Displaying 1 - 10 of 149
Abstract
Children entering custody within the child welfare system have been found to have high levels of trauma and significant behavioral health needs. In this paper, authors demonstrate how a structured functional well-being assessment can be used with the custody population to promote an understanding of behavioral health needs, inform case planning, and measure functional improvement over time. Specifically, this paper will: (a) briefly describe how two states implemented a common standardized assessment of functioning to inform case planning and measure well-being progress of…
Abstract
Background
Cross-sectional analyses have identified factors associated with the decision to provide continued child welfare services. Determinations that children are at risk of maltreatment have been found to influence investigative decision-making in Ontario, over and above all other family and case characteristics.
Purpose
This study uses longitudinal administrative data to assess the decision to transfer a family to ongoing child welfare services within twelve months of an initial investigation.
Methods
We developed an entry cohort from administrative data held…
Abstract
Background
In South Africa, large increases in early adult mortality during the 1990s and early 2000s have reversed since public HIV treatment rollout in 2004. In a rural population in KwaZulu-Natal, we investigate trends in parental mortality and orphanhood from 2000–2014.
Methods
Using longitudinal demographic surveillance data for a population of…
Abstract
Child welfare standards of care emphasize service planning that provides an opportunity for meaningful participation of youth, caregivers, and family members. For youth who are at high risk for multiple moves while in foster care, participatory service planning can be difficult to achieve. This research focused on a statewide program that uses team decision-making meetings to identify needs and plan services for youth who are at risk for instability while in foster care. Results from meetings held for 364 children and adolescents over a six-week period affirm that use of team…
Abstract
This article explores children’s views and experiences of participation within the context of child protection assessment practice. The findings of this study enable child protection workers as well as other professionals to learn from children, what is needed to better engage children to participate in matters affecting them. A small-scale study included 14 children registered as children in need of assistance in child protective services from one region in Estonia through in-depth semi-structured interviews. Findings indicate that children’s experiences and memories of their…
Abstract
This article studies how three groups of professional decision-makers – child welfare workers, experts on children and judges – exercise discretion in decisions on adoption from care in the Norwegian child welfare system. The analysis is based on near 500 decision-makers’ responses to a vignette about David, a four-year-old boy whose foster parents want to adopt him. After reading the vignette, decision-makers were asked to choose a measure for David: adoption or continued foster care. They were thereupon asked (1) which specific features of the case were decisive to their…
Abstract
Orphans and vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS (HIV OVC) are at risk for cognitive difficulties and lack of access to education. Interventions addressing cognitive or educational outcomes for HIV OVC worldwide were examined through systematic searches conducted from October 2016 to 2019. We examined the summative effectiveness of interventions and the specific effects of participant age and intervention length. Interventions targeting cognitive outcomes had a small, significant effect, with no effect of moderating variables. Interventions targeting educational outcomes had…
Abstract
Two parenting capacity assessment (PCA) protocols, with a short parent-child intervention embedded in each protocol, evaluated the potential for enhanced parenting to orient child placement decision. Parents (n = 69), with substantiated reports of maltreatment by child protective services, and their children (0–6) were randomly assigned to one of two PCAs with either the Attachment Video-feedback (PCA-AVI) or a psychoeducational intervention (PCA-PI) as the embedded intervention component. The PCA-AVI group showed the highest increases in parent-child interaction…
ABSTRACT
The extent of the vulnerability of orphans and vulnerable children in Zimbabwe has been on the increase. To investigate the challenges faced in addressing the needs of orphans and vulnerable children in Marondera, focus group discussions and interviews were utilised. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data in this study and the data was presented in themes. The findings from the study indicated that there was a need to increase the capacity of the Social Welfare Department. They also indicated the need for proper alignment of policy development and implementation, as well…
Abstract
Background
To monitor stability of care, the proportion of children in England who have experienced three or more placements in the preceding 12-month period is published in government statistics. However, these annual snapshots cannot capture the complexity and heterogeneity of children’s longitudinal care histories.
Objective
To describe the stability of care histories from birth to age 18 for children in England using a national administrative social care dataset, the Children Looked After return (CLA).
Participants and setting
We analyzed CLA data for a large,…