Child Welfare Practice Research Articles

Child Welfare Practices and Foster Care: Relational Realities

‘Dark sides of kinship’ such as the abuse some kids are subject to by, or while in the care of, their biological parents remain prevalent in our day and age. However, society’s tolerance of these types of occurrences has greatly diminished. To assuage familial tragedies, formal state-run foster homes can alleviate the harmful effects caused by ‘negative kinships’ by offering safe havens to vulnerable children. This remedy is hardly a panacea though. By exploring three ethnographic examples and further readings from an anthropological lens, we argue that despite the protective essence foster homes entail in theory, much harm emerges from them in practice. The caretaking involved in foster care, although generally benevolent, promotes a semblance of normality that may equally mask darker aspects of the relational reality behind the precarious and sometimes deceptive ‘kin solidarity’ produced within these institutionalized settings. Furthermore, contemporary foster care in the West showcases how politics and kinship are entangled. This can be challenging throughout the fostering process, but especially when services - and, thus, associated relationships - are terminated. To increase the effectiveness of the protection granted to children who are severely affected by ‘negative kinships,’ including improving their potential prospects and well-being, we argue that it is critical that work be done to better identify and understand their embodied relational experiences.

“Somebody has to be crazy about that kid”: Speculating on the transformative recordkeeping potential of the caring corporate parent

AbstractJust as archival scholarship has increasingly engaged in conversations around care and holistic considerations of the agency of records subjects, the child welfare systems of the modern Western world have been moving towards conversations that aim to centre and celebrate the voice of the child in new and important ways. However, too often are these conversations held back by the enormity of the issue and the overhaul that would have to take place for philosophy to match with practice. In this paper, I suggest that part of the problem is that we have been trying to make these changes philosophy first, placing a new way of thinking on top of an old way of doing—an approach that will never generate change. Leaning in to using speculation to imagine what the new recordkeeping of a caring system might look like, I propose that the act of recordkeeping is the fulcrum that could make caring child welfare a reality and illustrate some of the avenues through which we might pursue instigating the systemic changes needed if we are to see the agency and perspectives of children prioritised in child welfare and protection practices.

Navigating Challenges and Leveraging Technology: Experiences of Child Welfare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This qualitative study explores the experiences of child welfare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic through virtual interviews, focusing on the challenges and adaptations in their work and support systems. Participants reported significant difficulties in maintaining a healthy work–life balance, heightened stress, anxiety, and increased workloads due to sick leaves and burnout. This study highlights the dual role of technology as both a stressor and a crucial tool, with rapid integration posing challenges while also enabling continued support for children and families. Despite these challenges, workers demonstrated resilience and creativity, developing innovative solutions to navigate the new landscape. The findings underscore the importance of robust support systems, clear communication, and equitable access to technology. This study suggests integrating lessons learned during the pandemic into future child welfare practices to enhance resilience and adaptability in the face of future crises.

“Suffering in silence”: How social workers in child welfare practice experience and manage burnout

Social workers in child welfare practice encounter dilemmas, tensions, contradictions, ambiguities, and ambivalence as they attempt to meet the competing demands of the Tri-sphere — the formal child welfare system, the professional theories and values guiding practice, and the child welfare service recipients. This study explored how these encounters result in worker burnout and how that is managed. The study used a constructivist grounded theory approach. Data were collected in St. John’s, NL, Canada, employing in-depth individual interviews with 18 frontline child welfare social workers. Findings reveal that child welfare social workers regularly experience varied feelings and emotions of burnout and utilize a variety of self-care strategies to manage. Recommendations include a call for child welfare agencies to provide opportunities for workers to feel heard and acknowledged about any negative feelings and emotions, strengthen positive peer supports, and promote essential self-care practices such as offering reduced membership cost for physical activities.

Criministrative Law

Textual analyses of child welfare laws, joined by extensive textual and legal analyses of case law, reveal how the “dance” between the administrative and the criminal in child protective services (CPS) is rooted in the individualized perception of poverty. This individualization, which forms the bedrock of the capitalist American welfare state, promotes the fragmentation of the family unit. Building on individualized perception and reifying it, child welfare laws and practices are neither purely administrative nor criminal, but “criministrative.” As such, they serve as a legal shield for the State in its attemptsto ensure child welfare; the State refuses to provide protections available in traditional criminal contexts to families involved in CPS investigations, while simultaneously enjoying administrative courts’ less restrictive evidentiary rules. This Article follows the thread of individualized surveillance embedded in the law, starting with the conflation of “abuse” and “neglect.” This Article proposes three solution pathways, building from practicalto theoretical: divorcing neglect from abuse, adopting a Poverty Aware Paradigm, and developing a theoretical framework for an institutionalized “benevolent gaze.” This Article joins growing discussions in critical legal scholarship concerning the carceral nature of the welfare state and the relationship between care and punishment inthe United States. This Article adds a further dimension to these discussions by asserting that child welfare law is more aptly described as criministrative law, and by exposing the rootedness of the individualized perception of poverty in the organizing concepts of the child welfare system. Finally, this Article calls for a reconstruction of the legal treatment of children who are at risk of harms caused by poverty. If left unchecked, criministrative law will continue to inflict harm upon parents, thus harming the very children that CPS is meant to protect.

A Mediating Effect of Public Service Motivation on Retention Intention Among Child Welfare Students: Task Self-Efficacy

ABSTRACT Purpose This study investigates the role of Public Service Motivation (PSM) in retaining highly skilled and qualified child welfare graduates within the public child welfare sector. Materials and methods Three entire cohorts of child welfare student social workers over three years (N = 125) in BSW and MSW child welfare programs at seven universities in a Southern state were surveyed to examine the effects of task self-efficacy achieved through the curriculum and public service motivation on retention intention among social work students specializing in child welfare practice at both the baccalaureate and master’s levels. Mediation analysis was conducted to estimate the indirect effect of self-efficacy on students’ retention intention. Results The self-efficacy of child welfare students, operationalized as their confidence in performing competencies, significantly influences their intention to remain in the field of child welfare. Furthermore, self-efficacy among child welfare students has a statistically significant effect on their PSM. PSM, in turn, significantly impacts their intention to persist in child welfare work. Discussion The findings indicate that PSM partially mediates the relationship between students” self-efficacy and their intent to remain in child welfare work, even when controlling for educational background. We recommend that child welfare agencies recognize and nurture workers” PSM by incorporating practices that promote PSM.

Children's right to participation in Swedish child welfare – The extent, nature and determinants of child interviews during investigations

BackgroundChildren's right to participation in child welfare decision-making is highlighted in law and research. However, there is a lack of comprehensive empirical research on how such participation is actually fulfilled. ObjectiveThis article aims to describe and analyse the extent, nature and determinants of children's participation in child welfare investigations in Sweden as well as to discuss barriers to participation. Participants and settingThe dataset comprises a cohort of 2123 children investigated during 2022 across eight municipalities in Stockholm County, Sweden. MethodsThe study is based on cross-sectional data where the responsible child welfare workers served as informant in a survey focusing child and case factors concerning 2123 children subject to child welfare investigations. The data is analysed by using descriptive and binary logistic regression analyses. ResultsIn approximately 75 % of the child welfare investigations, child welfare workers held interviews with the child (with or without parental presence) while individual child interviews were carried out in about 50 % of the cases. Multiple interviews (≥3) occurred in 14 % of the cases. Reasons for not interviewing children included finding interviews to be unnecessary, perceiving the child as too young, and reluctance by the child as to participation. Investigations involving older children and referrals related to abuse increased the odds for participation. ConclusionsThe study suggests that more children are interviewed by child welfare authorities than found in previous studies, but that there still is a gap between the legislative intention to facilitate child participation and the actual state of child welfare practice.

"I Want Everybody to Know as Much of My Life Story as They Can": Life Stories of Former Foster Youth.

The power of stories shared by young people in foster care is well-documented. Largely left unexplored is a story of foster care that is told within a fuller context of the life course. Using narrative and life history methods, this study sought to retrospectively identify and connect life experiences in histories of young people and explore how systems are portrayed. Twelve adults formerly in foster care completed three interviews each and nominated six professionals from foster care for an interview. A three-phase analytical process identified and displayed themes across six developmental stages. Results suggest that life stories contained adversities that were: (1) intergenerational, (2) chronic, (3) complex, and (4) structural. The participants intentionally acted to try to mitigate adversities by accessing opportunities for prosocial pathways. These exploratory findings challenge child welfare policy and practice to attend to young people's life stories and their conceptions of systems that advance well-being.

Are Child Welfare Practices Black and White? Permanency Professionals’ Perceptions of the Role of Race in Permanency for Black Children and Families

Are Child Welfare Practices Black and White? Permanency Professionals’ Perceptions of the Role of Race in Permanency for Black Children and Families

Social workers’ educational level and attitudes toward child participation in cases regarding children’s contact with birth parents – the case of Norway

ABSTRACT Previous international research indicates that social workers may lack the competence to comfortably involve children in child protection processes. Implementation of stricter competence requirements for child welfare staff has been discussed to address shortcomings in child welfare practice. In Norway, this implementation is scheduled for 2031, and subject to ongoing discussion. Through multivariate robust linear regression analysis of data collected in five Norwegian urban settlements (n = 135), this study explored the association between social workers educational level and attitudes toward child participation in cases concerning contact between children in out-of-home care and their birth parents. The results indicate a significant difference in attitudes toward children’s involvement in cases concerning contact with birth parents when comparing social workers with master’s degrees to those with bachelor’s degrees, whereas social workers with master’s degrees exhibit more positive attitudes. Social workers are generally found to have positive attitudes toward participation; however, the findings indicate concerns regarding participation in cases related to contact, particularly due to potential loyalty conflicts that might cause stress to the child.

ALONE, LOST, AND UNPREPARED BY THE SYSTEM: INDIGENOUS CARE LEAVERS’ EXPERIENCES OF AGING OUT OF CHILD WELFARE CARE IN MANITOBA

Limited research has been carried out on Indigenous young people transitioning out of care in Canada. This article provides a coherent and meaningful account of the journey of aging out of care in the province of Manitoba, as presented by 17 Indigenous care leavers. Using a qualitative multilevel approach grounded in first-person narratives, this study focused on incorporating and elevating the voices of Indigenous care leavers. Participants detailed their experiences of planning for the transition and aging out of care, and described their life post-care. The care leavers expressed that the Child and Family Services-led process of planning for and transitioning out of care was unclear and failed to engage them as partners, and as a result left them ill-prepared for life post-care. Additionally, participants’ experiences serve as evidence of enduring gaps in transition supports, namely in mental health and interpersonal supports. These supports were often unavailable or inaccessible, challenges that were amplified during participants’ transition out of care and in the post-care period. The experiential knowledge from this study contributes valuable information to inform responsive child welfare transition policies and practices that are reflective of the experiences and needs of the population it intends to serve.

Preventing foster care entry at the community, systems, and societal levels: Recommendations from the child-serving workforce

Child welfare policy and practice in the United States is increasingly concerned with the prevention of child maltreatment and foster care entry. Expanding prevention capacity through new programs and supports will require the buy-in of the current child-serving workforce both in child welfare systems as well as other settings such as mental health, schools, and early childhood services. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify a set of recommendations for preventing foster care entry from members of the child-serving workforce to gauge their alignment with current strategies and to better understand workers’ priorities for reforming our current approach to promoting child and family wellbeing. Data were collected via interview, focus groups, and open-ended survey questions from a total of 614 participants working in child-serving settings. Through theoretical thematic analysis, we identified a set of 14 recommendations for preventing foster care entry across the community, systems, and societal levels. Broadly, recommendations focused on promoting community connectedness, adopting a public health approach to child maltreatment prevention, shifting child welfare practice to be more proactive in providing resources to families, enhancing cross-systems collaboration, and passing a range of policies to enhance family and child wellbeing with a particular emphasis on income supports. Findings from the study suggest that the current child-serving workforce is strongly committed to the national shift toward maltreatment prevention, and that they endorse strengths-based, data-informed strategies for achieving this objective.

Dynamics of Social Work Approach in Childcare; An Analysis of Integration of Islamic Kafala Theory and Bowlby’s Attachment Theory and Application Thereof in Childcare in Saudi Arabia

This paper explores the dynamic integration of Islamic Kafala theory and attachment theory within the context of childcare and welfare in Saudi Arabia. Despite the growing recognition of diverse cultural and theoretical frameworks in social work practice, there is very limited research on how specific theories are integrated and applied in childcare, particularly within Islamic contexts. This study aims to fill this gap by analyzing the application of these theories in enhancing child welfare and social work practices in Saudi Arabia. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the research draws on qualitative data from surveys of child welfare professionals and families engaged in the Kafala system, supplemented by case study analyses in various Muslim countries. The findings reveal that the integration of Islamic Kafala theory and attachment theory offers a culturally sensitive and effective framework for improving childcare practices, promoting the emotional and psychological well-being of children in care. The study highlights practical implications for social workers, suggesting strategies for the successful incorporation of these integrated theories into child welfare practices in Saudi Arabia. It also identifies challenges and limitations within the current system, offering recommendations for policymakers to enhance child welfare services. This research contributes to the theoretical and practical knowledge of childcare and welfare, advocating for a more nuanced and culturally informed approach to social work in Saudi Arabia.

Measuring levels of family stress and engagement in child protection social work: an explorative analysis of parental stress and social worker practice skills

PurposeEffectively engaging parents under stress is a key component of skilful child welfare practice. This paper aims to investigate how social workers practice with parents with either high or normal levels of stress.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a mixed methods design including observations and audio recordings of meetings between families and social workers, interviews with parents/carers and questionnaires with social workers. Validated instruments, including the general health questionnaire (GHQ) for stress levels and the working alliance inventory (WAI), were used to explore how levels of stress influence practice.FindingsData from 366 families found twice as many parents had clinically elevated GHQ scores compared to the general population (40% to about 20%). Stressed parents reported significantly less good working relationships with social workers [WAI, for the less stressed parents/carers, M = 65.3 vs highly stressed M = 60.6, t(324) = 2.407, p = 0.017, d = 0.28]. When quality of practice was directly measured, workers showed higher level of relationship skills with the less stressed group [t(291) = 1.71, p = 0.44, d = 0.205].Originality/valueThis study explored the interaction between practitioner skills and family factors influencing engagement, such as stress and anxiety. Engagement with stressed families may be particularly challenging, making it all the more important to understand how social workers engage such families to provide effective help and support. A better understanding of the parent-worker relationship under stress can lead to the development of training and practice strategies aimed at overcoming barriers in family engagement. This study also highlights the need for practice to re-focus on the relational elements and the emotional well-being of families.

A critical history of child protection and welfare services for disabled children in the Republic of Ireland, 1960–2023

Existing research demonstrates at least threefold higher rates of maltreatment for disabled children than for their non-disabled peers. The situation is compounded by pervasive impediments to effective safeguarding practice for disabled children. While scholarly attention to this area is growing, one aspect remains thoroughly neglected in the Irish context, namely, historical accounts of disability and child protection are stark by their absence. This article presents key historical changes in child protection and welfare practice for disabled children from 1960 to 2023 in the Republic of Ireland. The account illustrates how discourses of risk aversion, rights and inclusion have collided with increased bureaucratisation and state regulation. Towards achieving a critical theoretical exposition of the history, conceptual conventions of the ‘5-P’ child protection model (prevention, paramountcy, partnership, protection and parental responsibility) are applied. Key lessons for policymakers and practitioners about the sociocultural construction of child protection and disability are then extracted and, with respect to informing future practice, critically explored.

The All4Children project to assess the initial implementation of the Integrated Model of Family Foster Care in Portugal: A description of the study protocol.

The All4Children project addresses the urgent need to transition from institutionalization to family-based care for out-of-home children in Portugal. Despite evidence highlighting the detrimental effects of institutionalization, only a small percentage of children (less than 4%) are currently placed in family foster care in the country. In response to European directives for deinstitutionalization, Portuguese legislation now prioritizes non-kinship family foster care as the preferred alternative for young children in need of care. To facilitate this transition, the Integrated Model of Family Foster Care (MIAF) was developed, offering a comprehensive framework covering the entire spectrum of family foster care. This research aims to investigate the initial implementation stage of the MIAF to promote high-quality family foster care in Portugal. The study will conduct a mixed-method and longitudinal research project in family foster care agencies across different regions of Portugal, focusing on evaluating the implementation and outcomes of the MIAF model using a multi-informant and multi-method approach. The participants will include caseworkers, children aged 0-9 years entering foster care, and their respective foster families enrolled in the MIAF program. Process evaluation will assess fidelity, feasibility, appropriateness, and acceptability of MIAF modules, while outcome evaluation will examine child safety, stability, well-being, as well as foster family well-being and quality of relational care. The insights gained from this research initiative will serve as a foundation for the ongoing enhancement of MIAF. Consequently, this project has the capacity to advance evidence-based child welfare practices by refining processes and strategies to better serve vulnerable children and youth. Facilitated by a multidisciplinary team, this project will contribute to advancing research in the field, enhancing practice, and informing policy during a pivotal stage of deinstitutionalization in Portugal.

Exploring the Landscape of Eco-Mapping in Health Services Research: A Comprehensive Review

Health services research is important in improving health systems’ and providers’ efficiency and effectiveness. This may require health services to intervene at an individual and community level to address people’s complex social issues. An important issue is social connections, which have been identified as a social determinant of health and can help buffer stressful life events. Social support networks can be visualized using eco-maps, a tool that originated in child welfare practices and has been adopted widely by clinicians and researchers. This paper aims to understand where and how eco-maps have been used in health services research. To answer the research questions, this scoping review used the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines for scoping reviews. In total, 70 studies were included in the scoping review. The authors found that social support denoted in an eco-map does not guarantee the provision of support; however, the dialogue needed to create an eco-map could facilitate conversations about care expectations, identification of vulnerable points or risk factors, and actions to improve family and individual functioning. A significant gap remains in the knowledge and use of eco-maps in identifying population service and resource gaps and how to bridge the knowledge-to-action chasm better. Further exploration is needed to examine how to optimize the application of eco-mapping in the health services context, including generating guidelines, templates, or instructions for implementation. Therefore, addressing this gap is vital for ensuring eco-mapping informs future service design and policy changes.

How Do Child Welfare Workers Understand and Practice Child Participation?

ABSTRACTChild participation is strongly emphasized as a value and a right in the Norwegian child welfare (CW) system. Based on focus group interviews with 24 CW employees, we explore how CW workers understand and practice child participation in various work phases: assessment; supportive measures in the home; out‐of‐home placements. Two main forms of participation were identified: indirect participation, where the child is observed or communicates with other professionals, and direct participation, where the child speaks to a CW worker. The topics of conversations with children are divided into two categories: general topics regarding the child's everyday life and CW‐related topics, associated with the case and the child's situation. CW workers' understandings of children's participation provide the basis for the form and content of participation offered and lead to the child being assigned various positions. This ranges from direct participation where the child is positioned as the primary participant in direct interaction about their situation to indirect participation where the child is represented or observed by adults. We argue for a more nuanced understanding of what child participation implies and increased awareness of how different forms and contexts affect opportunities for children's participation.

The Children's Justice Clinic: Ensuring high‐quality legal representation for children through clinical legal education

AbstractJuvenile and family law uniquely require interdisciplinary education and experience to balance children's and families' legal rights with their best interests. Clinical legal education provides third‐year law students with advanced and applied experience in a specific area of law to prepare them for legal practice. Recent developments in clinical legal education advance this experience by integrating interdisciplinary experts and reflective practice into clinics. The Children's Justice Clinic is one such clinic that integrates classroom teaching, clinical legal practice, multidisciplinary expert consultation, and reflective practice to train practice‐ready Guardians ad Litem. Evaluation results from the first 5 years of the Children's Justice Clinic demonstrates that the Clinic is making progress toward its goals to provide third‐year law students with the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective Guardians Ad Litem, increase interest in child welfare and juvenile law practice among law students, and increase access to high‐quality legal representation for children. This paper presents the results from the evaluation and shares lessons learned during clinic development and implementation.

Honoring Family: Using parent partner expertise to strengthen a child welfare coaching program

Increasingly, the child welfare system is acknowledging the importance of incorporating parent voice and expertise into changes in child welfare practice, policy, and research; however, there is limited knowledge on how to incorporate parents’ expertise into program-level change. This study sought input from parent partners on the shared principles of a statewide coaching program for child welfare supervisors. Two focus groups were conducted, an initial focus group (n = 17) and a member checking focus group (n = 14). Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings included three key themes: (a) understand parent context, (b) activate engagement, and (c) bridge principles and practice. Strategies for incorporating parent partner input into the coaching program are discussed.