Examination of the Child Protective Services Decision-Making Context with Implications for Decision Support System Design

Fitch, Dale

doi:10.1300/j079v32n04_07

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Additionally, in line with the knowledge-based view of the organization [72][73][74], our study recognizes the important role of knowledge in social work centers as potentially the primary source influencing their functioning. A paradigm shift towards a knowledge-based view of the organization is also suggested by some social work researchers [75,76]. We also aim to contribute the previously neglected aspect of sustainable development, the social dimension of sustainability [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Knowledge Management and the Sustainable Development of Social Work

2019

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The growing shortage of skilled social workers, accompanied by an ageing population and the increasing number of fragile, elderly individuals that require social services, poses a serious challenge for our society. The magnitude of this problem is seen in the various predictions hypothesizing that, globally, there is likely to be a shortfall of millions of social workers for the successful provision of social services. To make matters worse, there are not enough social work students to fill that void, whereas the existing employee turnover is another serious concern for the social work field. Policy makers in many countries do not yet understand the pattern of growing needs and have no tool to forecast the future increase in educational requirements for creating a pool of adequately skilled social workers. In addition to this, understanding the patterns of workforce entrance and exit for social workers and the dynamics of transition becomes important for national policy and decision makers. In our paper, we build on current research about knowledge management in social work settings to demonstrate that knowledge management can have a positive impact in helping to fulfil the important role of social work in any ageing society. With our research, we contribute to the underdeveloped literature about knowledge management in the public sector and especially in social work settings and to the knowledge-based view of the organization. We present a multiple decrement model of social workers’ entrance and transition from social work student and social worker trainee to fully productive social worker, to their exit, whether by changed profession, retirement or death. We argue that the availability of social workers in a national economy depends on the development and operationalization of appropriate policies, where knowledge management can be influential. Our model allows measuring the quality of the national policy system related to the social work profession, something which has not been achieved yet, and shows how knowledge management solutions can positively influence the whole field of social work. We apply an objective measuring tool, grounded in an already developed actuarial–mathematical method. Our case relies on the collection and analysis of relevant data found in publicly available statistical reports for Slovenia. Existing data enables us to provide assumptions on how to better forecast the transition of social workers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Knowledge Management and the Sustainable Development of Social Work

2019

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“…() explored the potential of what they refer to as ‘artificial intelligence’ to develop ‘expert systems’ to support professional decision‐making. Research‐based development of DSS continued in the 21 st century and identified particular challenges in their design and implementation such as making them useful in the contexts in which they are implemented (Fitch, , ; Foster and Stiffman, ), getting practitioners to use them (Fitch, , ; Foster and Stiffman, ) and accounting for the importance of emotion and bias in human decision‐making (MacFadden and Schoech, ).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Using six examples from North America, Europe and Australasia, this article provides an overview and critical appraisal of current developments. It is also important that social workers are aware of these developments and can engage in both debate about DSS and development processes (Fitch, , ). One aim of the article is therefore to inform social workers and stimulate debate within the profession.…”

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confidence: 99%

Can Predictive Algorithms Assist Decision‐Making in Social Work with Children and Families?

Gillingham

2019

Child Abuse Review

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Decision support systems (DSS) which incorporate algorithms trained using administrative data have been promoted as the next promising development in initiatives to improve and assist decision‐making in social work with children and families. In this article, research and grey literature about DSS designed, and in some cases implemented, in the USA, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand are analysed to assess the extent to which they are currently able to meet this promise. The challenges of developing DSS for social work are identified and ideas are suggested to overcome them. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Messages Decision support systems (DSS) are being developed for social work with children and families and they may transform how decisions are made with important consequences for both service users and the profession. Current DSS are mostly not very accurate in their predictions and further work is required in their development and on the data used to train the algorithms. The next stage in the development of DSS will require long‐term commitment by social workers to work in collaboration with data scientists and researchers. It will also be expensive. Social workers need to lead the debate about whether DSS are worth the investment.

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“…Workers suggested that incorporating their comments, knowledge and experiences into the agency descriptions and making that knowledge available to other users would facilitate IMPROVE’s use (see Fitch, 2006). Having the knowledge of coworkers embedded in the application would, in their words, “be real helpful” and make it more useful as a first order intervention tool.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Welfare Workers' Adoption of Decision Support Technology

Foster¹,

Stiffman²

2009

Journal of Technology in Human Services

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Child welfare workers must process complex information in deciding to refer clients to appropriate mental health services. Decision support systems (DSS) have been demonstrated in other fields to be an important tool, yet little research has been done in child welfare. This study focused on the adoption of a specific DSS into child welfare practice. Quantitative analysis was used to demonstrate the diffusion of innovation process among a sample of state child welfare workers, while qualitative analysis was used to explain the facilitators and barriers to DSS adoption. Results indicate that for DSSs to be widely adopted in child welfare practice, they should be integrated into the referral system and include workers' knowledge and experiences with referral resources. For successful adoption, DSSs need to respect the natural logic and flow of worker interaction, as well as organizational constraints.Keywords decision support technology; child welfare; diffusion of innovations Child welfare workers must process complex information in deciding whether to provide services or to refer clients to appropriate mental health services. Many frontline workers are ill-trained to make adequate mental health assessments and therefore they either fail to identify mental health and substance abuse concerns or they refer clients to services that are inappropriate for their particular needs (McDonald & Marks, 1991). Yet such workers often serve as the "gateway" to mental health services (Stiffman, et al., 2000;Stiffman, Pescosolido, & Cabassa, 2004), as do physicians, counselors, teachers, etc. Decision support systems have been shown to assist physicians in processing varied and complex bits of information (Chen et al., 2004;Kawamoto, Houlihan, Balas, & Lobach, 2005;Pluye & Grad, 2004). These systems might also help child welfare workers as they navigate practice and referral decisions requiring the integration of complex information.In essence, child welfare workers are important providers of mental health services. Decision support technology has been demonstrated in other fields to be an important tool for evidencebased practice, and the few extant studies about social workers' use of these systems indicate they have the potential to change the way services are delivered (Giffords, 2003;Monnickendam, 2000;Monnickendam, Savaya, & Waysman, 2004 Savaya, Monnickendam, & Waysman, 2000;Schuerman & Vogel, 1986;Schwab, Bruce, & McRoy, 1986;Stiffman, Foster, Hamburg, & Doré, 2004). Developing technology that assists child welfare workers to better meet client needs is insufficient without a thorough understanding of the factors impacting the integration of technology into practice. It is therefore imperative that we gain a better understanding of the adoption process of DSS in child welfare practice. This paper examines the process of and reaction by child welfare workers' to the adoption of a new decision support system specifically designed to enhance their assessment and referral capacity.

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Examination of the Child Protective Services Decision-Making Context with Implications for Decision Support System Design

Cited by 12 publications

References 23 publications

Knowledge Management and the Sustainable Development of Social Work

Knowledge Management and the Sustainable Development of Social Work

Can Predictive Algorithms Assist Decision‐Making in Social Work with Children and Families?

Child Welfare Workers' Adoption of Decision Support Technology

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