Family preservation or child safety? Associations between child welfare workers' experience, position, and perspectives. (October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fluke, John D.; Corwin, Tyler W.; Hollinshead, Dana M.; Maher, Erin J.
• Is Part Of: Children and youth services review. Volume 69(2016:Oct.)
• Page Start: 210
• Page End: 218
• Publication Date: 2016-10
• Subjects: Decision-making ecology -- Child welfare -- Staff orientation -- Child safety -- Family preservation; Social work with children -- Periodicals; Social work with youth -- Periodicals; Adolescent -- Periodicals; Child Welfare -- Periodicals; Social Work -- Periodicals; Service social aux enfants -- Périodiques; Service social à la jeunesse -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 362.705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.08.012
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0190-7409

Abstract

Abstract: In child welfare, there is sometimes a false dichotomy between child safety and family preservation. In an evaluation of Family Group Decision Making in four child welfare jurisdictions, worker surveys were administered to caseworkers, supervisors, program directors, and program coordinators asking about worker perceptions, demographics, organizational culture and climate, and job characteristics. The surveys contained the Dalgleish Scale, an instrument designed to measure the perspectives of workers across the continuum of child safety versus family preservation beliefs. Assessing a number of worker characteristics, an analysis of the Dalgleish Scale revealed that staff who have worked in child welfare longer are more likely to be oriented toward family preservation, whereas staff working in the field for a shorter time period or rating the shared vision among staff higher are more likely to be oriented toward child safety. Evidence has demonstrated that caseworkers' perspectives influence disposition decision making, and that child and family outcomes, such as maltreatment recurrence or out-of-home placement, are not solely determined by family and case characteristics. The potential utility of developing a better understanding of staff orientation has implications for organizational culture, compliance with policy mandates, workforce development, and most importantly, outcomes for child welfare-involved families. Highlights: Staff characteristics correlate with child safety/family preservation orientation. Experienced staff prefer family preservation over child safety orientation. Staff carrying caseloads prefer child safety over family preservation orientation. Perceptions of shared vision among workers are associated with worker orientation.