The impact of COVID-19 on child welfare-involved families: Implications for parent–child reunification and child welfare professionals

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted children and parents involved in the child welfare system and the professionals working with these families. Using survey data collected August–September of 2020, this mixed-methods study examined the perspectives of 196 child welfare-involved professionals (77 attorneys, 99 caseworkers, and 20 therapists) in the United States about the impact of COVID-19 on parents of origin, children, foster parents, and child welfare professionals. Particular attention was paid to the implications of COVID-19 and associated challenges for parent–child contact and reunification. With respect to professional stresses, more than half of participants worried about their own personal safety and health amidst COVID-19, and more than three-quarters expressed concerns about the safety and well-being of child welfare-involved families. Participants, especially attorneys, expressed concerns about parent–child contact and disruptions to reunification. In-person parent–child visits had all but ceased during the early part of the pandemic, and participants identified barriers to effective virtual visits, including lack of foster parent oversight, technology issues, and children’s developmental stage and/or lack of engagement. Attorneys were especially critical of the cessation of in-person visits and viewed this as a serious threat to child-parent bonds and reunification. Participants, especially child welfare workers, voiced concerns about children’s mental health and educational outcomes amidst the pandemic. Findings have implications for attorneys, child welfare workers, and other practitioners who directly and indirectly interface with child welfare-involved families.

Child Participation in Estonian and Finnish Child Welfare Removals – Professionals’ Perceptions and Practices

A child’s right to participate is one of the general principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (crc). It is an integral part of a child’s right to have his/her best interest taken into account as a primary consideration. Therefore, it is indispensable in the decision-making connected with child welfare removals, the effects of which on the child’s life are long lasting and profound. In this article we examine the perceptions and practices of child-welfare professionals in the context of children’s rights, especially participation rights, in two neighbouring countries: Finland and Estonia. The findings are based on a survey and suggest that in the context of children’s rights, legislation also has its role in making children’s rights a reality, both as a prerequisite for reform as well as in shaping attitudes. However, legal regulation is not enough – full realisation also reguires more information, education and resources.

Child Welfare Practice with LGBTQ Youth and Families

The actual number of LGBTQ+ youth in the child welfare system in the United States is unknown, as this information is not collected at the federal level. There are some studies that use state-level and/or population-based samples to estimate these numbers; but they are not representative of the nation as a whole. Moreover, many of these data samples do not include samples of trans and nonbinary youth. Thus, documenting the disproportionality of LGBTQ+ youth in these systems is still in the early phases of development. Social workers and child welfare professionals play essential roles as case managers, therapists, and advocates with youth and families who are LGBTQ+ as they negotiate their lives in these systems. This annotated bibliography provides knowledge and applications that will help social workers and child welfare professionals as they increase their knowledge, competencies, and skills in working with this population of young people and their families. Drawing on classic texts, social workers can understand some of the historical and fundamental knowledge necessary to work with youth and families in child welfare systems who identify as LGBTQ+. Specific knowledge of the settings and situations where LGBTQ+ young people reside and/or are provided services (in-home versus out-of-home care) as well as a discussion about foster care and adoption by LGBT families is critical for understanding the complexity of these people’s lives and situations. Further, sexual orientation and gender identity expression variables intersect with other conditions, such as race/class/ethnicity. These intersections add to the complexity of the LGBTQ+ person’s life and experiences in child welfare systems. As youth who self-identify as LGBTQ+ experience both oppression and resilience in a range of systems, including the family of origin system, so too do families who identify as LGBTQ+ and wish to become foster or adoptive parents. The decision to self-identify and “come out,” the experience of historical and psychological trauma, the degree of social supports, and health and mental health status are some of the issues and barriers many LGBTQ+ individuals experience and overcome as they interface with child welfare systems. Interventions at the clinical level can move youth toward health, while interventions at the macro level can assuage the systemic discrimination and bias that has been present in many child welfare systems. Social workers and child welfare professionals can avail themselves to key journal articles and texts for the latest knowledge and advocacy efforts. Additionally, there are many organizations that provide digital and in-person education, family support, and legal advocacy for the LGBTQ+ youth and families in child welfare systems. Social workers and child welfare professionals are on the frontlines and behind the scenes with their work with the LGBTQ+ youth and families in child welfare. They have an ethical imperative to work to provide support, healing, and advocacy. It my hope that the bibliography will be useful to social workers and child welfare professionals in this endeavor.

Trauma-Informed Care in Child Welfare: An Imperative for Residential Childcare Workers

Context: Rates of traumatization among residential child welfare professionals are alarmingly high. The well-being of these professionals is associated both with their intention to stay in their jobs and outcomes of children in their care. Several risk factors threaten the well-being of child welfare professionals, including primary and secondary exposure to experiences with the potential to provoke posttraumatic stress reactions. Objectives: This manuscript details experiences empirically shown to have potential negative impacts on professional well-being, discusses why these impacts are of particular concern for residential childcare workers, and describes the types of organizational cultures and climates that appear to mitigate these negative impacts. Implications: Trauma-informed care at the organizational level is proposed both as a means to reduce harm to child-welfare professionals and promote the rehabilitation of children within the child welfare system.