beliefs, values and practices from various ethnicities is discussed.

Kelso, John Joseph

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allan Moscovitch
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
First Child ◽  
Protection Legislation ◽  
Children's Aid Societies ◽  
Similar Legislation

John Joseph Kelso (March 31, 1864–September 30, 1935) was a young journalist when he became involved in child welfare in his adopted home of Toronto. He was instrumental in the passage of the first child protection legislation in Canada, and in spreading the need for voluntary children’s aid societies across Ontario and for similar legislation across Canada. He became superintendent of child welfare in 1893 and remained in that post for 40 years, shaping the development of the child welfare system in Ontario and Canada.

Deconstructing bias: The decision-making process among child protective service workers in Chile

2022 ◽  
pp. 002087282110689
Author(s):  
Catherine A LaBrenz ◽  
Claudia Reyes-Quilodran ◽  
Diana Padilla-Medina ◽  
Miguel Arevalo Contreras ◽  
Luz Cabrera Piñones
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Service Workers ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Protective Service ◽  
Welfare Systems ◽  
Child Welfare Systems

Worldwide, there has been a push toward reforming or abolishing child welfare systems because of systemic bias against families. Few studies have examined the role of bias in decision-making processes among child welfare practitioners, especially in child welfare systems in processes of change/reform. This qualitative study utilized discussion groups with child welfare teams to examine how professionals navigated the decision-making process in cases of child maltreatment. A grounded theory analysis revealed that professionals deconstruct macro, mezzo, and micro biases as they make decisions. Implications for global social work, such as self-reflection and structural changes, and for future research are explored.

scholarly journals Child protection, capitalism and the settler state

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Hyslop
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
The State ◽  
Family Court ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Role Of The State

The year 2019 represented a watershed moment for Aotearoa New Zealand’s child welfare system, as a public spotlight was shone on systemic ethnic inequities during ongoing legislative changes aimed at centering Te Tiriti o Waitangi and whänau, hapü, and iwi considerations in policy and practice. In the midst of this dialogue, Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Government hosted the “Children, Families, and the State”– a seminar series focused on the historical, current, and future role of the state in the lives of families and children. The seminars, and the discussion it generated, was due to the calls to action from speakers across the system, including leadership at Oranga Tamariki, within the family court, non-profit providers, commissioners and advocates, and academics. The four brief essays in this edition of Policy Quarterly capture viewpoints from several of the seminar speakers. Despite their different perspectives, common threads unite them. A greater recognition of the structural causes of the historical and current patterns of ethnic inequities in child welfare system contact, a commitment to whänau, hapü, and iwi-centred policy, practice, and partnership, the authors argue, are vital for a more just and empowering system. Here, Ian Hyslop highlights the ways in which New Zealand’s history of racism and colonialism has shaped the child welfare system today, and how a radical redistribution of power to whānau and iwi can help restore the social protection of children.  

scholarly journals case for an inequalities perspective in child protection

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Keddell
Keyword(s):  
Child Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
The State ◽  
Family Court ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Role Of The State

The year 2019 represented a watershed moment for Aotearoa New Zealand’s child welfare system, as a public spotlight was shone on systemic ethnic inequities during ongoing legislative changes aimed at centering Te Tiriti o Waitangi and whänau, hapü, and iwi considerations in policy and practice. In the midst of this dialogue, Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Government hosted the “Children, Families, and the State”– a seminar series focused on the historical, current, and future role of the state in the lives of families and children. The seminars, and the discussion it generated, was due to the calls to action from speakers across the system, including leadership at Oranga Tamariki, within the family court, non-profit providers, commissioners and advocates, and academics. The four brief essays in this edition of Policy Quarterly capture viewpoints from several of the seminar speakers. Despite their different perspectives, common threads unite them. A greater recognition of the structural causes of the historical and current patterns of ethnic inequities in child welfare system contact, a commitment to whänau, hapü, and iwi-centred policy, practice, and partnership, the authors argue, are vital for a more just and empowering system. In this essay, Emily Keddell reflects on how a lack of an inequalities perspective in policymaking has shaped New Zealand’s unequal child welfare system, and the ways in which this perspective can drive down the number of children who enter the system in the future.

scholarly journals Foreword

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy D. Polikoff ◽  
Jane M. Spinak
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Child Welfare ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Current System ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Child Welfare System ◽  
Welfare System ◽  
Regulation System ◽  
Industrial Complex ◽  
Transformative Change

The 2001 book, Shattered Bonds: The Color of Child Welfare, by Dorothy Roberts, called out the racism of the child welfare system and the harms that system perpetrates on families and communities. Twenty years later, despite numerous reform efforts, the racism and profound harms endure. It is time for transformative change. In this foreword to the symposium Strengthened Bonds: Abolishing the Child Welfare System and Re-Envisioning Child Well-Being, honoring the 20th anniversary of Shattered Bonds, we highlight Professor Roberts’ articulation of her development as a family policing abolitionist and summarize the articles and comments contributed from scholars in numerous disciplines and well as impacted parents, family defense advocates and systemchange activists. These contributions help us learn from history and political theory; focus on the unique and shared circumstances of Native American families; critique, and call for repeal of, much of current law; condemn the punitive, and racially disproportionate, surveillance of families; and demand a new approach that diverts the massive funding of the foster-care industrial complex into support, services, and healing for families, tribes, and communities. We call for abolition of the family regulation system, the term we use as a more accurate description of what is commonly called the child welfare or child protection system. We situate this call in the context of the more developed movement for prison abolition. The current system is predicated on seeing individual parents as a risk to their children. It fails to see the strengths and resilience of parents and families; the harms of surveillance and removal; and the structural forces that harm children by failing to invest in adequate housing, income, child care, health and mental health services, and educational opportunities for all families. Abolition provides the transformative mind-set that will enable loving and strengthened families to raise happy, healthy, safe, educated, and imaginative children.

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