Important Risk Factors in Home-Removal Decisions: Social Caseworker Perceptions

Abstract

The current study identified factors that played a significant role in decisions to separate a child from his/her primary caretakers for 51 social service caseworkers. Participants rated and ranked the importance of 35 child risk/well-being factors used in recent child separation dispositions. Results indicated that boundary setting with a perpetrator of abuse and parental motivation played a significant role in decision-making. These preliminary findings suggest the need to prioritize services aimed at the promotion of the non-maltreating parentÕs limit setting with the perpetrator of abuse, as well as caretaker motivation/cooperation.

When practice and policy collide: Child welfare workers' perceptions of investigation processes

“…At each step of the child welfare investigation process, CPS workers utilize a number of tools and follow department procedures to make important judgments that directly affect the welfare of millions of children in the United States (Bourassa et al, 2008;DeRoma et al, 2006;Dorsey et al, 2008). In many instances, the workers acknowledged that their practices do not wholly align with policies, and in some cases, workers find it difficult to keep pace with the changes in DHS/ CPS policies, at times contributing to a disjoint between DHS policy and caseworker practices.…”

“…Therefore, together with DHS, the university research team conducted multiple focus groups to obtain insight to guide the professional development of new and continuing CPS workers and to identify organizational processes that may be implemented to support the vision of the department to be a model agency for CPS. We followed an approach of using semi-structured focus groups examining caseworkers' perceptions, similar to prior research that examined caseworkers' practices in cases involving domestic violence (Bourassa, Lavergne, Damant, Lessard, & Turcotte, 2008) and caseworkers' analysis of risk and protective factors when deciding to remove a child from the home (DeRoma, Kessler, McDaniel, & Soto, 2006).…”

“…While assessment tools and other formalized processes are believed to be "objective" indicators of risk, numerous aspects of evaluating risk are subjective in nature and made on a case-by-case basis (DeRoma et al, 2006). In fact, despite policies and procedures to guide the investigative process, studies show considerable variation in the implementation of such tools and, as such, important decisions related to determining risk and case outcomes also vary considerably from practitioner to practitioner and are influenced by numerous factors beyond the risk assessment process (Bourassa et al, 2008;DeRoma et al, 2006;Dorsey et al, 2008).…”

“…In fact, despite policies and procedures to guide the investigative process, studies show considerable variation in the implementation of such tools and, as such, important decisions related to determining risk and case outcomes also vary considerably from practitioner to practitioner and are influenced by numerous factors beyond the risk assessment process (Bourassa et al, 2008;DeRoma et al, 2006;Dorsey et al, 2008). Yet, little research has examined why there is variability from caseworker to caseworker in implementing risk assessment tools and how workers' perceptions of these tools may influence the implementation of risk assessment tools.…”

The Relationship Between Caseworker Assessments of Clients’ Social Networks and Child Welfare Placement Outcomes

“…When case records were reviewed in two separate studies, both studies determined that a lack of family social supports was influential in caseworker decisions to place a child in foster care (Dalgleish & Drew, 1989;Runyan, Gould, Trost, & Loda, 1982). In a study by DeRoma, Kessler, McDaniel, and Soto (2006) researchers asked caseworkers to rank the importance of 35 risk indicators used in removal decisions. Social supports ranked 26th, indicating that, though supports played a role in home-removal decisions, they were ranked low on the list.…”