What tools do we need to improve identification of child abuse?

Abstract

Child protection work is being transformed by the introduction of information and communication technology (ICT) and other tools to improve frontline work. This article argues that current innovations are being developed without sufficient attention to understanding the needs of frontline workers. Taking the identification of child abuse as an example, the article shows how beginning with the question ‘What tools do we need?’ produces radically different answers from the current proposed tools such as the Information Sharing and Assessment database (ISA). The approach advocated here involves examining what aspects of the task frontline workers find difficult and identifying where they would most appreciate help. In relation to the problem of sharing information between professionals to ensure accurate assessment of risk, it is argued that the key problems do not lie in the technical process of sharing data but in professionals' ability to collect the necessary information, to interpret it accurately and to communicate it clearly. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Recommendations from child fatality review teams: results of a US nationwide exploratory study concerning maltreatment fatalities and social service delivery

“…An often-noted failure of the child welfare system (Gelles, 1996;Munro, 2005b;Murphy, 1997;Rushton and Dance, 2005;Shlonsky and Wagner, 2005), CFRTs have called for more attention to risk factors and more comprehensive risk assessments-to examine more family members, to examine cases with more depth, and to adequately assess families during the before and after phases of reunification between parents and children. Because of concerns regarding human error in judging the severity of child welfare cases, the profession has recently experimented with computerised means of assessing the capacity of caregivers to parent their children.…”

What appears to be helping or hindering practitioners in implementing the Common Assessment Framework and lead professional working?

“…As such, early common assessment is part of the government's strategy to shift the focus from dealing with the consequences of difficulties in children's lives to preventing things from going wrong in the first place. It is important to note that the Common Assessment Framework is intended to be used in cases where concerns are other than about child abuse (Munro, 2005).…”

Client information system as an everyday information tool in child protection work

“…The reason for dissatisfaction might be that the information systems are developed without paying sufficient attention to the needs of frontline workers and without realistic understanding of work processes [11]. There is a lack of studies describing what is done in CIS and how it is related to work tasks in social work.…”