Meaning and Essence of Child Well-Being According to Child Welfare Professionals

Abstract

Many foster youth demonstrate poor outcomes in multiple domains of functioning, including behavioral, cognitive, physical and psychosocial. Because child well-being is a central aim of the child welfare system (with safety and permanency), it is critical to better understand well-being in order to properly measure, promote and intervene to secure the well-being of children in care. Child welfare professionals play a central role in the experience of children and families in care, thus their perspective on well-being is key to its conceptualization. Twenty-nine child welfare professionals participated in in-depth interviews to discuss their understandings of well-being, as well as barriers and facilitators to well-being in their practice experience. After iterative coding of the entire data set, data related to defining well-being was analyzed using phenomenology in a qualitative secondary data analysis. Results include two central domains that organize findings about the essence of well-being in child welfare: (1) a practice approach for professionals and (2) the lived experience of well-being for children. Across both domains were shared clusters of meaning identified as humanization, fulfilling connections with a responsive adult, and a long-term, hopeful future orientation. The article concludes with discussion of implications for practice, policy and future research, particularly the role of this new understanding in improving child well-being.