Family Preservation Research Articles

Foster parents’ need for greater information sharing when caring for children with prenatal substance exposure within child welfare

ABSTRACT This article presents information on how the child welfare (CW) system informs caregivers about prenatal substance exposure (PSE) and related concerns, and how those caregivers communicate back to CW about PSE issues. Focus group and interview data for this qualitative study were collected in Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 from two states, each including four local (regional/county) CW agency sites. Caregivers were eligible for inclusion if they had cared for a child served by one of the sites, with priority for those who had cared for a child with known PSE or related special needs, resulting in a total of 44 caregivers. Of these, 41 had served as non-relative caregivers, while 10 had served as informal or formal kinship caregivers. Caregivers emphasized the need for more information-sharing from CW professionals related to the histories and needs of the children in their care. Thematic findings underscore that having more information about the general impact of PSE and exposure status of individual children could better prepare caregivers. CW agencies can use these findings to inform training, information sharing, and caregiver support.When caregivers have relevant information about the children in their care, outcomes for development, family preservation, and support can be improved.

Foster care adoption recruitment methods: A review of the literature amid calls for reform in the United States

Over 113,000 children in the child welfare system have had their parent’s rights terminated in America. Family preservation and reunification should be priority goals for child welfare systems to prevent termination of parental rights and lessen the need for foster care adoptions. Systemic change is needed to preserve family bonds and lower the number of children aging out of foster care each year without family. Until that change occurs, foster care adoption is one of the options for permanency for children when returning to family is not possible. Millions of dollars are spent yearly on adoption recruitment strategies to find adoptive homes. There is little research on the outcomes of these models. This scoping review examines the state of the literature on foster care adoption recruitment efforts. The review found a small number of adoption recruitment studies (n = 15). More research should be implemented to better focus child welfare professionals’ effort, time, and funding on the most effective strategies to create permanent homes while also continuing to work on system reform to lessen the need for such adoptions in America.

Do intensive specialized services prevent family separation in parents with intellectual disabilities? A treatment effects analysis

ABSTRACT The current study explores the effectiveness of Project IMPACT, an intensive, in-home, skills-based positive parenting program designed to prevent out-of-home placement for parents with intellectual disabilities. Families participating in Project IMPACT were compared with families in a similar jurisdiction who participated in non-specialized family preservation services using treatment effects analysis. Findings indicate that Project IMPACT is highly effective at keeping families intact. Project IMPACT reduces family separation throughout childhood, the most benefits are seen in early childhood, when the risk of family separation is generally the greatest. Parents with intellectual disability can learn skills to keep children safe at home.

Experiences with and perceptions of the child welfare system during the perinatal period of mothers with intellectual and developmental disabilities

ABSTRACT This qualitative study explored the perceptions and experiences of 16 mothers with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) regarding their interactions with the child welfare system during the perinatal period. Adverse themes included fear of child removal, wariness of the healthcare system, insufficient assistance, and trauma and stress. Positive themes included support from others and believing in one’s self. Findings underscore the need for disability cultural competence, non-discrimination, family preservation, enhanced support, self-advocacy, and family-centered care across perinatal and child welfare systems to improve equity for mothers with IDD and their children. Further research is warranted.

Dalgleish scores difference amongst professional roles within the greater child welfare community

BackgroundThe central tension of the child welfare system is the need to protect children while also encouraging the stability of families. Researchers have attempted to capture this conflict through the use of the Dalgleish Scale (Fluke et al., 2016), which measures attitudes about family preservation versus child safety. ObjectiveThough used multiple times by researchers over the last decade to test state agency child protection worker's beliefs, the Dalgleish Scale has never before been given to the wider child welfare community. Participants settingTaken from data collected from more than a 1000 U.S. participants as part of two separate online child welfare decision making survey vignette experiments, this present research is the first to administer the Dalgleish to people from multiple professional roles within the child welfare system. MethodsDalgleish scores for 13 child welfare professional roles were compared using Mann Whitney U to test for significance and Cohen's d for effect size, while demographic variables within the roles were tested using ANOVA. ResultsThe results demonstrate significant differences in beliefs about child safety and family preservation between the roles within the child welfare system. On average lawyers tended to rate family preservation higher than any other role. Foster parents, CASA/GAL workers and former foster youth tended to score the highest on child safety scores. State agency caseworkers scored in the middle though still on the child safety side of the scale. ConclusionsThese significant variances in the Dalgleish score based on role suggest that participants’ professional role within child welfare has an impact on how they view the central dynamic question of family preservation and child safety.

Care to work? Policy Considerations for Engaging Jordanian Women in the Workforce

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenge of adapting care and family policies to the government of Jordan’s objectives, from economic development goals to maintaining social norms. Motives for interventions seem to signal an interest in gender equity and concerns around child development and family preservation. Indeed, for some, Jordan’s emerging caregiving market (and other liberal policies) might signal an easing in archetypal gendered norms around caregiving, domestic work, and women’s roles inside and outside of the public spheres. However, an analysis of the theory underlying care work and social reproduction along with a review of Jordanian social perceptions—among men and women alike—hints at a potential gap in policy. The paper challenges policymakers to consider the stubborn female labor force participation rate differently. The paper starts by untangling feminist theories around care and work. It then explores Jordan’s specific context regarding norms and perceptions around gender and work and gender and care. From there, it reviews and analyzes Jordan’s policies and presents opportunities for policymaking.

Restoring Children From Out‐of‐Home Care: Insights From an Aboriginal‐Led Community Forum

ABSTRACTRestoring children from out‐of‐home care (OOHC) to their families is the preferred outcome for all children removed by child protection services, yet little is known about how restoration processes are experienced by families and services supporting them. This paper provides important insights about Aboriginal child restoration from 40 practitioners and stakeholders at a community forum led by Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations in regional New South Wales (NSW), Australia. This is one component of larger Aboriginal‐led research, which investigates child protection experiences and pathways to successful restoration in NSW and the data source for this paper. The community forum explored the issues for families navigating family preservation, OOHC and restoration within child protection and legal systems. Findings include the need for a continuum of support for families throughout their engagement with child protection systems and crucially following the removal of their children. Barriers to effective restoration practice included a lack of access to meaningful and ongoing preservation services, insufficient cultural care planning and family finding efforts that are often too late, the pressure on services to support families without adequate capabilities or enough resourcing, the lack of transparency and the complexities in navigating the restoration process, and the lack of culturally informed support for children and their families while children are in care. Implications for policy and practice are discussed. This paper contributes to understanding practice, processes and barriers for restoration, particularly focused on the perspectives of Aboriginal families and communities, with potential insights for practice within Australia and internationally.

Mechanisms That Promote and Support Family Preservation for Children at the Edge of Care: A Realist Synthesis

Children in care of the state are amongst the most disadvantaged in society. They have often experienced adverse childhood experiences leading to their care entry including abuse and neglect. Longitudinal data suggests problems children in care of the state experience within adolescence persist into adulthood, showing “a continuing legacy of adversity.” Emerging literature shows that edge of care interventions can bring about benefits. These interventions support families to meet their child’s needs and prevent, or reduce, the likelihood of children going into care. However, it is not clear how or why these interventions work. It is important to develop this understanding to inform the development of effective, theory-informed practice to benefit this population. We reviewed and synthesised published literature to expose mechanisms by which interventions may promote and support family preservation for children at the edge of care. Our synthesis uses a realist approach to examine mechanisms by which interventions, in various contexts, can promote and support family preservation for children at the edge of care. Previous work by the team shaped the initial search strategy and in line with RAMESES realist review guidelines, no restrictions were placed on the types of study to be included in the synthesis. From 7,530 potentially relevant references identified, 61 papers were included in final extraction. Extracted data was themed, prior to developing narrative and formulating programme theories. Effective edge of care service operation seemed to be based on four core programme theories pertaining to the need for family skills training, home-based delivery, dedicated worker, and rapid response to need.

Endurance of Conviction and the Reservation towards Child- Adoption in Family Preservation among Igbo Christians

This study investigates the fundamental reasons behind the reservation towards child adoption in family preservation among Igbo Christians. The survey was conducted in three main cities of Anambra state; Awka, Onitsha, and Ihiala. It made use of a mixed method of qualitative and quantitative instruments in analyzing the data. The four point-Likert scale was used to obtain qualitative data from the field and was further converted to quantitative data using descriptive-analytical and inferential statistics. The finds traced the persistent reservation towards child -adoption among Igbo Christians to the endurance of conviction in Igbo traditional religion and worldview. The result indicated three major dynamics of this conviction; the non- indigenous nature of the practice (adoption), the bridge of the ancestral lineage by the practice, and social stigma that goes with the practice. These tripartite socio-religious factors continue to influence the choice of an average Igbo Christian toward child adoption. The paper argues that while the traditions (Christian and Igbo) have the right to propagate their different worldviews and beliefs on marriage and child -adoption, the choice of the individual couples on the subject matter remains primal. Provision and enforcement of a functional supportive legal framework that protects the adopted and adoptive parents from every form of societal stigmatization cannot be relegated to the background.

Evidence-based practice criteria’s effect on the implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act in Nebraska and Colorado

Child abuse, particularly neglect, is often preventable because many causes of harm stem from poverty, lack of social connections, substance use disorders, mental illness, lack of childcare, and other family support shortages. Prevention of child abuse and neglect starts with family support in these areas. The federal government recognized this need for prevention, and through considerable bipartisan support, passed the Family First Prevention Services Act on February 9, 2018. The Family First Prevention Services Act was designed to divert investment away from long-term foster care and toward programs that prevent unnecessary placement and child protective services interventions. The Family First Prevention Services Act restricts the state’s use of federal funds for institutional foster care placements and uses those savings to fund reimbursements for evidence-based family preservation. The requirement for evidence-based prevention is a first in child-welfare federal law, and compliance with this requirement requires public-private partnership with agencies implementing the models, infrastructure, and evaluation standards that most states must build to be eligible for the new funding. This evaluation research analyzed how the stringent guidelines for prevention funding and the requirement of federally approved evidence-based practice programming affect the implementation of the Family First Prevention Services Act in Nebraska and Colorado.

“Welfare used to mean darkness – Now it’s beaming with light”: Professionals and parents’ perceptions of a family preservation program in Israel

Few studies have examined the implementation of family preservation and reunification programs. Meeting this gap, a research project examined Israel’s innovative pilot program Families on the Growth Track (FGT). The two-year program was designed to promote the government’s policy of ensuring a permanent and nurturing family for every child by targeting families with difficulties in parental functioning, with children aged 6–18 living in or outside the parental home. The program is informed by existing family preservation models, andits leading paradigm is poverty-aware social work. The present study focused on the perceptions of professionals and participating parents regarding the program. It used semi-structured interviews with four policymakers and eight parents, as well as thirteen professionals. Additional data were collected online from 100 relevant professionals in all welfare departments participating in the pilot. According to the program social workers (PSWs), families suitable for the program were motivated to change and able to benefit from help. The parents were highly satisfied with the availability of the PSW and warm relationship with her, her work on rights take-up, and interservice coordination. They were also satisfied with the flexible budget enabling them to receive tailored wraparound services, combining concrete assistance with psychosocial treatment. Nevertheless, the PSWs experienced their role as more difficult and less rewarding than that of ordinary family social workers, which was given as explanation for their high turnover. Finally, both parents and professionals felt the program’s duration was insufficient. Implications for future research and practice are suggested.

Towards family preservation: A systematic jurisdiction analysis of prison visitation policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Towards family preservation: A systematic jurisdiction analysis of prison visitation policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Evaluation of the Treatment Programme for Families with Children in Andalusia: An analysis of the impact on the children

AbstractThe Treatment Programme for Families with Children in Andalusia is fundamentally aimed at promoting the integral development of children and adolescents through the strengthening of parental competences and family preservation strategies. In the last 20 years, this programme has been applied to over 75 000 families, involving about 150 000 children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to analyse the effects of this family intervention programme on the quality of life and behaviour problems of the children. This quasi‐experimental and longitudinal study had two non‐randomized groups (intervention group and comparison group) and two evaluation measures (pre‐treatment and post‐treatment). The intervention group was constituted by 297 families (540 children) who had participated in the programme. The comparison group consisted of 95 families (138 children) at a similar risk level, although these families had not participated in the programme. The results showed a significant improvement in the quality of life of the children of the families that belonged to the intervention group, which was significantly greater than the evolution detected in the children of the families that belonged to the comparison group. The results of efficacy and efficiency of this type of practice constitute a quality criterion of evidence‐based programmes and a requirement to maintain public investment.

Parenting Competences Among Migrant Families Living at Psychosocial Risk in Spain

The impact of parenting competences on child well-being is well-established. During the last years, parenting support initiatives have increased in several countries, namely in Spain, offering support to promote parents’ childcare resources and competences, particularly for families at psychosocial risk. Recognizing the specificities of different subgroups of families, such as migrant families, allows the development of more tailored and effective interventions in the field of family support. However, there is a gap in the literature about parenting competences in migrant families. This article explores differences and similarities in parenting competences among 492 migrant and non-migrant parents involved in family preservation services in Spain, as well as examines the impact of these competences on children’s well-being. Our findings revealed that migrant and non-migrant vulnerable families face similar needs in terms of parenting competences in domains covered by the existing family support interventions. However, we found a few differences in parenting competences between both populations, as well as in the impact of several parenting competences in children’s well-being. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

A Different Vision: Centering Love Not Punishment for Families Affected by Substance Use

Improving maternal and child outcomes requires us to understand and deconstruct our country’s historically punitive policies toward pregnant and parenting people who use drugs. We also must build a new system that centers wellness in partnership with individuals directly affected by these policies. From a maternal and child health (MCH) perspective, wellness is defined as parent-infant dyads living in supportive, preserved, and loving families with access to the resources needed for optimal health. To achieve wellness and positive outcomes, all individuals must have equitable access to a full continuum of culturally and linguistically effective, geographically available, evidence-informed, non-punitive, and welcoming health and social services that prioritize family preservation. In addition, to attain transformative and equitable outcomes, advocates for families affected by substance use must focus on implementing and evaluating services and continuously monitoring disaggregated data to ensure inequities are eliminated.

Addressing Domestic Violence in Iraqi Family Law: A Critical Analysis and Recommendations

This study delves into the complex interplay between domestic violence and the institution of marriage within the framework of Iraqi family law, focusing on the rights of wives to seek separation in cases of abuse. The research employs a legal analysis approach to scrutinize the existing legal texts, judicial applications, and their impact on marital relationships. Findings reveal a disconnect between the legislation and its practical application, with judicial discretion often prioritizing family preservation over the well-being of the wife. The study highlights the need for legal reform to explicitly grant wives the right to seek separation in cases of any form of domestic violence and advocates for the criminalization of domestic violence. Furthermore, it underscores the importance of conducting seminars and conferences to comprehensively address domestic violence as a societal issue and calls for increased research efforts in this domain. This research offers a critical examination of the status quo and proposes tangible steps towards safeguarding the rights and well-being of spouses affected by domestic violence within the Iraqi legal context.
 Highlights :
 
 The study reveals a disconnection between Iraqi family law and the practical application of rights for abused wives, emphasizing the need for legal reform.
 Advocacy for explicit legal provisions granting wives the right to seek separation in cases of domestic violence.
 Emphasizing the importance of addressing domestic violence through seminars, conferences, and increased research efforts to protect the well-being of spouses.
 
 Keywords : Domestic Violence, Iraqi Family Law, Marital Separation, Legal Reform, Judicial Discretion

Effects of the Nurturing Parenting Program Nurturing Skills for Families on child safety and permanency

BackgroundMany child welfare agencies use the Nurturing Parenting Program Nurturing Skills for Families (NPP) program to strengthen parenting skills. NPP includes a flexible sequence of lessons that are tailored to meet each family's needs. ObjectiveThis study estimated the effects of NPP on child safety and permanency outcomes using a quasi-experimental design. Participants and SettingThis study included 1102 children in Arizona whose families were referred to NPP between 2018 and 2020 (treatment group) and 6845 children in Arizona whose families were referred to other in-home family preservation services during the same period (comparison group). MethodsOutcomes were based on child welfare administrative data. The study estimated (1) the effects of being referred to NPP (regardless of a family's level of participation) and (2) the effects of completing NPP. Baseline equivalence was established for each analysis. Impacts were calculated by comparing regression-adjusted differences between the study groups. ResultsThe study found no evidence of impacts of being referred to NPP. However, children whose families completed NPP were less likely to experience an investigation (ES = −0.28; p = 0.03) or substantiated investigation (ES = −0.66; p = 0.03) 4 months after the service referral, and less likely to experience a removal 16 months later (ES = −0.70; p = 0.00). ConclusionsNPP had favorable effects on child welfare outcomes when families completed the program. Additional research is necessary to understand the supports that enable families to complete NPP and the specific components that are particularly effective.

“Improper and Almost Rebellious Conduct”

Abstract The 1833 Slavery Abolition Act provided for the gradual emancipation of eight hundred thousand human beings. It also confirmed the sovereignty of King-in-Parliament over all people residing in British dominions and resolved a long-standing dispute over whether enslaved people were private property or royal subjects entitled to legal safeguards. This debate first emerged in the late eighteenth century but acquired additional urgency following the 1807 abolition of the slave trade, when attempts to mitigate slavery through the enactment of ameliorative statutes and procedural reforms encouraged enslaved people to petition magistrates for redress in cases of abuse. Slaves vigorously defended their newly granted rights to bodily protection, sustenance, and family preservation through the instigation of legal complaints against overseers, managers, and slave owners. By the 1820s, enslaved litigants across Britain’s empire were publicly and collectively petitioning colonial magistrates to intercede on their behalf. The judicialization of quotidian battles over the terms of enslavement refashioned colonial social relations, affirmed enslaved people’s status as British subjects, and generated volumes of case files that circulated back to the metropole, where the Colonial Office cited them in critical assessments of slave law and where abolitionists used them to press for immediate emancipation. Enslaved people’s legal activism was operationally antislavery; it eroded the power of colonial enslavers and prodded Parliament to pass the 1833 Abolition Act.

The enactment of relational maintenance when Guatemalan parents are forcibly separated from their families due to deportation

ABSTRACT This study examines how parents deported to Guatemala from the United States (U.S.) use relational maintenance strategies to preserve relationships with their family living in the U.S. In a context of forced separation where family reunification is severely constrained, this study considers economic, social, and cultural impacts on individuals’ abilities to engage in relational maintenance. Interviews conducted in Guatemala with parents having previously been deported from the U.S. were coded and analyzed using contextualist thematic analysis. Findings revealed that relational maintenance is crucial to family preservation, with parents relying on assurances, positivity, advice-giving, and social networks to maintain a sense of relational continuity and their own position of influence within the family. Parents faced barriers to enacting strategies of shared tasks, openness, and conflict management. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

A mixed-method evaluation of Cradle to Kinder: An Australian intensive home visitation program for families experiencing significant disadvantage

Cradle to Kinder is an Australian intensive, long-term, home visitation program that supports young families experiencing multiple stressors, including poverty, family violence, mental illness, substance use, childhood trauma, intellectual disability, child projection involvement, teenage pregnancy, or social isolation, which places them at high risk of child removal. The program adopts a multidisciplinary, whole-of-family and trauma-informed approach to provide families with long-term case management, practical support and evidence-based therapeutic parenting interventions from pregnancy for up to four years to address these underlying risk factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate: (1) the extent to which families experienced improvements in family, caregiver and infant wellbeing outcomes after 24 months engagement; and (2) caregivers’ experiences of the program. A mixed-method evaluation was employed, which included two components: (1) uncontrolled pre-post quantitative assessment for 57 families using the North Carolina Family Assessment Scale and Brigance Early Child Development Assessment, completed every six months; and (2) qualitative interviews with 14 caregivers engaged in the program. The quantitative findings showed significant improvements in key domains of family functioning, parenting capabilities, infant development, and family preservation. The qualitative results validated these findings as caregivers reported favourable outcomes via participation in the program, including improved parenting skills and confidence, personal wellbeing, and child development. Suggestions for program development included greater support for fathers, increased cultural awareness, and consistency in workers. This mixed-methods study provides support for Cradle to Kinder as a promising model of family support that can improve family functioning, caregiver and child wellbeing, and prevent child removal among families experiencing significant disadvantage. These findings support the ongoing delivery of Cradle to Kinder in Australia to ensure families at greatest risk receive the support they urgently need.