Family support services buffer the effect of child welfare notifications on child removals

Abstract

Previous studies have found mixed results about the effects of family support services within the child protection system. The purpose of the study is to examine whether family support services are associated with the need for child removals at the community level. The material of the study consists of Finnish municipalities (N = 292) and their child protection indicators. Linear regression analysis was conducted to analyse the associations between the dependent variable (child removals) and the main predictors (child welfare notifications and family support services). It was found that family support services are associated with child removals. The more children there are in family support services, the more there are also child removals in a municipality. The key finding of the analysis is that a higher rather than lower proportion of clients in family support services buffers the increased effect of demand (child welfare notifications) on child removals better. In this sense, the demand for child removals is not only associated with the characteristics of children and families but may be partly explained by the role of family support services in a municipality. The present study underlines the significance of a system-level approach to child protection.

Additional income support buffers the demand for child protection services at the municipality level

“…Despite its limitations, the indicator can be viewed as a measure of the need for child protection at the municipality level. The indicator correlates with other parts of a child protection system (family support services and child removals) at the municipality level (Toikko et al, 2022).…”

“…The Finnish child protection system may roughly be divided into three parts: (i) the assessment of the need for child protection, which is undertaken because of the child welfare notifications, (ii) family support, which is offered to families who need help in their everyday lives, and (iii) child removals, if the child's wellbeing cannot be secured otherwise (cf. Harrikari, 2014;Pösö et al, 2014;Toikko et al, 2022). The demand for child protection services is focused on child welfare notifications.…”

The Patterns of Socio-Perceptual Determination and Maternal Resilience

“…Ссылаясь на проведенные предыдущие исследования о влиянии служб поддержки семьи, финские авторы отмечают, что в работах по данному вопросу нет однозначного мнения. Одни утверждают, что помещение ребенка в приемную семью иногда просто необходимо для обеспечения его благополучия, другие не сочли это существенно эффективным в своем исследовании [19].…”