The relationship of child abuse indicators to the assessment of perceived risk and to the court's decision to separate

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

“…Research also shows that caseworkers use and prioritize information when making decisions about a child's removal from the home differently (Britner & Mossler, 2002). The findings of this research reinforces past studies that found social supports as a determining factor in removal decisions (Britner & Mossler, 2002;Dalgleish & Drew, 1989;Rossi et al, 1999). This research provides more recent information on how caseworkers' evaluations of social supports influence removal decisions from an Ontarian context, and it demonstrates the need for support systems to provide positive interactions to a parent who may be struggling.…”

“…In addition, when Rossi, Schuerman, and Budde (1999) asked child welfare experts and front-line workers to read cases of maltreatment and make decisions on removal, respondents considered caretaker familial supports a protective factor against removal. 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.…”

An Initial Assessment of the Extent to Which Risk Factors, Frequently Identified in Research, Are Taken into Account When Assessing Risk in Child Protection Cases

“…A diverse range of factors are commonly grouped under the categories of demographic and environmental factors in what sometimes seems a rather arbitrary manner (Dalgleish and Drew, 1989;Brown et al, 1998;Cleaver et al, 1998;Gordon and Gibbons, 1998;Cadzow et al, 1999;DePanfilis and Zuravin, 1999).…”

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

“…Most of the research on investigator decisionmaking (see, for example, Meddin, 1985;Pecora, 1991;Nasuti & Pecora, 1993;Doueck, Levine, & Bronson, 1993;Fanshel, Finch, & Grundy, 1994;Camasso & Jagannathan, 2000;Baird & Wagner, 2000;Marshall & English, 2000) has focused on developing structured decision-making procedures (Stein & Rzepnicki, 1983;Besharov, 1987;Gleeson, 1987) which led to the development of risk assessment instruments (Wilson & Morton, 1997). Research methodologies included case reviews (DiLeonardi, 1980;Dalgleish & Drew, 1989;English, Marshall, Brummel, & Coghlan., 1998a;Rossi, Schuerman, & Budde, 1999;Davidson-Arad, Englechin-Segal, Wozner, & Gabriel, 2003) and case vignettes (Rosen, 1981;Shapira & Benbenishty, 1993;Britner & Mossler, 2002). A few studies have used a qualitative approach (see, for example, Schuerman, Stagner, Johnson, & Mullen, 1989;Steen, 1997;English, Brummel, Coghlan, Novicky, & Marshall, 1998b).…”