Child welfare-involved homeless families are at greater risk of poor social and economic outcomes... more Child welfare-involved homeless families are at greater risk of poor social and economic outcomes compared with homeless families not involved with child welfare, and these negative outcomes reverberate in terms of economic and social costs to society. This study employed a mixed-methods approach to examine process findings from a randomized control trial from the first county-level Pay for Success initiative, Partnering for Family Success. The research compared housing, child welfare and public assistance outcomes for the treatment (N = 90) and control (N = 73) groups, explored how the program delivered its services, the service pattern over time, and perspectives of child welfare and program staff. We found that during and in the year after exiting the program, treatment group clients were less likely to use homeless services and were more likely to access public assistance benefits as compared with the control group clients, and during and after the program, the treatment and control group clients' child maltreatment reports were not statistically significantly different. There were positive indications from quantitative data showing that the intervention patterns align with those of Critical Time Intervention (CTI), with qualitative interview data indicating shifts over time in case management focus from short-term crisis management and housing stability toward working on longer-term independent living skills. The findings contribute to the literature regarding how best to serve homeless, child welfare-involved families, and suggest the necessity for longer-term interventions and greater attention to nonhousing-related needs.
This study examines how changes in the social and economic structure of neighborhoods relate to c... more This study examines how changes in the social and economic structure of neighborhoods relate to changes in child maltreatment report rates over an extended period. The panel study design allows us to partition the changes in child maltreatment report rates into a portion associated with how the levels of socio-economic risk factors have changed over time, and a portion related to how the relative importance of those factors in explaining maltreatment report rates has changed over time. Through the application of fixed effects panel models, the analysis is also able to control for unmeasured time-invariant characteristics of neighborhoods that may be a source of bias in crosssectional studies. The study finds that increases in vacant housing, single parent families and unemployment rates are strongly associated with increases in child maltreatment report rates. Changes in racial/ethnic composition did not produce changes in maltreatment report rates except when they reached extreme levels of segregation. Although poverty rates were predictive of crosssectional variation in child maltreatment, increases in neighborhood poverty became less associated with increases in child maltreatment report rates over time.
Research on caregivers' views of factors that contribute to child maltreatment and analyses of ne... more Research on caregivers' views of factors that contribute to child maltreatment and analyses of neighborhood structural factors offer opportunities for enhancing prevention and intervention efforts. This study compared explanations of the factors that contribute to child maltreatment in a neighborhood-based sample of adult caregivers at two-time points: 1995-1996 and 2014-2015 along with analyses of neighborhood structural conditions during the same period. The study sample consisted of two cross-sectional subsamples: 400 adult caregivers in 20 census tracts in Cleveland, Ohio from a 1995-1996 study, and 400 adult caregivers of the same 20 census tracts surveyed in 2014-2015. At each time point, residents were asked to rate how much each of 13 factors contributes to child abuse and neglect. Median regression analyses adjusted for individual and neighborhood characteristics showed that "lack of religion" decreased somewhat in importance over time, while that of "single parents" increased slightly. Otherwise, there was substantial consistency in caregivers' perceptions of factors contributing to maltreatment over the two study points. In terms of overall ranking, at each time point the most important contributors to child maltreatment were "drugs," "alcohol," and "psychological or emotional problems," while the least important were "divorce," "single parents," and "lack of religion." Differences in ratings of contributing factors were associated with individual and neighborhood characteristics, most consistently by participant race and age and by neighborhood maltreatment investigation rate. Despite these differences, for any maltreatment prevention or intervention effort using or planning to use maltreatment etiology in some way in its activities, etiology seems to represent a fairly stable platform for programming.
Children placed in foster care are at risk for becoming involved with the juvenile justice system... more Children placed in foster care are at risk for becoming involved with the juvenile justice system. This study documents the rates at which children involved with foster care enter the juvenile justice system (crossover or dually involved), and the factors associated with this risk. We utilize multiple birth cohorts and prospective, longitudinal data from birth to maturity separately in three major American cities. Analyses consider integrated administrative records from multiple birth cohorts representing populations in Cook County (Chicago; N = 26,003), Cuyahoga County (Cleveland; N=10,284), and New York City (N=13,065). Crossover rates ranged from 7 to 24%. African American males, and children who experienced congregate care were at highest risk for juvenile justice involvement. Older age at first foster care placement signaled progressively greater risk, as did more foster care spells for those first placed as infants. We discuss findings in terms of developmental theory, and as actionable intelligence to inform prevention, practice, and policy.
In recent years there has been a growing interest in understanding how the particular environment... more In recent years there has been a growing interest in understanding how the particular environment in which children and youth develop affect later outcomes. The articles in this special issue all examine ways in which the larger environment is related to children's well-being. In this introduction, we describe some of the historical research "highlights" showing how the environment affects wellbeing from several disciplines, discuss current trends in environmentally-based research, provide a short review of the literature on the effects of the environment for children and review, and discuss remaining challenges.
The use of family group conferencing and related family involvement interventions in child protec... more The use of family group conferencing and related family involvement interventions in child protection is rapidly increasing in the United States and many other countries. There is some concern that the child welfare field will travel down the same road as it did with intensive family preservation services; that is, tremendous enthusiasm later derailed by rigidly designed evaluations that showed unimpressive effects. The work of John Braithwaite suggests an alternative path for finding justifiable excitement about these interventions. Drawing upon Braithwaite's writings and ongoing evaluation research, this article suggests a few steps we can take towards an integrative strategy for developing effective family involvement interventions.
We could not have undertaken this work without financial support from the Annie E. Casey Foundati... more We could not have undertaken this work without financial support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, for which we are very appreciative. Of course, the opinions and conclusions presented in this report are those of the evaluation team and are not necessarily shared by the Foundation's board of directors, managers, or staff.
The American journal of orthopsychiatry, Jan 23, 2018
Neighborhood processes have been shown to influence child maltreatment rates, and accordingly nei... more Neighborhood processes have been shown to influence child maltreatment rates, and accordingly neighborhood-based strategies have been suggested as helpful in intervening in and preventing child maltreatment. Although child-welfare workers are at the forefront of child maltreatment work, little is known about the extent to which their perspectives on neighborhood processes related to child maltreatment align with those of neighborhood residents. The current study examined the views of neighborhood residents (n = 400) and neighborhood-based child-welfare workers (n = 260) on 2 neighborhood process measures: social disorder and collective efficacy. Because social disorder is viewed as a risk factor for child maltreatment and collective efficacy is viewed as a protective factor, child-welfare workers and residents of neighborhoods need to reach a common understanding of these factors in order to reach agreement on the safety of children in these neighborhoods. The samples of neighborhoo...
Although approximately one-fifth of child maltreatment reports originate with family members, fri... more Although approximately one-fifth of child maltreatment reports originate with family members, friends, neighbors, or community members, their efforts to identify and report child maltreatment are still not well understood. Nor is it well understood how these individuals' perceptions of what constitutes maltreatment may change over time. This study examined descriptions of behavior perceived as maltreatment by caregivers of minors in Cleveland, Ohio, USA neighborhoods. Data were obtained from two neighborhood-based cross-sectional surveys of caregivers of minors: one conducted in 1995-1996 and the other in 2014-2015. The sample consisted of 400 caregivers living in 20 census tracts with varying profiles of maltreatment risk in the 1995-1996 study, and 400 caregivers living in the same 20 census tracts surveyed in 2014-2015. Each time point, participants were asked to provide three examples of behaviors they considered to be child abuse and neglect. All responses were categorized ...
The publisher regrets that an error appeared in one of the references cited in the text of this p... more The publisher regrets that an error appeared in one of the references cited in the text of this paper and in the references section. The correct text appears below. Text on page 1121 should read ".. . Also, studies have shown that residents from neighborhoods that vary in perceptions of neighborhood disorder have different views of the etiology of child maltreatment and what to do about it (
Objective: To review the literature on the relationships between neighborhoods and child maltreat... more Objective: To review the literature on the relationships between neighborhoods and child maltreatment and identify future directions for research in this area. Method: A search of electronic databases and a survey of experts yielded a list of 25 studies on the influence of geographically defined neighborhoods on child maltreatment. These studies were then critically reviewed by an interdisciplinary research team. Results: Numerous studies demonstrate that child maltreatment cases are concentrated in disadvantaged areas. A number of socioeconomic characteristics of neighborhoods have been shown to correlate with child maltreatment rates as measured by official reports to child protective service agencies. Only a few studies examine direct measures of parenting behaviors associated with maltreatment, and these show a weaker relationship with neighborhood disadvantage. Moreover, the processes that link neighborhood conditions to either maltreatment reports or parenting behaviors are not yet confirmed by the research literature. Selection bias, neighborhood definitions and spatial influences are largely uncontrolled in the existing research. Conclusions: We propose a framework for pursuing further study of neighborhoods and child maltreatment that addresses the gaps in the current literature. Neighborhood-based strategies to prevent and reduce child maltreatment * Corresponding author.
This is an evaluation of one community's efforts to develop an approach to placing children with ... more This is an evaluation of one community's efforts to develop an approach to placing children with relatives, based on a process called Family Group Decision Making (FGDM). The focus of FGDM is a plan for the care and protection of the children developed through a meeting of the children's extended family in cases of child abuse and neglect. This study considers the challenges of using FGDM to place children with extended family compared with regular foster care placement services. A framework from organizational theory was used to structure the study. By interrupting regular child welfare practice and trying something new, social workers may develop a new collective sense of the problem, a process Weick (1995) calls sensemaking. Weick suggests that ambiguous problems require more face-to-face meetings. He describes these meetings as opportunities where the participants can "argue, using rich data pulled from a variety of media, to construct fresh frameworks of action-outcome linkages that include their multiple interpretations" (Weick, 1995, p. 186). An FGDM meeting, where family members and child welfare professionals develop a plan for the care and protection of children, is a child welfare application of Weick's suggestion. Research Background, Questions and Hypotheses This evaluation analyzes 593 referrals to an FGDM program that were received from 1996-2000. Of these 593 referrals, 173 had a family meeting. This study includes information about which families were selected for FGDM, which families decided to try FGDM, and whether they developed plans for keeping children out of foster care. The first three years of referrals were followed for two years to evaluate the outcomes of the program. The analysis follows a series of four research questions:
Team Decisionmaking (TDM) is a method of making child welfare placement decisions that draws from... more Team Decisionmaking (TDM) is a method of making child welfare placement decisions that draws from the perspectives of family members, community representatives and agency staff members to determine the best placement options for children. This article compares three communities which had different experiences in their implementation of TDM. During the time of this study, the first experienced uneven TDM implementation due to changes in leadership; the second had enthusiastic implementation due to strong agency support; and the third had mature implementation because of a long history of TDM use. The three communities are compared in terms of qualitative analysis of interviews with key informants and quantitative analysis of TDM statistics and foster care placement trends. The study highlights the value of examining implementation from multiple perspectives to better understand what leads to effective implementation.
To review the literature on the relationships between neighborhoods and child maltreatment and id... more To review the literature on the relationships between neighborhoods and child maltreatment and identify future directions for research in this area. Method: A search of electronic databases and a survey of experts yielded a list of 25 studies on the influence of geographically defined neighborhoods on child maltreatment. These studies were then critically reviewed by an interdisciplinary research team. Results: Numerous studies demonstrate that child maltreatment cases are concentrated in disadvantaged areas. A number of socio-economic characteristics of neighborhoods have been shown to correlate with child maltreatment rates as measured by official reports to child protective service agencies. Only a few studies examine direct measures of parenting behaviors associated with maltreatment, and these show a weaker relationship with neighborhood disadvantage. Moreover, the processes that link neighborhood conditions to either maltreatment reports or parenting behaviors are not yet confirmed by the research literature. Selection bias, neighborhood definitions and spatial influences are largely uncontrolled in the existing research. Conclusions: We propose a framework for pursuing further study of neighborhoods and child maltreatment that addresses the gaps in the current literature. Neighborhood-based strategies to prevent and reduce child maltreatment * Corresponding author. 0145-2134/$ -see front matter will be enhanced by research that provides a better understanding of how neighborhood conditions act as stressors or supports for families at risk of child maltreatment.
This is an evaluation of one community's efforts to develop an approach to placing children with ... more This is an evaluation of one community's efforts to develop an approach to placing children with relatives, based on a process called Family Group Decision Making (FGDM). The focus of FGDM is a plan for the care and protection of the children developed through a meeting of the children's extended family in cases of child abuse and neglect. This study considers the challenges of using FGDM to place children with extended family compared with regular foster care placement services. A framework from organizational theory was used to structure the study. By interrupting regular child welfare practice and trying something new, social workers may develop a new collective sense of the problem, a process Weick (1995) calls sensemaking. Weick suggests that ambiguous problems require more face-to-face meetings. He describes these meetings as opportunities where the participants can "argue, using rich data pulled from a variety of media, to construct fresh frameworks of action-outcome linkages that include their multiple interpretations" (Weick, 1995, p. 186). An FGDM meeting, where family members and child welfare professionals develop a plan for the care and protection of children, is a child welfare application of Weick's suggestion.
The use of family group decision-making (FGDM) in child protection is rapidly increasing througho... more The use of family group decision-making (FGDM) in child protection is rapidly increasing throughout the world. This paper provides a brief overview of the research evidence from 1996 to 2005 and proposes future directions for both practice and research. The purpose of the review is to help move the discussion of FGDM from a promising practice to an evidence-based practice. The research review considers what is known about the child welfare outcomes of FGDM. The paper then turns to research concerning which families are offered FGDM and which FGDM processes appear to be important. The paper concludes with specific suggestions for developing FGDM programmes that can improve child protection practice and then testing these specific programmes in rigorous trials.
Research on the disproportionate number of children of color in the child welfare system suggests... more Research on the disproportionate number of children of color in the child welfare system suggests that we should focus on key decision points such as investigations, substantiations, and placements to understand how experiences of children vary by race and ethnicity. This article describes one community's efforts to use Family Group Decision Making in placement decisions to reduce disproportionality in foster care by diverting children from regular foster care services and keeping them within their extended families.
Child welfare-involved homeless families are at greater risk of poor social and economic outcomes... more Child welfare-involved homeless families are at greater risk of poor social and economic outcomes compared with homeless families not involved with child welfare, and these negative outcomes reverberate in terms of economic and social costs to society. This study employed a mixed-methods approach to examine process findings from a randomized control trial from the first county-level Pay for Success initiative, Partnering for Family Success. The research compared housing, child welfare and public assistance outcomes for the treatment (N = 90) and control (N = 73) groups, explored how the program delivered its services, the service pattern over time, and perspectives of child welfare and program staff. We found that during and in the year after exiting the program, treatment group clients were less likely to use homeless services and were more likely to access public assistance benefits as compared with the control group clients, and during and after the program, the treatment and control group clients' child maltreatment reports were not statistically significantly different. There were positive indications from quantitative data showing that the intervention patterns align with those of Critical Time Intervention (CTI), with qualitative interview data indicating shifts over time in case management focus from short-term crisis management and housing stability toward working on longer-term independent living skills. The findings contribute to the literature regarding how best to serve homeless, child welfare-involved families, and suggest the necessity for longer-term interventions and greater attention to nonhousing-related needs.
This study examines how changes in the social and economic structure of neighborhoods relate to c... more This study examines how changes in the social and economic structure of neighborhoods relate to changes in child maltreatment report rates over an extended period. The panel study design allows us to partition the changes in child maltreatment report rates into a portion associated with how the levels of socio-economic risk factors have changed over time, and a portion related to how the relative importance of those factors in explaining maltreatment report rates has changed over time. Through the application of fixed effects panel models, the analysis is also able to control for unmeasured time-invariant characteristics of neighborhoods that may be a source of bias in crosssectional studies. The study finds that increases in vacant housing, single parent families and unemployment rates are strongly associated with increases in child maltreatment report rates. Changes in racial/ethnic composition did not produce changes in maltreatment report rates except when they reached extreme levels of segregation. Although poverty rates were predictive of crosssectional variation in child maltreatment, increases in neighborhood poverty became less associated with increases in child maltreatment report rates over time.
Research on caregivers' views of factors that contribute to child maltreatment and analyses of ne... more Research on caregivers' views of factors that contribute to child maltreatment and analyses of neighborhood structural factors offer opportunities for enhancing prevention and intervention efforts. This study compared explanations of the factors that contribute to child maltreatment in a neighborhood-based sample of adult caregivers at two-time points: 1995-1996 and 2014-2015 along with analyses of neighborhood structural conditions during the same period. The study sample consisted of two cross-sectional subsamples: 400 adult caregivers in 20 census tracts in Cleveland, Ohio from a 1995-1996 study, and 400 adult caregivers of the same 20 census tracts surveyed in 2014-2015. At each time point, residents were asked to rate how much each of 13 factors contributes to child abuse and neglect. Median regression analyses adjusted for individual and neighborhood characteristics showed that "lack of religion" decreased somewhat in importance over time, while that of "single parents" increased slightly. Otherwise, there was substantial consistency in caregivers' perceptions of factors contributing to maltreatment over the two study points. In terms of overall ranking, at each time point the most important contributors to child maltreatment were "drugs," "alcohol," and "psychological or emotional problems," while the least important were "divorce," "single parents," and "lack of religion." Differences in ratings of contributing factors were associated with individual and neighborhood characteristics, most consistently by participant race and age and by neighborhood maltreatment investigation rate. Despite these differences, for any maltreatment prevention or intervention effort using or planning to use maltreatment etiology in some way in its activities, etiology seems to represent a fairly stable platform for programming.
Children placed in foster care are at risk for becoming involved with the juvenile justice system... more Children placed in foster care are at risk for becoming involved with the juvenile justice system. This study documents the rates at which children involved with foster care enter the juvenile justice system (crossover or dually involved), and the factors associated with this risk. We utilize multiple birth cohorts and prospective, longitudinal data from birth to maturity separately in three major American cities. Analyses consider integrated administrative records from multiple birth cohorts representing populations in Cook County (Chicago; N = 26,003), Cuyahoga County (Cleveland; N=10,284), and New York City (N=13,065). Crossover rates ranged from 7 to 24%. African American males, and children who experienced congregate care were at highest risk for juvenile justice involvement. Older age at first foster care placement signaled progressively greater risk, as did more foster care spells for those first placed as infants. We discuss findings in terms of developmental theory, and as actionable intelligence to inform prevention, practice, and policy.
In recent years there has been a growing interest in understanding how the particular environment... more In recent years there has been a growing interest in understanding how the particular environment in which children and youth develop affect later outcomes. The articles in this special issue all examine ways in which the larger environment is related to children's well-being. In this introduction, we describe some of the historical research "highlights" showing how the environment affects wellbeing from several disciplines, discuss current trends in environmentally-based research, provide a short review of the literature on the effects of the environment for children and review, and discuss remaining challenges.
The use of family group conferencing and related family involvement interventions in child protec... more The use of family group conferencing and related family involvement interventions in child protection is rapidly increasing in the United States and many other countries. There is some concern that the child welfare field will travel down the same road as it did with intensive family preservation services; that is, tremendous enthusiasm later derailed by rigidly designed evaluations that showed unimpressive effects. The work of John Braithwaite suggests an alternative path for finding justifiable excitement about these interventions. Drawing upon Braithwaite's writings and ongoing evaluation research, this article suggests a few steps we can take towards an integrative strategy for developing effective family involvement interventions.
We could not have undertaken this work without financial support from the Annie E. Casey Foundati... more We could not have undertaken this work without financial support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, for which we are very appreciative. Of course, the opinions and conclusions presented in this report are those of the evaluation team and are not necessarily shared by the Foundation's board of directors, managers, or staff.
The American journal of orthopsychiatry, Jan 23, 2018
Neighborhood processes have been shown to influence child maltreatment rates, and accordingly nei... more Neighborhood processes have been shown to influence child maltreatment rates, and accordingly neighborhood-based strategies have been suggested as helpful in intervening in and preventing child maltreatment. Although child-welfare workers are at the forefront of child maltreatment work, little is known about the extent to which their perspectives on neighborhood processes related to child maltreatment align with those of neighborhood residents. The current study examined the views of neighborhood residents (n = 400) and neighborhood-based child-welfare workers (n = 260) on 2 neighborhood process measures: social disorder and collective efficacy. Because social disorder is viewed as a risk factor for child maltreatment and collective efficacy is viewed as a protective factor, child-welfare workers and residents of neighborhoods need to reach a common understanding of these factors in order to reach agreement on the safety of children in these neighborhoods. The samples of neighborhoo...
Although approximately one-fifth of child maltreatment reports originate with family members, fri... more Although approximately one-fifth of child maltreatment reports originate with family members, friends, neighbors, or community members, their efforts to identify and report child maltreatment are still not well understood. Nor is it well understood how these individuals' perceptions of what constitutes maltreatment may change over time. This study examined descriptions of behavior perceived as maltreatment by caregivers of minors in Cleveland, Ohio, USA neighborhoods. Data were obtained from two neighborhood-based cross-sectional surveys of caregivers of minors: one conducted in 1995-1996 and the other in 2014-2015. The sample consisted of 400 caregivers living in 20 census tracts with varying profiles of maltreatment risk in the 1995-1996 study, and 400 caregivers living in the same 20 census tracts surveyed in 2014-2015. Each time point, participants were asked to provide three examples of behaviors they considered to be child abuse and neglect. All responses were categorized ...
The publisher regrets that an error appeared in one of the references cited in the text of this p... more The publisher regrets that an error appeared in one of the references cited in the text of this paper and in the references section. The correct text appears below. Text on page 1121 should read ".. . Also, studies have shown that residents from neighborhoods that vary in perceptions of neighborhood disorder have different views of the etiology of child maltreatment and what to do about it (
Objective: To review the literature on the relationships between neighborhoods and child maltreat... more Objective: To review the literature on the relationships between neighborhoods and child maltreatment and identify future directions for research in this area. Method: A search of electronic databases and a survey of experts yielded a list of 25 studies on the influence of geographically defined neighborhoods on child maltreatment. These studies were then critically reviewed by an interdisciplinary research team. Results: Numerous studies demonstrate that child maltreatment cases are concentrated in disadvantaged areas. A number of socioeconomic characteristics of neighborhoods have been shown to correlate with child maltreatment rates as measured by official reports to child protective service agencies. Only a few studies examine direct measures of parenting behaviors associated with maltreatment, and these show a weaker relationship with neighborhood disadvantage. Moreover, the processes that link neighborhood conditions to either maltreatment reports or parenting behaviors are not yet confirmed by the research literature. Selection bias, neighborhood definitions and spatial influences are largely uncontrolled in the existing research. Conclusions: We propose a framework for pursuing further study of neighborhoods and child maltreatment that addresses the gaps in the current literature. Neighborhood-based strategies to prevent and reduce child maltreatment * Corresponding author.
This is an evaluation of one community's efforts to develop an approach to placing children with ... more This is an evaluation of one community's efforts to develop an approach to placing children with relatives, based on a process called Family Group Decision Making (FGDM). The focus of FGDM is a plan for the care and protection of the children developed through a meeting of the children's extended family in cases of child abuse and neglect. This study considers the challenges of using FGDM to place children with extended family compared with regular foster care placement services. A framework from organizational theory was used to structure the study. By interrupting regular child welfare practice and trying something new, social workers may develop a new collective sense of the problem, a process Weick (1995) calls sensemaking. Weick suggests that ambiguous problems require more face-to-face meetings. He describes these meetings as opportunities where the participants can "argue, using rich data pulled from a variety of media, to construct fresh frameworks of action-outcome linkages that include their multiple interpretations" (Weick, 1995, p. 186). An FGDM meeting, where family members and child welfare professionals develop a plan for the care and protection of children, is a child welfare application of Weick's suggestion. Research Background, Questions and Hypotheses This evaluation analyzes 593 referrals to an FGDM program that were received from 1996-2000. Of these 593 referrals, 173 had a family meeting. This study includes information about which families were selected for FGDM, which families decided to try FGDM, and whether they developed plans for keeping children out of foster care. The first three years of referrals were followed for two years to evaluate the outcomes of the program. The analysis follows a series of four research questions:
Team Decisionmaking (TDM) is a method of making child welfare placement decisions that draws from... more Team Decisionmaking (TDM) is a method of making child welfare placement decisions that draws from the perspectives of family members, community representatives and agency staff members to determine the best placement options for children. This article compares three communities which had different experiences in their implementation of TDM. During the time of this study, the first experienced uneven TDM implementation due to changes in leadership; the second had enthusiastic implementation due to strong agency support; and the third had mature implementation because of a long history of TDM use. The three communities are compared in terms of qualitative analysis of interviews with key informants and quantitative analysis of TDM statistics and foster care placement trends. The study highlights the value of examining implementation from multiple perspectives to better understand what leads to effective implementation.
To review the literature on the relationships between neighborhoods and child maltreatment and id... more To review the literature on the relationships between neighborhoods and child maltreatment and identify future directions for research in this area. Method: A search of electronic databases and a survey of experts yielded a list of 25 studies on the influence of geographically defined neighborhoods on child maltreatment. These studies were then critically reviewed by an interdisciplinary research team. Results: Numerous studies demonstrate that child maltreatment cases are concentrated in disadvantaged areas. A number of socio-economic characteristics of neighborhoods have been shown to correlate with child maltreatment rates as measured by official reports to child protective service agencies. Only a few studies examine direct measures of parenting behaviors associated with maltreatment, and these show a weaker relationship with neighborhood disadvantage. Moreover, the processes that link neighborhood conditions to either maltreatment reports or parenting behaviors are not yet confirmed by the research literature. Selection bias, neighborhood definitions and spatial influences are largely uncontrolled in the existing research. Conclusions: We propose a framework for pursuing further study of neighborhoods and child maltreatment that addresses the gaps in the current literature. Neighborhood-based strategies to prevent and reduce child maltreatment * Corresponding author. 0145-2134/$ -see front matter will be enhanced by research that provides a better understanding of how neighborhood conditions act as stressors or supports for families at risk of child maltreatment.
This is an evaluation of one community's efforts to develop an approach to placing children with ... more This is an evaluation of one community's efforts to develop an approach to placing children with relatives, based on a process called Family Group Decision Making (FGDM). The focus of FGDM is a plan for the care and protection of the children developed through a meeting of the children's extended family in cases of child abuse and neglect. This study considers the challenges of using FGDM to place children with extended family compared with regular foster care placement services. A framework from organizational theory was used to structure the study. By interrupting regular child welfare practice and trying something new, social workers may develop a new collective sense of the problem, a process Weick (1995) calls sensemaking. Weick suggests that ambiguous problems require more face-to-face meetings. He describes these meetings as opportunities where the participants can "argue, using rich data pulled from a variety of media, to construct fresh frameworks of action-outcome linkages that include their multiple interpretations" (Weick, 1995, p. 186). An FGDM meeting, where family members and child welfare professionals develop a plan for the care and protection of children, is a child welfare application of Weick's suggestion.
The use of family group decision-making (FGDM) in child protection is rapidly increasing througho... more The use of family group decision-making (FGDM) in child protection is rapidly increasing throughout the world. This paper provides a brief overview of the research evidence from 1996 to 2005 and proposes future directions for both practice and research. The purpose of the review is to help move the discussion of FGDM from a promising practice to an evidence-based practice. The research review considers what is known about the child welfare outcomes of FGDM. The paper then turns to research concerning which families are offered FGDM and which FGDM processes appear to be important. The paper concludes with specific suggestions for developing FGDM programmes that can improve child protection practice and then testing these specific programmes in rigorous trials.
Research on the disproportionate number of children of color in the child welfare system suggests... more Research on the disproportionate number of children of color in the child welfare system suggests that we should focus on key decision points such as investigations, substantiations, and placements to understand how experiences of children vary by race and ethnicity. This article describes one community's efforts to use Family Group Decision Making in placement decisions to reduce disproportionality in foster care by diverting children from regular foster care services and keeping them within their extended families.
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Papers by David Crampton