Abstract
Formal university–child welfare partnerships offer a unique opportunity to begin to fill the gaps in the child welfare knowledge base and link child welfare services to the realities of practice. With resources from a knowledge mobilization grant, a formal partnership was developed between the University of Toronto, clinicians, policy analysts, and researchers from child welfare agencies across Ontario. The key objectives of the grant included: (1) enhancing the capacity of service providers to access and analyze child welfare data to inform service and policy decisions; (2) integrating clinical expertise in service and policy decisions; and (3) developing a joint research agenda addressing high-priority knowledge gaps. This partnership was an opportunity to advance the evidence base with respect to service provision in Ontario and to create a culture of knowledge and evidence that would eventually support more complex research initiatives. Administrative data was analyzed for this partnership through the Ontario Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (OCANDS)—the first child welfare data system in Ontario to track child welfare-involved children and their families. Child welfare agencies identified recurrence as an important priority and agency-driven analyses were subsequently conducted on OCANDS generated recurrence Service Performance Indicators (SPI’s). Using an urgent versus chronic investigative taxonomy for analyses, findings revealed that the majority of cases did not recur within 12 months and cases identified as chronic needs are more likely to return to the attention of child welfare authorities. One of the key outcomes of the partnership — helping agencies to understand their administrative data is described, as are considerations for next steps for future partnerships and research.
Highlights
The Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS) is the only national source of data on child welfare services in Canada [1]
Through the collaborative nature of partnerships, this may include engaging community partners in research designs or other aspects of the research. It may include university-based researchers developing and refining research agendas and designs to align with the needs and realities of community partners. This Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) partnership was funded for a short duration of one-year, the goal of the partnership was to move towards success in each of these key areas to build a sound foundation for other university–child welfare agency partnership initiatives
Clinicians, administrators, and supervisors of child welfare authorities are in the best position to pose questions of the Ontario Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (OCANDS) that are relevant to child welfare practice and policy
Summary
The Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS) is the only national source of data on child welfare services in Canada [1]. Gaps remain in our basic understanding of children and their families who are involved in child welfare services over time, including the long-term trajectories of children and the impact of services on children’s development and well-being [6] These gaps are barriers to making informed practice and policy decisions [1,6]. Connections Grant (2015–2016), a formal partnership was developed between the University of Toronto, clinicians, policy analysts, and researchers from child welfare agencies across Ontario. This partnership was an opportunity to advance the evidence base with respect to service provision in Ontario and to contribute to a culture of knowledge and evidence that will eventually support more complex research initiatives. As an example of the type of analyses conducted by this partnership, the results of agency-driven analyses of recurrence using a taxonomy developed by university researchers are reported and implications are discussed
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