Child Welfare Service Providers Research Articles

Transformation of child welfare Institutions in Bandung, West Java: A case of deinstitutionalization in Indonesia

The enactment of the National Standard of Care for Child Welfare Institutions in 2011 signifies Indonesia's commitment to deinstitutionalization by guiding the transformation of the country’s Child Welfare Institutions, from facility-based childcare homes or orphanages, to centers of community-based children and family services. Yet, evidence of this transformation of Child Welfare Institutions is scarce. This study aimed to investigate the state of transformation of the child welfare service providers for neglected children in the City of Bandung as a parameter to understand the progress of the deinstitutionalization process in Indonesia.Fifty child welfare service providers (Child Welfare Institutions and government child protection services) operating in Bandung participated in an online survey. Cluster analysis of organizational data combined with an analysis of responses to hypothetical scenarios of children at risk of family separation, grouped service providers into; (i) medium to large, faith-based, non-government Child Welfare Institutions that primarily provide privately funded institutional care services at the Bandung level (50%), (ii) small, secular, non-government Child Welfare Institutions and government child protection services that primarily deliver family support services at the Bandung level (26%) and (iii) medium to large, secular, non-government Child Welfare Institutions that deliver privately funded institutional care and other family support services at the provincial level (24%). While there is evidence of deinstitutionalization activity in Bandung, the large number and relative size of privately operated Child Welfare Institutions suggests a high dependency on institutional care to meet children's general welfare needs.The cluster analysis also indicates limited government funding and the missions of religious organizations as possible constraints on system transformation. Further research is needed to understand the enablers and barriers to transforming the system from predominantly institutional care to a continuum of services in the context of deinstitutionalization in Bandung.

COVID-19 Risks and Vulnerabilities of Street-Connected Children: A Qualitative Study in Bangladesh

The outbreak of COVID-19 exacerbated the plight of street-connected children. This qualitative study was conducted to elucidate child welfare service providers’ (CWSPs) experiences regarding the massive impact of COVID-19 on street-connected children in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. Ten CWSPs with direct experience of serving street-connected children during the pandemic were recruited purposively. Findings unveil that government administrative actions taken through lockdowns and restrictions disrupted the lives and livelihood of street-connected children. The pandemic situation caused job losses and restricted children’s opportunities to earn, and intensified their sufferings from hunger, homelessness, and physical and sexual abuse. The children were displaced and detached from their peer network. They were deprived of education, healthcare, social services, and treatment facilities. Despite the risks of COVID-19 and movement restrictions, CWSPs came forward to serve the children with food aid and emergency services in collaboration with a few community-based voluntary organizations. However, the services were not enough to address children’s needs and problems. Findings suggest that CWSPs should adopt strategies for community engagement and multi-stakeholder collaboration to provide better services to the street-connected children during emergencies. A mixed methods research focusing on child maltreatment could be helpful for better understanding of children’s sufferings during the pandemic.

Child Welfare Caseworker and Trainer Perspectives on Initial Implementation of a Trauma-Informed Practice Approach

Children involved in the foster care system are at risk of experiencing traumatic events, which can lead to negative outcomes for youth. Child welfare service providers are tasked with providing trauma-responsive services to youth in foster care; yet, the trauma-related needs of youth are often under-identified and undertreated. This study’s purpose was to examine the initial implementation of a trauma-responsive approach from the perspective of frontline child welfare workers and trainers. We sought to further knowledge on how the competency drivers of staff selection/hiring, training, coaching, and fidelity facilitate or inhibit initial implementation. We conducted focus groups with workers (n = 28) and semi-structured interviews with trainers (n = 6) implementing a new trauma-responsive assessment and case planning approach. Transcripts were coded and analyzed using thematic analysis. Using competency drivers as a guide, several facilitators and barriers were identified. Overall, workers and trainers identified each of the four competency drivers as key to the uptake of the new practice approach. Our findings highlight the need for agencies implementing new practices to provide critical supports to frontline workers during implementation, such as specialized support positions and mechanisms for structure and accountability, and emphasize the importance of post-training support (e.g., coaching).

Authentically engaging youth with foster care experience: definitions and recommended strategies from youth and staff

ABSTRACT Child welfare service providers in the United States are increasingly acknowledging the importance of engaging youth with foster care experience in case planning, policy advocacy, and practice change. However, evidence for how to do this well is still quite limited. This study aims to answer two research questions: a) How do youth and staff/professionals define/conceptualize authentic youth engagement (AYE)? and b) What are youths’ and staff/professionals’ recommended strategies for authentically engaging youth? Thirty stakeholder interviews (15 youth, 15 staff/professionals) and 81 surveys (46 youth, 35 staff/professionals) were completed. Four themes emerged regarding conceptualizations of authentic youth engagement, while three themes emerged regarding recommendations for authentically engaging youth. These perspectives offer valuable insight into overcoming barriers related to authentically engaging youth in service provision, policy, and practice.

Coorientation between Service Provider and Users about Providing Service Quality by the Child Welfare Agency

Purpose - The Korean child welfare services may have different feelings between providers and users. Few studies on the child welfare service quality have been conducted and research on the coorientation model of child welfare services are nonexistent. We compared the perceptions of Korean child welfare service providers and users in this study. It will have many applications in the service quality fields by applying a coorientation model. Research design, data, and methodology - In order to enhance user satisfaction with child welfare services, around 200 samples were carried out both in Busan and Kyungsangnamdo randomly. Seven point Likert scale was used in the questionnaire. Two measurements were made to evaluate the different positions on the part of child welfare service providers and users to assess their mutual orientation. Paired t-test verification was conducted for congruency analysis, and the verification of agreement and accuracy was analyzed by independent t-tests. Results - We empirically examined the differences between the providers and the users stance. The results are as follows. We have verified the statistical significance of the difference in perception between providers and users. We also confirmed a degree of agreement, a degree of congruency, a degree of accuracy and a degree of meta agreement in the study. In the Korean child welfare service quality, the coorientation model of process quality appeared in the form of semi-dissensus, the coorientation model of results quality were shown in the form of ignorances and the coorientation model of physical environment quality were investigated in the form of semi-dissensus. Conclusion - The study concluded that users need to understand more about the providers in order to enhance the coorientation model in process quality and physical environmental quality, and the providers need to persuade the users clearly about the positive factors. To enhance the coorientation model of the result quality, it can be misunderstood by guessing that the other party will positively evaluate it. Therefore, users believe that they need to talk more clearly to the provider about the results of the korean child welfare service quality to reduce misunderstandings and to understand each other about the resulting quality.

Educational neglect: Understanding 20 years of child welfare trends

Educational neglect is an understudied phenomenon that is difficult to define and also to address. While it is clear that attending to children’s academic needs is important to child development, few studies focus on educational neglect and therefore little is known about its associated risk factors and the outcomes following this form of maltreatment. The purpose of this research was to (a) determine the rate at which child welfare service providers investigate educational neglect in Canada and identify any trends in rates over time, (b) better understand educational neglect and its distinction from other types of neglect and truancy, and (c) understand how child welfare services respond to allegations of educational neglect. Data from five cycles of the Ontario Incidence Studies of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect were examined. A trend analysis was conducted followed by a mixed-method examination of educational neglect investigations. Results indicate that rates of investigated educational neglect in Ontario have been consistently low over time. However, these investigations are significantly more likely to be substantiated and to be transferred to ongoing child welfare services compared to investigations of other subtypes of neglect. Educational neglect investigations involving younger children are more likely to note risk factors for caregivers whereas those involving adolescents are more likely to note functioning issues for youth. The findings are discussed in relation to international trends in educational neglect and policy and practice implications are explored.

Exploratory Factor Analysis and Reliability of the Child Welfare Trauma-Informed Individual Assessment Tool

This article presents the development and psychometric analysis of the Child Welfare Trauma-Informed Individual Assessment Tool, an instrument designed to measure the extent to which child welfare service providers employ trauma-informed practices with the children and families that they serve. Using the responses of 213 front-line child welfare workers, exploratory factor analysis was used on a seventeen-item scale, resulting in a four-factor model. Based on the results of this analysis, implications for potential uses of the instrument are discussed, and specifications for additional evaluation of the measure's validity are outlined.

Validating the Implementation Climate Scale (ICS) in child welfare organizations

There is increasing emphasis on the use of evidence-based practices (EBPs) in child welfare settings and growing recognition of the importance of the organizational environment, and the organization's climate in particular, for how employees perceive and support EBP implementation. Recently, Ehrhart, Aarons, and Farahnak (2014) reported on the development and validation of a measure of EBP implementation climate, the Implementation Climate Scale (ICS), in a sample of mental health clinicians. The ICS consists of 18 items and measures six critical dimensions of implementation climate: focus on EBP, educational support for EBP, recognition for EBP, rewards for EBP, selection or EBP, and selection for openness. The goal of the current study is to extend this work by providing evidence for the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the ICS in a sample of child welfare service providers. Survey data were collected from 215 child welfare providers across three states, 12 organizations, and 43 teams. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated good fit to the six-factor model and the alpha reliabilities for the overall measure and its subscales was acceptable. In addition, there was general support for the invariance of the factor structure across the child welfare and mental health sectors. In conclusion, this study provides evidence for the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the ICS measure for use in child welfare service organizations.

Factors Associated with Staff Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Family Group Conferences

AbstractObjective: Family Group Conferencing (FGC) challenges the entrenched practice of child welfare service providers making decisions for children and families. Instead, FGC positions families as capable planners and decision-makers given proper support and resources. Implementation research in general highlights the importance of agency climate, worker characteristics, and attitudes in predicting buy-in and efficacy of programming. Prior research shows social work staff differ in their opinions of FGC, but little research connects these attitudes to staff and agency characteristics and, ultimately, referrals and outcomes. Method: We explore the influence of staff, agency, and service availability factors on staff perceptions of effectiveness of FGC using Bayesian model averaging with 252 staff surveys. Results: The results imply that worker attitudes about FGC effectiveness are a product of attitudes towards families, type of work responsibility, and the perception of resources or services in the ext...

Reunifying Families Affected by Maternal Substance Abuse: Consumer and Service Provider Perspectives on the Obstacles and the Need for Change

ABSTRACT This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study which examined the views of chemically dependent mothers, child welfare service providers and substance abuse service providers regarding the obstacles to family reunification and recommendations for change. Implications for practice, policy and research are discussed, with special reference to the mandates of the Adoption and Safe Families Act.