The influence of Decision-making ecology on placement into foster care

Abstract

In recent years, the U.S. Administration for Children and Families has shifted policy and practice guidance to encourage state child welfare agencies toward efforts that strengthen family connections, increase primary prevention, and decrease unnecessary removal of children from their parents. However, the field lacks an understanding of the factors influencing removal decisions. Framed by the Decision-making Ecology, the purpose of this study is to explore the individual, organizational, and external variables associated with worker orientation toward family preservation versus child safety. Two hundred and sixty-six child welfare professionals participated in a survey. Findings showed significant differences between the family preservation and child safety/removal groups within individual decision-maker factors (age and STS) and organizational factors (collaboration with family support providers). No differences were found in measured external/community factors. Findings from multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that regardless of the years of job experience of the worker, being a child welfare worker without clinically significant STS increased the odds of being in the family preservation group by 2.7 times as compared to the child safety/removal group. In addition, participants who reported collaboration with other child-serving community professionals had 4.4 greater odds of being in the family preservation group. Implications for workforce recruitment and development are discussed.