Improving collaboration: a qualitative assessment of inter-agency collaboration between a pilot Multisystemic Therapy Child Abuse and Neglect (MST-CAN) program and a child protection team.

Abstract

Child protection inter-agency collaboration is characterized by strengths and problems. Some literature notes positive attitudes and high trust between teams. However, difficulties with communication, confidentiality, roles, boundaries and divergent paradigms reconciling child protection and parent mental health needs have been documented. This study investigated whether a pilot model of intensive family intervention for maltreated children and associated intensive inter-agency cooperation delivered an effective collaboration. At the completion of the pilot program, a child protection team was interviewed. A qualitative assessment by semi-structured group interview format of inter-agency collaboration was undertaken and evaluated by a thematic analysis. The analysis identified: strong endorsement of the collaborative model; no changes in perception of referred patients; changes in treatment approaches. No perceived conflict between child protection and parent mental health needs were noted. The changes noted may be due to the unique structure and functioning of the pilot Multisystemic Therapy Child Abuse and Neglect program, which encouraged high levels of team communication, strong client engagement, availability and intensive treatment of child and parent mental health problems. The implications for future collaborations are discussed as well as limitations of the study.