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269 Results Found

  • Review
  • Open Access
19 Citations
9,701 Views
24 Pages

Child Welfare Reform: A Scoping Review

  • Jill R. McTavish,
  • Christine McKee,
  • Masako Tanaka and
  • Harriet L. MacMillan

While there have been ongoing calls to reform child welfare so that it better meets children’s and families’ needs, to date there have been no comprehensive summaries of child welfare reform strategies. For this systematic scoping review,...

  • Review
  • Open Access
58 Citations
11,453 Views
15 Pages

3 February 2021

This review explores the conceptualization of “child participation” in a child welfare context. The analyses are based on the theories, models and concepts researchers apply when framing their studies. Central to the authors’ conceptualizing is the u...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2,265 Views
16 Pages

11 August 2023

Even if numerous children and young people are looked after by child and youth welfare, there are only a few scientific studies on the reasons for this support. The aim of this retrospective descriptive study was to examine the reasons why child and...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
5,218 Views
11 Pages

5 September 2024

Research has highlighted racial and socioeconomic disparities for families in child welfare, with calls to address inequities through trainings and structural change. However, few measures have been developed to assess the recognition of racial and c...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
7,556 Views
21 Pages

Sustainable Family Life and Child Welfare: A Conceptual Framework

  • Juha Hämäläinen,
  • Kaisa Pihlainen and
  • Riitta Vornanen

2 November 2020

Although there have been developments in family and child welfare services, these have not been prioritized from a sustainability perspective. This article aims to provide a framework for supporting sustainable provisions for family and child welfare...

  • Article
  • Open Access
27 Citations
6,353 Views
15 Pages

How Can Data Drive Policy and Practice in Child Welfare? Making the Link in Canada

  • Barbara Fallon,
  • Joanne Filippelli,
  • Tara Black,
  • Nico Trocmé and
  • Tonino Esposito

Formal university–child welfare partnerships offer a unique opportunity to begin to fill the gaps in the child welfare knowledge base and link child welfare services to the realities of practice. With resources from a knowledge mobilization grant, a...

  • Article
  • Open Access
24 Citations
12,012 Views
13 Pages

Social Class and Child Welfare: Intertwining Issues of Redistribution and Recognition

  • Halvor Fauske,
  • Bente Heggem Kojan and
  • Anita Skårstad Storhaug

28 August 2018

By the end of the 20th century, social class appeared to be an old-fashioned and outdated concept. Serious doubts were expressed about the theoretical and empirical relevance of social class in understanding inequalities in contemporary society. Howe...

  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
4,546 Views
19 Pages

21 January 2021

The sustainability of Africa’s existing child welfare systems remains uncertain, potentially owing to the maltreatment of children amid the competing worldviews of the continent’s indigenous and non-indigenous practices and international childcare mo...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
2,087 Views
18 Pages

This article introduces the Third Space of Indian child welfare to theorize how Indigenous nations simultaneously engage and disrupt settler legal systems while building sovereign, care-based alternatives. Drawing from legal analysis, Indigenous poli...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
6,571 Views
14 Pages

1 December 2014

This article discusses the safeguarding movement in the context of child protection. After providing it’s key principles and precepts, the relevant provisions of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child which link to safeguarding ar...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
3,293 Views
21 Pages

The Impossibility of ‘Good Mothering’ in Child Welfare Systems When Referred for Non-Traditional Harms

  • Nikki Rutter,
  • Carlene Firmin,
  • Donna Garvey,
  • Kate O’Brien and
  • Rachael Owens

10 February 2025

Due to harmful narratives within child welfare and child protection services and systems, mothers in contact with these services who aim to meet the symbolic representation of the ‘ideal mother’ frequently find themselves being portrayed...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
3,790 Views
18 Pages

Workforce Development and Multiagency Collaborations: A Presentation of Two Case Studies in Child Welfare

  • Chad McDonald,
  • Kristine A. Campbell,
  • Cole Benson,
  • Matthew J. Davis and
  • Caren J. Frost

13 September 2021

Background: Two disciplines that work in the child welfare arena, social welfare and healthcare, are crucial for addressing families’ and children’s needs in social, emotional, and physical healthcare situations. How child welfare workers are trained...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,852 Views
9 Pages

30 May 2024

Kinship caregivers encounter complex issues when interfacing with the child welfare system. Most kinship care families are not connected to child welfare. The experiences and extent of child welfare connection among older grandparents raising adolesc...

  • Review
  • Open Access
77 Citations
15,575 Views
22 Pages

Trauma Informed Child Welfare Systems—A Rapid Evidence Review

  • Lisa Bunting,
  • Lorna Montgomery,
  • Suzanne Mooney,
  • Mandi MacDonald,
  • Stephen Coulter,
  • David Hayes and
  • Gavin Davidson

Trauma informed care (TIC) is a whole system organisational change process which emerged from the seminal Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study, establishing a strong graded relationship between the number of childhood adversities experienced and...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
1,528 Views
10 Pages

Construction of a Form for Users of the Child Welfare System Based on the Delphi Method

  • Olga Fernández-García,
  • María Dolores Gil-Llario and
  • Rafael Ballester-Arnal

7 June 2023

Professionals in charge of designing individualized plans for children and adolescents in the child welfare system often lack the necessary information, either because it has not been systematically collected or because there are doubts about the rel...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
3,600 Views
18 Pages

Considering Family and Child Welfare in Lithuania in Terms of Social Sustainability Pursuant to Observations of Everyday Professional Practice

  • Rasa Naujanienė,
  • Jonas Ruškus,
  • Merja Laitinen,
  • Roberta Motiečienė and
  • Julija Eidukevičiūtė

5 August 2021

This article investigates the family and child welfare system in Lithuania in terms of social sustainability, with an emphasis on children’s rights. The conceptual framework of Gilbert et al. (2011a) on child welfare was used as the substance of the...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
3,298 Views
23 Pages

The Impact of Information System on Interactions of Child Welfare Professionals with Managers and Clients

  • Miroslavas Seniutis,
  • Donata Petružytė,
  • Miglė Baltrūnaitė,
  • Silvija Vainauskaitė and
  • Linas Petkevičius

15 June 2021

The use of information systems in public child welfare agencies of different countries is challenging primarily for frontline practitioners. This paper unveils how material information system properties are involved in the interactions of child welfa...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
4,122 Views
16 Pages

Trauma-Informed Photovoice for Adolescents and Young Adults with Child Welfare Involvement

  • Colleen C. Katz,
  • Moiyattu Banya,
  • Astraea Augsberger,
  • David Collins,
  • LaShawnda Kilgore,
  • Kerry Moles,
  • Cheyanne Deopersaud and
  • Michelle R. Munson

3 October 2024

Youth who age out of foster care face a constellation of challenges associated with navigating the transition to adulthood and often do not have opportunities to express their perspectives. The purpose of this project was to partner with these youth...

  • Article
  • Open Access
30 Citations
15,621 Views
15 Pages

Structures of Oppression in the U.S. Child Welfare System: Reflections on Administrative Barriers to Equity

  • Lisa Merkel-Holguin,
  • Ida Drury,
  • Colleen Gibley-Reed,
  • Adrian Lara,
  • Maleeka Jihad,
  • Krystal Grint and
  • Kendall Marlowe

14 February 2022

In the United States, child welfare reform efforts have dominated three decades of landscape. With glimmers of systemic promise and innumerable individual success stories, data suggest insufficient improvements, resulting in calls for transformation...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
5,115 Views
16 Pages

20 December 2020

Background: The purpose of this article is to explore how a sample of young mothers in contact with child welfare services in Norway narrate their transition to motherhood and their relation with child welfare services. Methods: The article is based...

  • Commentary
  • Open Access
9 Citations
4,561 Views
7 Pages

26 January 2021

Child welfare-affected parents of color (CW-PaoC) are often described using language that is deficit-focused, their families depicted as fragile and living in a near constant state of crisis and need. This commentary challenges the stereotypes create...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5,239 Views
16 Pages

6 November 2013

Universities are uniquely positioned to provide the very best training opportunities to public child welfare workers. However, university–child welfare agency training partnerships require a significant commitment of time and resources by university...

  • Article
  • Open Access
686 Views
15 Pages

23 October 2025

Parents with cognitive difficulties are consistently overrepresented in child welfare proceedings, yet such difficulties in themselves are poor predictors of parenting capacity. Research shows that many parents succeed when provided with tailored sup...

  • Article
  • Open Access
20 Citations
12,030 Views
23 Pages

In this article, our intention is to provide an in-depth framework to inform the management of the inevitable complexity of day-to-day practice and supervision in child protection and welfare. It is based on what is now well evidenced about child pro...

  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
9,239 Views
22 Pages

Empirical analysis has found that mandatory reporting legislation has positive effects on case identification of child sexual abuse both initially and over the long term. However, there is little analysis of the initial and ongoing impact on child pr...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
2,175 Views
16 Pages

Navigating Challenges and Leveraging Technology: Experiences of Child Welfare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

  • Sarah Maiter,
  • Daniel Kikulwe,
  • Uzma Danish,
  • Peyton Drynan and
  • Mykayla Blackman

24 September 2024

This qualitative study explores the experiences of child welfare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic through virtual interviews, focusing on the challenges and adaptations in their work and support systems. Participants reported significant difficul...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2,623 Views
13 Pages

The one-child policy, i.e., of having only one child per couple, was adopted as the essential family policy in China from 1979, and since the beginning of the 21st century, it has given rise to problems of special families under the one-child policy...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
1,524 Views
9 Pages

21 September 2023

Victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) and their children may be at an increased risk for negative health outcomes and may present to healthcare settings. The objective of the current study is to examine the profile of medical-referred child welf...

  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
6,084 Views
19 Pages

12 August 2017

The science of early childhood development underscores that maltreatment and other adversities experienced during infancy heightens the risk for poor developmental and socio-emotional outcomes. Referrals to supportive services by the child welfare sy...

  • Article
  • Open Access
16 Citations
9,033 Views
20 Pages

Child Welfare in Chile: Learning from International Experiences to Improve Family Interventions

  • Carolina Muñoz-Guzmán,
  • Candice Fischer,
  • Enrique Chia and
  • Catherine LaBrenz

13 March 2015

Poor outcomes and several complaints to the judicial system against residential services for children have triggered a deep review of the Chilean child welfare services, particularly in relation to family reunification. This paper offers strategic gu...

  • Article
  • Open Access
67 Citations
13,419 Views
25 Pages

19 November 2014

This article considers selected drivers of decision variability in child welfare decision-making and explores current debates in relation to these drivers. Covering the related influences of national orientation, risk and responsibility, inequality a...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
3,037 Views
10 Pages

Child welfare workers often experience work-related traumatic events and may be at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can hinder early interventions for child abuse. This study examined the association between each single work-relat...

  • Article
  • Open Access
629 Views
28 Pages

“It Was an Opportunity to Create Our Story in a Way in Which We Viewed It”: Arts-Based Truth-Telling by Black American Young Adult Alumni of the Child Welfare System

  • Emma Sterrett-Hong,
  • Lisa Merkel-Holguin,
  • Nikki Thornton,
  • Anita Barbee,
  • Glenda Wright,
  • Eltuan Dawson,
  • Cameron Galloway,
  • Chyna Angelini and
  • Tia Humphrey

Truth-telling, a community intervention to increase reconciliation after systemic injustices, has been employed recently to increase public awareness of harms perpetuated by the child welfare industry in the U.S. Guided by participatory action resear...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
4,401 Views
21 Pages

29 May 2024

This study explores how racialized migrant youth navigate Ontario’s child welfare, criminal justice, and immigration systems. Insights from youth, academics, practitioners, lawyers, policymakers, and social workers were gathered from a conferen...

  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
6,597 Views
15 Pages

24 June 2022

Schools play an important role in ensuring the well-being of children, although the process of mandatory reporting of concern for children is not widely understood. This qualitative focus group study investigated the process from the perspectives of...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
2,505 Views
13 Pages

When addressing child and youth mental health, policy makers around the world call for collaboration between welfare providers. Research shows, however, that cross-sector collaboration is challenging. This article aims to scrutinize the issue of sust...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3,919 Views
23 Pages

7 November 2024

In 1978, the United States enacted the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) “to protect the best interest of Indian Children and to promote the stability and security of Indian tribes and families by the establishment of minimum Federal standards fo...

  • Concept Paper
  • Open Access
1,959 Views
13 Pages

17 October 2024

The NYC Administration for Children’s Services and MDRC have partnered since 2021 to develop a rigorous research agenda leading to an impact evaluation of the Family Treatment and Rehabilitation (FT/R) model, a “home-grown” New York...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
3,896 Views
13 Pages

Studies show that a significant proportion of children in the Child Welfare System (CWS) have suffered adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which have led to well documented serious consequences. This study assessed and compared the ACE status of ad...

  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
3,429 Views
13 Pages

Parent–Child Interaction Therapy Supports Healthy Eating Behavior in Child Welfare-Involved Children

  • Emma R. Lyons,
  • Akhila K. Nekkanti,
  • Beverly W. Funderburk and
  • Elizabeth A. Skowron

Objective: We tested the efficacy of standard Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a live-coached, behavioral parent-training program, for modifying problematic eating behaviors in a larger effectiveness trial of PCIT for children involved...

  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
3,629 Views
17 Pages

3 March 2021

Combating child poverty is desirable to ensure equality of opportunities across children, as well as fostering the sustainability of the societal well-being for future generations. This paper focuses on the study of child poverty in the 28 Member Sta...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
4,210 Views
12 Pages

Most research on factors related to physical child abuse risk rely heavily on direct self-report measures, which is a methodological strategy susceptible to participant response distortions. Such methodological reliance obfuscates the interpretations...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,044 Views
13 Pages

26 March 2025

Following a care order, children and parents are entitled to contact with each other in accordance with the conditions established by the Child Welfare Tribunals. How child welfare employees understand what contact visits can be and how they can be s...

  • Article
  • Open Access
14 Citations
8,656 Views
18 Pages

Child Welfare and Successful Reunification through the Socio-Educative Process: Training Needs among Biological Families in Spain

  • M. Angeles Balsells,
  • Crescencia Pastor,
  • Pere Amorós,
  • Ainoa Mateos,
  • Carmen Ponce and
  • Alicia Navajas

22 October 2014

In Spain, an average of 480 children per 100,000 is receiving some type of temporary care, and the reunification process is typically lengthy. Providing the biological family with specific training as part of the reunification process is key to sol...

  • Editorial
  • Open Access
3 Citations
1,792 Views
3 Pages

When parents are unable to raise their children or to meet the minimum acceptable standards for their care, this can lead to involvement with child welfare services [...]

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,704 Views
16 Pages

24 April 2025

The theme of this article is how child welfare workers understand children’s reactions when they assess visitation between parents and children in public care in Norway. The data material consists of 35 transcribed, anonymised recordings of chi...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
2,503 Views
18 Pages

Our children are our future. As noted in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), “There is no resource that is more vital to the continued existence and integrity of Indian tribes than their children”. Native Americans have always fought for...

  • Article
  • Open Access
62 Citations
12,590 Views
16 Pages

26 August 2014

This study analyzed data from the 1998, 2003 and 2008 Canadian Incidence Study of reported child abuse and neglect (CIS) and compared the profile of children who were reported for an urgent protection investigation versus any other investigation or a...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,978 Views
14 Pages

13 March 2025

This article discusses contact and interaction between children, siblings and parents after a care order. We have collected and analyzed audio recordings of discussions between child welfare employees in Norway. In these meetings, the employees discu...

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