Child Development

Knowledge of child development is the foundation for work with children, and therefore is a requirement for all those seeking to protect children. It influences every aspect of a child from physical growth and mental abilities, to how they express emotions, think and behave.

Healthy development takes children through stages, whereby they obtain an increasing number of physical, mental, and emotional skills in order to become independent adults. These stages provide benchmarks for determining if a child is developing normally. Without knowledge of the normal developmental stages of a child, a worker cannot identify developmental delays, assess the impact of abuse, or make recommendations regarding the child’s physical, mental or emotional health. Understanding what a child is capable of allows adults to communicate on their level and provide age-appropriate responses and interventions.

Knowledge of early childhood development and attachment behaviour is particularly important for protection workers. The physical health and care a child experiences as an infant will affect their development into adulthood. A child needs to have experienced a positive attachment by the age of 3 in order to develop cognitively, physically, socially, and psychologically. Healthy attachments come from the close bond a child experiences when provided with the responsive and stable care of at least one adult. In a residential home, children are less likely to receive the amount of individual attention from a permanent caretaker that they require. Children under 12, in particular, benefit more from a kinship, foster or adoption placement where they can experience closer relationships.

Observation of a child’s attachment to caretakers will influence the type of care, permanency plan, and level of support services offered. It can also aid in the identification of abuse.

This section contains information on the importance of child development knowledge, guidance on the ages and stages of children, and attachment theory.

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Receptive Vocabulary Development of Children Placed in Foster Care and Children Who Remained With Birth Parents After Involvement With Child Protective Services

Lindsay Zajac, K. Lee Raby, Mary Dozier - Child Maltreatment, 25 Oct 2018

This study examined whether children with Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement who were in foster care had more advanced receptive vocabulary than children with CPS involvement who resided with their birth parents.

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Receptive Vocabulary Development of Children Placed in Foster Care and Children Who Remained With Birth Parents After Involvement With Child Protective Services

Lindsay Zajac, K. Lee Raby, Mary Dozier - Child Maltreatment, 25 Oct 2018

In the current study, the authors examined whether children with Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement who were in foster care had more advanced receptive vocabulary than children with CPS involvement who resided with their birth parents.

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Reflections on Practice: Three Examples of Relational Music Therapy Practice with Adolescents in Child Welfare Services

Christine Wilhelmsen, Gisle Fuhr - Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy , 21 Oct 2018

This article presents and discusses three examples of relational processes in music therapy collaborations with adolescents in care of child welfare services.

A Reflexive Music Therapy Clinical Introspection in Working with Foster Care Youth

Michael L. Zanders, Melanie Midach, Lindy Waldemeier, Brittney Barros - Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 21 Oct 2018

This article is a clinical introspection to the research, theory, and practice in working with youth who have experienced foster care and/or adoption. It is part of the Voices Special Issue on Music Therapy Child Welfare.

Music Therapy and Child Welfare: Attending to Underrepresented Stories

Rebecca Fairchild and Susan Hadley - Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 17 Oct 2018

This editorial introduces the Voices Special Issue on Music Therapy and Child Welfare.

Children and young people with intellectual disability in residential childcare: Prevalence of mental health disorders and therapeutic interventions

Alba Águila‐Otero, Carla González‐García, Amaia Bravo, Susana Lázaro‐Visa, Jorge F. del Valle - International Journal of Social Welfare, 09 Oct 2018

The main goal of this article was to explore the correlates of mental health diseases in a sample of 169 children with intellectual disability (6–18 years old) in residential care in Spain compared with a group of 625 children, also in residential care but without disability.

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Handbook of Infant Mental Health: Fourth Edition

Charles H. Zeanah, Jr., 09 Oct 2018

This volume examines typical and atypical development from birth to the preschool years and identifies what works in helping children and families at risk.

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The Impact of Caregiving Disruptions of Previously Institutionalized Children on Multiple Outcomes in Late Childhood

Alisa N. Almas, Leanna J. Papp, Margaret R. Woodbury, Charles A. Nelson, Charles H. Zeanah, Nathan A. Fox - Child Development, 08 Oct 2018

This study examined disruptions in caregiving, as well as the association of these disruptions, with cognitive, behavioral, and social outcomes at age 12 in a sample of 136 Romanian children who were abandoned to institutions as infants and who experienced a range of subsequent types of care.

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Discrimination and Ethnic‐Racial Socialization Among Youth Adopted From South Korea Into White American Families

Samantha M. Schires, NiCole T. Buchanan, Richard M. Lee, Matt McGue, William G. Iacono, S. Alexandra Burt - Child Development, 08 Oct 2018

The current study examined how discrimination relates to adjustment outcomes in a sample of internationally, transracially adopted Korean Americans from the Minnesota Sibling Interaction and Behavior Study.

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Getting by and getting ahead: Social capital and transition to college among homeless and foster youth

Kim Skobba, David Meyers, Lori Tiller - Children and Youth Services Review, 04 Oct 2018

This qualitative study examines the academic pathways of 33 college students with a history or foster care placement, homelessness, or both, to better understand the ways in which forms of social capital influence the transition to college and early college experiences in the US.

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