Abstract
A university-child welfare agency partnership between the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto and Highland Shores Children’s Aid (Highland Shores), a child welfare agency in Ontario, allowed for the identification and examination of ten questions to which every child welfare organization should know the answers. Using data primarily from the Ontario Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (OCANDS), members of the partnership were able to answer these key questions about the children and families served by Highland Shores and the services provided to children and families. The Ontario child welfare sector has experienced challenges in utilizing existing data sources to inform practice and policy. The results of this partnership illustrate how administrative data can be used to answer relevant, field-driven questions. Ultimately, the answers to these questions are valuable to the broader child welfare sector and can help to enhance agency accountability and improve services provided to vulnerable children and their families.
Highlights
Using data primarily from the Ontario Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (OCANDS), members of the partnership were able to answer these key questions about the children and families served by Highland Shores and the services provided to children and families
The approximate number of investigated children was calculated by multiplying the number of families investigated by a correction factor of 1.6 (Fallon, Van Wert, et al, 2015)
The number of cases closed at ongoing services was divided by the number of fiscal years included in the calculation to derive an annual estimate. Multiplying this estimate by a correction factor of 1.6 (Fallon, Van Wert, et al, 2015), dividing by the child population, and multiplying by 100 gave the proportion of the population provided with ongoing child welfare services
Summary
About 5.2% of children come to the attention of Highland Shores for a concern about their wellbeing or safety that requires assessment. The approximate number of investigated children was calculated by multiplying the number of families investigated by a correction factor of 1.6 (the average number of children investigated per family by child welfare agencies in Ontario in 2013) (Fallon, Van Wert, et al, 2015). The calculated number of investigated children was divided by the child population and multiplied by 100 to derive the proportion of children assessed. This is useful to measure community need and agency practice.
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