Child Welfare System Research Articles

Foster caregivers in crisis: a comparison study of the perceptions of foster caregivers and child welfare workers

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explored the perceptions of child welfare workers and foster caregivers regarding stress and crises in foster homes. Interviews of foster caregivers (n = 14) and child welfare staff (n = 11) compare the two perspectives to determine similarities and differences. Findings explored stress and various factors contributing to crises. The ability to compare data between groups allowed important distinctions to emerge. Implications for practice include the need for child welfare systems to support professionals with clinical training and expertise to consult with families or child welfare workers in real time and identify ways to strengthen communication between caseworkers and foster caregivers.

Systemic failures in New Zealand's child-welfare and Family Court proceedings underlie and perpetuate child offending

Early childhood offending onset (before age 14 years) is associated with increased risk of lifecourse offending and poor life outcomes. The vast majority of children who offend in Aotearoa New Zealand (N.Z.) have had involvement with the child-welfare system prior to offending. Why does this engagement with statutory systems not prevent the trajectory into offending, nor its persistence into the youth-justice system (aged 14–18)? This study interviewed 33 key stakeholders (including family members, lawyers, police officers, social workers, psychologists, school and cultural leaders) on the systemic issues they had experienced with children who had offended and their families. Interviews were transcribed and analysed by the authors. Barriers to effectively responding to offending (and, more importantly, prevention of offending in the first place) included child-welfare engagement that was delayed and ineffective; deficit-focused engagement with families and children; under-resourced Family Court systems that delayed court proceedings and further hindered effective child-welfare intervention; and systemic shortfalls that continued once a child had offended, with widespread uncertainty as to how best to respond or access appropriate resources. Earlier and more effective intervention with children and families with child-welfare concerns is needed to prevent and reduce offending and victimisation of and by children.

Everyone benefits when there is another MSW in child welfare: exploring ways to support Title IV-E MSW student-employees

ABSTRACT The Title IV-E program is crucial for the public child welfare (PCW) system as it supports the training and retention of skilled workers. However, there is a lack of information about how PCW agencies support employees in MSW Title IV-E programs. This study examined how six counties in Northern California support their MSW Title IV-E student-employees. The findings uncovered themes related to strong county social work internship programs, additional support for student-employees, and challenges in program implementation. Sharing information about PCW agency internship programs can benefit agencies by improving access to higher education and attracting skilled child welfare workers.

Characterizing Multisystem Barriers to Women's Residential SUD Treatment: A Multisite Qualitative Analysis in Los Angeles.

Residential substance use disorder (SUD) treatment programs are challenged by the differing values of the problem-solving court (PSC) and child welfare (CW) systems, along with communication barriers between staff. This study aimed to understand, from the viewpoints of SUD treatment providers, how divergent values and communication barriers adversely affect women's residential SUD treatment. We conducted qualitative semistructured interviews with 18 SUD treatment clinicians and six directors from four women's residential SUD treatment programs. Using a thematic analysis framework, we identified salient themes across specified codes. Analysis revealed six main themes, suggesting differing values and communication barriers across the SUD, PSC, and CW systems adversely affect the provision of SUD treatment. For differing values, three main themes emerged: (a) unaddressed trauma and fear of mental health treatment seeking; (b) perceptions of mothers with a SUD; and (c) the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) timeline as a barrier to SUD treatment provision. For communication barriers, three themes emerged: (a) inadequate communication and responsiveness with PSC and CW systems adversely affect treatment coordination, induce patient stress, and treatment disengagement; (b) lack of PSC and CW communication regarding child visitation planning adversely affects treatment motivation and retention; and (c) competing ASFA, PSC, and CW priorities and inadequate cross-system communication adversely affect treatment planning. Treatment providers face significant barriers in providing effective treatment to women simultaneously involved in the CW and PSC systems. Aligning values and addressing communication barriers, changes in policy, and enhanced cross-system training are crucial. Additionally, it is essential to reevaluate the ASFA timeline to align with the long-term treatment needs of mothers with a SUD. Further research should explore the viewpoints of patients, CW, and PSC staff to gain deeper insights into these SUD treatment barriers.

From ambiguity to action: Reframing child safety measurement in the child welfare court system

AbstractChild safety is an ambiguous and transient construct within the child welfare court system. It being not statutorily defined yet is at the crux of the child welfare system. In this article, the measurement of child safety in the child welfare system is explored with a focus on how it has been measured within the context of the courts. Gaps in the current measurement structure are identified, focusing on how measurement might support a better understanding of a safety decision‐making framework and its application into practice. The article also introduces the Capacity Building Center for Courts' Judicial, Court, and Attorney Measures of Performance as a new approach to a standardized performance metric of safety practices within the child welfare court system. Limitation of these measures is discussed along with recommendations for moving the field forward toward measuring safety decision‐making.

Plunging Children into an Unconstitutional Purgatory: Why Texas Should Raise Its Standard of Proof for Placing Children in Foster Care

Texas currently allows Child Protective Services to remove children and place them in foster care for up to two years based only on probable cause of abuse or neglect. Removal itself is traumatic for children and foster care puts children at an unconstitutional risk of harm. Allowing courts to put children through the trauma of removal and foster care for years based only on probable cause departs substantially from the national norm for standards of proof, enables Texas to terminate parental rights at a high rate, and subjects children to a risk of harm for which the child welfare system is unable to compensate through other procedural protections. To better prevent children from being unnecessarily plunged into an unconstitutional purgatory in which they must wait to be reunified with their birth families or adopted by new families, Texas should raise its standard of proof for child removals from probable cause to a preponderance of the evidence. Raising the standard of proof to a preponderance of the evidence would better balance the state’s interests in protecting children from harm both in foster care and in their homes.

Measuring due process and fairness in the child welfare court system

AbstractUpholding the fundamental rights of families during child welfare court cases is critical to ensuring equal access to justice. This article review research related to the due process measures in the Judicial, Court, and Attorney Measures of Performance (JCAMP). Studies of due process practices early in the case to avoid unnecessary involvement of families are presented. These represent divergent opinions on the role of the judge and arguments for the early appointment of parent attorneys. Future research is critical to understand practices which promote fairness and address the over‐representation of families of color in the child welfare system.

:Confronting the Racist Legacy of the American Child Welfare System

:<i>Confronting the Racist Legacy of the American Child Welfare System</i>

“Wasn’t in Our Game Plan”: Reflections of Older Grandparents Navigating Child Welfare Systems

Kinship caregivers encounter complex issues when interfacing with the child welfare system. Most kinship care families are not connected to child welfare. The experiences and extent of child welfare connection among older grandparents raising adolescent grandchildren are understudied. This study describes in-depth reflections from older grandparents raising adolescent grandchildren about circumstances leading to kinship care and the extent of child welfare involvement. Nineteen older grandparents raising adolescent grandchildren participated in qualitative phenomenological interviews. Eligibility criteria included identifying as a primary caregiver aged 40 or older for a grandchild 12 years or older who lived with them at least three days during the week. Respondents were primarily married (58%), white/non-Hispanic (53%), and grandmothers (84%) and had some college education or were college graduates (79%). Older grandparent caregivers described three themes: the intensive child welfare path, the influence of indirect child welfare professionals, and guardians with influence. The onset of kinship care, with or without intensive child welfare involvement, stemmed primarily from child abuse and neglect linked primarily to adolescent pregnancies and parental substance use. Child welfare and other helping professionals must recognize and problem-solve with older grandparent caregivers to meet complex stage-of-life needs in and outside of traditional child welfare settings.

Child Welfare, Immigration, and Justice Systems: An Intersectional Life-Course Perspective on Youth Trajectories

This study explores how racialized migrant youth navigate Ontario’s child welfare, criminal justice, and immigration systems. Insights from youth, academics, practitioners, lawyers, policymakers, and social workers were gathered from a conference and contextualized using the Intersectional Life Course Theory and a critical phenomenological framework. Our analysis focuses on timing, locally and globally linked lives, social identities, and resilience, and emphasizes the interconnectedness of individual experiences within societal structures. We review systemic challenges and ethical dilemmas for young migrants, particularly concerns about fairness in potential inadmissibility or deportation consequences. We propose systemic support measures to foster resilience and disrupt adverse trajectories in order to mitigate discriminatory practices and provide targeted support for youth within these systems.

Prenatal Exposures, Diagnostic Outcomes, and Life Experiences of Children and Youths with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

Children and youths diagnosed with FASD may experience a range of adverse health and social outcomes. This cross-sectional study investigated the characteristics and outcomes of children and youths diagnosed with FASD between 2015 and 2018 at the Sunny Hill Centre in British Columbia, Canada and examined the relationships between prenatal substance exposures, FASD diagnostic categories, and adverse health and social outcomes. Patient chart data were obtained for 1187 children and youths diagnosed with FASD and analyzed. The patients (mean age: 9.7 years; range: 2-19) had up to 6 physical and 11 mental health disorders. Prenatal exposure to other substances (in addition to alcohol) significantly increased the severity of FASD diagnosis (OR: 1.18): the odds of FASD with sentinel facial features (SFF) were 41% higher with prenatal cigarette/nicotine/tobacco exposure; 75% higher with exposure to cocaine/crack; and two times higher with exposure to opioids. Maternal mental health issues and poor nutrition also increase the severity of FASD diagnosis (60% and 6%, respectively). Prenatal exposure to other substances in addition to alcohol significantly predicts involvement in the child welfare system (OR: 1.52) and current substance use when adjusted for age (aOR: 1.51). Diagnosis of FASD with SFF is associated with an increased number of physical (R2 = 0.071, F (3,1183) = 30.51, p = 0.000) and mental health comorbidities (R2 = 0.023, F (3,1185) = 9.51, p = 0.000) as compared to FASD without SFF adjusted for age and the number of prenatal substances. Screening of pregnant women for alcohol and other substance use, mental health status, and nutrition is extremely important.

Caseworker Visitation After Reunification and Children's Reentry Into Foster Care: A Survival Analysis.

To prevent children from reentering the welfare system, it is crucial to understand the role of caseworker visits after reunification on reentry and identify the factors related to reentry. Utilizing the administrative data of one Mid-Atlantic state, children who reunified with their families between July 2016 and June 2020 were selected as the study sample (N = 3,510). Reentry rates were higher for children who did not have caseworker visits after reunification than for those who did. The survival analysis revealed that male children, living in metropolitan areas, having a prior history of removal, having a behavioral issue, and court-ordered return increased the risk of reentry, while Black children, older children, having a last placement as trial home visit, and caseworker visits after reunification decreased the risk of reentry. The study suggests formally outlining policies for post-reunification caseworker visits and increasing collaboration between the child welfare system and court system.

Perceptions of Overdose Response Hotlines and Phone Application Services Among Women and Gender-diverse Individuals Who Use Drugs in Canada: A Qualitative Study.

In 2021, opioid-related deaths have increased by 96% and continue to be higher than prepandemic levels. In particular, women and gender-diverse individuals face numerous challenges when assessing harm reduction supports, including physical supervised consumption sites, compared with male counterparts. Mobile overdose response services (MORSs) including overdose response hotlines and phone-based overdose response applications are novel virtual overdose response technologies that may help mitigate this issue. This study aims to explore how women and gender-diverse individuals engage with and perceive these services. A qualitative study using grounded theory was conducted. Using existing peer networks and purposive and snowball sampling between March and July 2023, 19 semistructured interviews were conducted with women and gender-diverse individuals in Canada who have lived experience using substances. NVivo was used for thematic analysis, which continued until saturation was reached. The interviews elucidated the following 5 themes: Overdose response hotlines and applications were generally preferred over supervised consumption sites due to (1) perceived gender-based safety; (2) better accommodation for mothers concerned with stigma, childcare, and child welfare systems; and (3) eased accessibility for those involved in sex work. It was also noted that (4) judgment-free spaces and trauma-informed care provided by staff with lived experiences were invaluable, and (5) decriminalization of illicit substances will encourage uptake of these harm reduction services. This study found that women and gender-diverse individuals felt positively toward overdose response hotlines and applications with the potential to fill a need in providing harm reduction services that create feelings of safety, support roles of motherhood and sex work, and generate nonstigmatizing spaces.

Experiences of Children and Young People with a Disability in Out-of-Home Care in Australia: A Scoping Review

Children with disabilities in out-of-home care (OOHC) are an overrepresented group in Australia, yet little is known about their circumstances, needs, and experiences within OOHC. Utilising a systematic scoping review methodology, we explored the state of knowledge about the experiences of children and young people with a disability in out-of-home care in Australia. Findings in this review speak to the unmet needs and challanges that children with disabilities face in child welfare systems and how systemic failures can lead to institutional pipelines of further maltreatment, adversity, and marginalisation. The review discusses the key themes in the literature, including (i) compounding trauma and placement failures, (ii) concerns of safety, stability, and neglect, (iii) limited control and choice, and (iv) disability and multisystem involvement.

Mandated Parent Education: Applications, Impacts, and Future Directions

Mandated participation in parent education programs is a common practice across the United States for families who are undergoing divorce or who are involved in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. Mandates to participate in parenting programs create substantial challenges for families, service providers, and service systems. Furthermore, the type and quality of the parenting services accessed vary widely, and their impacts need to be better understood. To address this need, an overview of the current state of the empirical literature on the impacts and outcomes of mandated parenting interventions for divorce and in child welfare and juvenile justice settings is provided, and suggestions to the field are offered to refine research related to mandated parenting programs. Given the challenges that mandated parenting programs pose, an alternative approach that views parenting through a public health lens is highlighted to build on the growing body of research on the impacts of population-wide applications of parenting support programs, and as a possible way to decrease the number of parents who are required to attend parenting programs. Opportunities to advance universal parenting support within a range of community settings, including primary care, early childhood education, and community mental health systems are offered. Gaps in knowledge regarding mechanisms of action of universal supports and impacts on the number of parents mandated to treatment are highlighted, and future directions for research in this area are suggested.

Simulated impact of medicaid expansion on the economic burden of opioid use disorder in North Carolina

BackgroundOpioid use disorder (OUD) imposes significant costs on state and local governments. Medicaid expansion may lead to a reduction in the cost burden of OUD to the state. MethodsWe estimated the health care, criminal justice and child welfare costs, and tax revenue losses, attributable to OUD and borne by the state of North Carolina in 2022, and then estimated changes in the same domains following Medicaid expansion in North Carolina (adopted in December 2023). Analyses used existing literature on the national and state-level costs attributable to OUD to estimate individual-level health care, criminal justice, and child welfare system costs, and lost tax revenues. We combined Individual-level costs and prevalence estimates to estimate costs borne by the state before Medicaid expansion. Changes in costs after expansion were computed based on a) medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) access for new enrollees and b) shifting of responsibility for some health care costs from the state to the federal government. Monte Carlo simulation accounted for the impact of parameter uncertainty. Dollar estimates are from the 2022 price year, and costs following the first year were discounted at 3 %. ResultsIn 2022, North Carolina incurred costs of $749 million (95 % credible interval [CI]: $305 M—$1,526 M) associated with OUD (53 % in health care, 36 % in criminal justice, 7 % in lost tax revenue, and 4 % in child welfare costs). Expanding Medicaid lowered the cost burden of OUD incurred by the state. The state was predicted to save an estimated $72 million per year (95 % CI: $6 M—$241 M) for the first two years and $30 million per year (95 % CI: −$28 M—$176 M) in subsequent years. Over five years, savings totaled $224 million (95 % CI: −$47 M—$949 M). ConclusionMedicaid expansion has the potential to decrease the burden of OUD in North Carolina, and policymakers should expedite its implementation.

Inclusive Leadership to Address Discrimination and Improve Retention in Child Welfare: Examining Multiple Pathways

Inclusive leadership has been discussed as an effective approach to workforce retention and workplace racial discrimination by satisfying the demand for belongingness and uniqueness. However, scant research has investigated the relationship between inclusive leadership and retention in child welfare. Using survey data collected from child welfare workers (n = 2469) across three public child welfare agencies, the current study examined the direct impact of inclusive leadership on child welfare workers’ intent to stay at their agency, as well as its indirect impact on intent to stay by influencing workplace racial discrimination. This study also explored the moderation effect of inclusive climate on the direct and indirect impacts of inclusive leadership using the PROCESS Program for SPSS. The research findings revealed that the direct and indirect impacts of inclusive leadership on intent to stay were significant. The findings also suggest that inclusive climate strengthened the positive association between inclusive leadership and intent to stay. Overall, this study demonstrated the potential of inclusive leadership to enhance racial equity and workforce retention in public child welfare systems. Future research needs to explore how specific behaviors of inclusive leaders improve workforce retention and explore other factors that could explain the impact of inclusive leadership.

The child welfare system as a social determinant of health

AbstractResearch documents the ways that policing, incarceration, and deportation influence the health of racialized, poor families in the U.S. However, we lack empirical analysis of the ways that family policing through the child welfare system affects health. In this paper, I review the literature on intersectional harms in carceral institutions to argue that the child welfare system is a social determinant of health. First, I provide a review of the ways carceral institutions target women of color through settler‐colonial logic and the criminalization of race, poverty, and reproduction. Second, I share what is known about carceral effects on health and the mechanisms by which they function: 1. stigma, 2. maternal stressors, and 3. threat. Third, I delve into how these mechanisms manifest within the child welfare system and underscore the importance of examining their adverse health consequences. I conclude with a discussion where I call for more research on the child welfare system as a social determinant of health to understand abolitionist healthcare practices that contribute to dismantling the expanding carceral state. Collectively, these areas of literature illustrate the U.S. child welfare system's role in a broader criminalization process that detrimentally impacts the health of impoverished mothers of color.

Child abuse and resilience influence belief in a just world: A moderated mediation model

This study explored the relationship between child abuse and belief in a just world (BJW), as well as the mediating role of resilience and the moderating effect of family socioeconomic status (SES). We randomly recruited 514 children from Jiangsu Province, China. The results of a moderated mediation analysis showed that child abuse significantly and negatively predicted BJW. Further, resilience played a mediating role between child abuse and BJW, while SES positively moderated the relationship between resilience and BJW. Compared to those with lower SES, abused children from a higher SES status background had more resilience to improve their BJW. The findings could be helpful for the child welfare system and for social workers to support abused children, especially those from low SES families, to achieve better adaptation and development.

Sensibility to the Role of Child Welfare Services in the Machinery of Stigma

Abstract Sensibility to stigma in child welfare systems is important to prevent harmful acts against marginalised groups in society. This case analysis centres around one family in the child welfare service (CWS) that could be considered marginalised across several dimensions. The empirical material consists of three separate in-depth interviews with the child, their parents and their caseworker. We explore how the stigma attributed to the family was enhanced through the relationship with the CWS and the role stigmatisation played in the interactions between the family and the CWS. The analysis showed how the parents were constructed as ‘outsiders’, compared to the ideal; they lacked money, good looks, and character. Although the parents were somehow subjugated and the caseworker perceived them as submissive, they also resisted stigma in both open and subtle ways. However, this was not always sensed by the CWS. We discuss the importance of addressing stigma in all its forms and acknowledge that stigma is power, which is also intertwined with the broader policy. This is crucial knowledge to mitigate the role of the CWS in the stigma machine and in turn reduce structural bias within the CWS.