Brenda D. Smith

Child Welfare Practice in Organizational and Institutional Context

Child welfare policy changes have intensified the need for effective child welfare practice, yet little is known about the everyday practices of frontline child welfare caseworkers. Based in Michael Lipsky’s theory of street‐level bureaucracy, this study explores child welfare practice through interviews with frontline caseworkers and observations in juvenile court. The study suggests that best practices in child welfare are compromised not only by organizational pressures, such as time limitations, but also by pressures to conform practices to the expectations of powerful institutions in the organizational environment.

Prevention and Drug Treatment

Evidence linking alcohol and other drug abuse with child maltreatment, particularly neglect, is strong. But does substance abuse cause maltreatment? According to Mark Testa and Brenda Smith, such co-occurring risk factors as parental depression, social isolation, homelessness, or domestic violence may be more directly responsible than substance abuse itself for maltreatment. Interventions to prevent substance abuse–related maltreatment, say the authors, must attend to the underlying direct causes of both. Research on whether prevention programs reduce drug abuse or help parents control substance use and improve their parenting has had mixed results, at best. The evidence raises questions generally about the effectiveness of substance abuse services in preventing child maltreatment. Such services, for example, raise only marginally the rates at which parents are reunified with children who have been placed in foster care. The primary reason for the mixed findings, say Testa and Smith, is that almost all the parents face not only substance abuse problems but the co-occurring issues as well. To prevent recurring maltreatment and promote reunification, programs must ensure client progress in all problem areas. At some point in the intervention process, say Testa and Smith, attention must turn to the child’s permanency needs and well-being. The best evidence to date suggests that substance-abusing parents pose no greater risk to their children than do parents of other children taken into child protective custody. It may be sensible, say the authors, to set a six-month timetable for parents to engage in treatment and allow twelve to eighteen months for them to show sufficient progress in all identified problem areas. After that, permanency plans should be expedited to place the child with a relative caregiver or in an adoptive home. Investing in parental recovery from substance abuse and dependence, the authors conclude, should not substitute for a comprehensive approach that addresses the multiple social and economic risks to child well-being beyond the harms associated with parental substance abuse.

The risk of subsequent maltreatment allegations in families with substance-exposed infants☆,☆☆

OBJECTIVE This study seeks to: (1) assess the relationship between identified prenatal substance use and the risk of subsequent maltreatment allegations among families involved with child protective services; and (2) compare the types of safety threats encountered by children whose parents had substance-exposed infant (SEI) allegations to the types of safety threats faced by children whose parents had other types of allegations. METHOD Survey data from a probability sample of parents were linked to state administrative data over a 33-month time frame. Cox regression models were conducted to assess the relative risk of subsequent allegations associated with parents whose child welfare case opened following an SEI allegation (the SEI group) compared to parents whose case opened following other types of allegations. RESULTS The likelihood of subsequent allegations is greater among parents in the SEI group. However, the increased risk stems almost entirely from subsequent SEI-related allegations. Parents in the SEI group are not more likely to incur other types of allegations such as physical abuse or lack of supervision. CONCLUSIONS An increased risk of subsequent maltreatment has been used to justify opening child protective cases on the basis of an SEI allegation alone. By looking closely at the types of subsequent allegations as well as the incidence of subsequent allegations, this research helps to clarify the maltreatment risks associated with SEI cases.

Inter-Agency Collaboration

ABSTRACT Inter-agency collaboration may be an effective way to improve services for those families involved with both the child welfare and substance abuse treatment service systems. This study addresses the practice of inter-agency collaboration and assesses how collaborative practices vary both between and within organizations. Agency administrators (n = 20) and frontline staff (n = 216) in child welfare and substance abuse treatment agencies were surveyed about organizational policies regarding inter-agency collaboration and specific collaborative practices. Results from multi-level models suggest that the level of collaborative practice varies within organizations and that staff perceptions of policy toward collaboration are a stronger predictor of collaborative practice than are administrator reports of agency policy toward collaboration. Findings have implications for the conceptualization and measurement of inter-agency collaboration and for efforts to transfer new practices into routine settings.

Child Welfare Service Plan Compliance: Perceptions of Parents and Caseworkers

Child welfare practice and decision making center around service plans, but few recent studies have focused specifically on service plans and their use in routine child welfare settings. This qualitative study involving interviews, case record reviews, and court observations illuminates parent and caseworker perceptions about the meaning of service plans and service plan compliance, and about influences on compliance. Parents and caseworkers similarly perceive service plans as directives and service plan compliance as parental task completion and cooperation. But whereas caseworkers perceive a motivation to parent as the primary influence on service plan compliance, parents perceive multiple influences. Findings contribute to ongoing work to develop theories that can explain client service participation and its connection to positive child welfare outcomes.

Frontline counselors in organizational contexts: A study of treatment practices in community settings

This study addresses the challenge of implementing evidence-based treatment approaches in typical community settings. It identifies individual and organizational characteristics associated with two contrasting treatment approaches used by frontline practitioners. One treatment approach involves techniques supported by research; the other approach involves techniques primarily supported by experience and tradition. The study uses a nested probability sample of 45 organizations and 279 frontline practitioners. Multilevel (hierarchical linear modeling) regression models appropriately address the nested sample. The findings indicate that practitioner beliefs and components of organizational social contexts are associated with treatment approach. The use of an evidence-supported treatment approach is associated with opportunities to use training and with transformational leadership. A traditional treatment approach is more commonly used when practitioners have more positive perceptions of the organizational climate. The findings underscore the challenge of implementing evidence-based treatment techniques among counselors committed to traditional approaches.

Evaluating Federally-Funded Child Welfare Training Partnerships: A Worthwhile Challenge

Abstract This article assesses the state of evaluation research on federally-funded child welfare training, including both Section 426 and Title IV-E partnerships. The article discusses the need for stronger evaluations of child welfare training and describes some factors which may have impeded past evaluation efforts. It recommends strengthening evaluations of federally-funded child welfare training through well-targeted questions, strong research designs, strong research methods, innovative methods, and theory-driven studies. The article concludes by promoting the development of child welfare research and training centers.

Substance Use Treatment Counselors’ Attitudes Toward Evidence-Based Practice: The Importance of Organizational Context

This study addresses individual and organizational correlates of substance user treatment counselors’ attitudes toward evidence-based practice. Counselors (n = 293) from a probability sample of outpatient treatment organizations in a northeastern US state were surveyed in 2008. Multilevel [hierarchical linear model (HLM)] models address the nested sample. Attitudes toward evidence-based practice were measured with the Evidence-Based Practice Attitude Scale (Aarons). Study limitations and implications for the implementation of evidence-based practices in routine substance user treatment organizations are addressed.

Building Cultural Competence in the Child Welfare Workforce: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

Cultural competence training has been suggested as one way to help address the over-representation of children of color in the child welfare system. This article describes findings from a mixed-methods study of specialized training in cultural competence knowledge, attitudes, and skills for experienced caseworkers in public child welfare. Results indicate training participants had statistically significant increases in knowledge across all topic areas related to cultural competence. Of particular note is the increase in participant knowledge of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and related changes in working with families and individuals.

Reproductive Justice: A Policy Window for Social Work Advocacy

Reproductive rights are at risk in many parts of the United States. To inspire social workers to act, this article begins by defining and describing the concepts of reproductive rights and reproductive justice. Next, it summarizes threats to reproductive rights in five areas: preventing pregnancy, terminating pregnancy, pregnancy loss, personhood measures, and drug use during pregnancy. Applying John Kingdons policy streams framework, the article urges more social workers to embrace the current policy window and advocate for pregnant women and others whose reproductive rights are in jeopardy. The article also provides suggestions for ways that social work practitioners, educators, and researchers can act to promote reproductive justice for all.