Decision‐making in child welfare services: Professional discretion versus standardized templates

Heggdalsvik, Inger Kristin; Rød, Per Arne; Heggen, Kåre

doi:10.1111/cfs.12444

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Studies have identified different organisational factors that impact decision‐making, including work environment (Saltiel, 2016), organisational procedures (Broadhurst et al, 2010), organisational support (Falconer & Shardlow, 2018), decision support (Johnson et al, 2012; Lund, 2019), variation across organisations (Heggdalsvik et al, 2018; Johnson et al, 2012; Kjær & Mossige, 2013) and variation across nationalities (Križ & Skivness, 2013; Skiveness & Stenberg, 2015; Tefre, 2017).…”

Section: Decision‐making Ecology Themesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Inter-rater reliability testing among field staff showed high agreement rates for screening assessment items and the resulting decision, indicating a higher degree of consistency. In Norway, Heggdalsvik et al (2018) examined whether intake decision-making by social workers employed in agencies using a template differs from workers in agencies where decisions are based on discretion. The results show differences in reasoning, whether using a template or not (with more structured discussions vs. fragmented decisions emphasising emotions).…”

Section: Organisational Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The context‐bound phenomenon of decision‐making on referrals: A scoping review

Villumsen

Gjedde

2022

Children & Society

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In this scoping review, we aim to study the decisionmaking process regarding referrals concerning children and families at risk within child protection and child welfare systems. Particularly, we focus on the decision made immediately after receiving the referral. We conducted two rounds of searches across 17 different databases. We used 17 and 19 different terms translated into four languages respectively. Twenty-seven articles were included within a period of 14 years. After describing the field following the type of social service system and geography, the decision-making ecology (DME) framework was applied. The issue of decision-making in social service is complex. Overall, the results showed that the field is somewhat well studied, methodologically and thematically, showing an overweight of studies conducted in the UK and the USA, indicating a need for more research in Nordic child and family welfare systems. We argue that decision-making regarding referrals is a context-bound phenomenon with mainly external factors, such as types of social service systems,

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Section: Decision‐making Ecology Themesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Organisational Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The context‐bound phenomenon of decision‐making on referrals: A scoping review

Villumsen

Gjedde

2022

Children & Society

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“…The CWS workers in the present study had concerns about being unable to discover and assess acute risks for children during the lockdown. Child welfare work involves acute assessments and standard procedures, with professional discretion playing a key role (Heggdalsvik et al, 2018;Munro, 2019;Samsonsen & Willumsen, 2014).…”

Section: Relational Child Welfare Work Under the Lockdownmentioning

confidence: 99%

Business as Usual in Unusual Times

Krane¹,

Ausland²,

Andvig³

et al. 2021

JCSW

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected the daily lives and well-being of children and families. During the lockdown of Norway in spring 2020, many families were socially isolated and left with little support from their networks. Children and young people had limited contact with teachers, peers and other positive social contacts. The lockdown also affected the daily running of the Norwegian child welfare services (CWS), which are obliged to provide help and support to children at risk and their families. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore how leaders and staff in the CWS balanced their two-part mandate to protect children from harm, and to provide support and care during the first lockdown in Norway. Design and method: The study has a qualitative approach with a descriptive and explorative design. Thirty-six CWS workers and nine leaders participated. Focus groups, dyadic and individual qualitative interviews were used for data collection. The data were analysed with a thematic analysis. Findings: 1) ‘Running the services during a pandemic’ deals with the practical organization of staff and child welfare cases, and 2) ‘The quality of child welfare work during lockdown’ describes qualitative aspects of the child welfare work. Conclusions: The study revealed the prioritization of acute cases and a reduction in CWS contact with children and families. CWS staff worried about whether at-risk children were receiving the help they were entitled to. The study shows how the crisis led to innovative approaches and teleworking solutions. The CWS had to decide how to organize and run the services in a way that ensured both acute assessments and the long-term aspects of the CWS mandate. Considering the strain the long-term pandemic has placed on children at risk, the further organization and running of the CWS is of great importance.

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“…At the same time, investigation takes place in a context of risksocial workers are expected to be thorough in their assessments in order to substantiate or invalidate concerns about risk of abuse or neglect. Our study of the management of complexity is anchored in two conceptual starting points: prioritising as an aspect of decision making (See for example: Britner and Mossler 2002;or Heggdalsvik, Rød, and Heggen 2018) and the wicked nature of social systems (Törnberg 2017). The first concerns prioritisation as an aspect of decision making in child welfare investigation.…”

Section: Prioritising and Wicked Problems In Child Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

Social work and the management of complexity in Swedish child welfare services

Gümüscü

Nygren

Khoo

2018

Nordic Social Work Research

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This paper elucidates how Swedish child welfare social workers manage complexity co-occuring in the families with which they work and the organisational contexts of practice. Focus groups were held with social workers in three municipalities in Sweden who described work processes generally and in response to a fictitious vignette. The vignette was constructed as a complex family situation to explore how social workers approach complexity when faced with a family with complex needs. Findings showed that social workers are challenged in their everyday work where they are aware of the many needs in a family. They focus on immediate conditions for children while recognising that some problems are less amenable to being solved. However they try to manage complexities related to families as well as the structural conditions of work by sorting, prioritising and oscillating between a child focus and a family service orientation. This paper serves as a necessary reminder of the complexity of social work in the broader area of child welfare and raises further questions about the use of comparative typologies to explain social work practices

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Decision‐making in child welfare services: Professional discretion versus standardized templates

Cited by 14 publications

References 23 publications

The context‐bound phenomenon of decision‐making on referrals: A scoping review

The context‐bound phenomenon of decision‐making on referrals: A scoping review

Business as Usual in Unusual Times

Social work and the management of complexity in Swedish child welfare services

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