Evidence For Child Welfare Practice

This book provides a "work-in-progress" that seeks to capture the micro (direct service) and macro (managerial) perspectives related to identifying evidence for practice within the practice domain of public child welfare. It is divided into two categories; namely, evidence for direct practice and evidence for management practice. In Part I, the articles are categorized in the areas of child welfare assessment and child welfare outcomes. Expanded versions of the chapters can be accessed at www.bassc.net. In Part II, the focus is on organizational issues that relate to evidence for management practice. This section includes an overview of evidence-based practice from an organizational perspective along with evidence related to the experiences of others in implementing evidence-based practice. This book pushes the discussion of evidence-based practice in several new directions regarding: 1) the use of structured reviews to complement the systematic reviews of the Cochrane and Campbell Collaboratives, 2) the process of viewing the call for evidence-based practice as a goal or future vision of practice and evidence for practice provides a more immediate approach to promote evidence-informed practice, and 3) a recognition that evidence-informed practice is part of building agency-based knowledge sharing systems that involve the tacit and explicit knowledge needed to improve the outcomes of social services. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal Of Evidence-Based Social Work.

Research has already been a significant factor in child welfare policy in recent years, but this essential new volume demonstrates that it has taken a leading role in the field to spur and guide change. In the incisive chapters gathered here, some of the field's top investigators present their work and assess its effect on the full spectrum of child welfare services. Future generations of researchers, as well as students, practitioners, and service providers, will find the resulting text indispensable. Edited by Duncan Lindsey and Aron Shlonsky, two of the discipline's most articulate voices, the book covers every base. The opening chapters situate child welfare research in the modern context; they are followed by discussions of evidence-based practice in the field, arguably its most pressing concern now. Recent years have seen historic rises in the number of children adopted through public agencies and, accordingly, permanent placement and family ties are critical topics that occupy the book's core, along with chapters broaching the thorny questions that surround decision-making and risk assessment. The urgent need for a more effective use of research and evidence is highlighted again with looks at the future of child protection and how concrete data can influence policy and help children. Finally, in recognition of the growing importance of a global view, closing chapters address international issues in child welfare research, including an examination of policies from abroad and a multinational comparison of the economic challenges facing single mothers and their children. With its insightful treatment of child welfare services in terms of the broader welfare system and acknowledgment of the myriad problems child welfare agencies face, this exceptional compendium offers a rich understanding of the social conditions that influence contemporary child welfare and enables the field to move ahead without losing sight of valuable lessons that have been learned.

Child welfare is the oldest specialization within social work practice and the only specialty area in which social work is the host profession. This edited volume provides a unique and comprehensive overview of practice issues relevant to contemporary child welfare professionals entering the field as well as those already working in direct service and management positions. This book’s emphasis on systemic, integrated, and evidence-informed practices at the individual, family, and organizational level is in keeping with child welfare’s core mission of child protection, family support, and permanency for youth. This volume also explores the challenges and opportunities present in a contemporary practice environment, which are driven by the attainment of defined outcomes, fiscal limitations, and the need for an informed professionalized child welfare workforce.

The information age is upon us and, with it, a new era of human services has emerged. The terms 'Evidence-Based,' 'evidence-informed,' 'best practice', and 'effective' have become ubiquitous in scholarly and professional publications, government documents, funding applications, and training institutions across the world. Yet despite this avalanche of words, there is substantial disagreement with respect to the definition of evidence and how it should be used to improve the lives of children and youth. This book builds on the burgeoning evidence-informed practice movement in social welfare that evolved from evidence-based medicine some twenty years ago. Key insights from an internationally recognized group of scholars representing several child welfare systems promotes a nuanced understanding of evidence in all its forms; makes a strong case for understanding the role of context in generating, interpreting, and employing evidence; and provides guidance for integrating evidence and context in the provision of child welfare services. The book begins with an introduction to evidence-informed practice and a broad overview of the different types of evidence that can be useful in guiding difficult decisions under uncertain conditions. This is followed by a decision-making framework that incorporates the use of evidence within the context of a complex child protection system. Next, empirically supported programs and treatments are evaluated with respect to their transportability across contexts, with sometimes surprising results. Two revolutionary approaches to the delivery of effective services, common factors and common elements, are then introduced and followed by a treatise on the importance of implementation in child welfare settings. Embracing different types of evidence used for different questions, the role of randomized controlled trials, epidemiology, administrative and survey data are then explored. Finally, the context of service provision within an agency is explored through an overview of the structure, function, and culture of human services organizations; the role of universities in training staff and conducting relevant practice and policy research; and an applied example involving a partnership between a major university and a large child welfare agency.

Imagining Child Welfare in the Spirit of Reconciliation is a most crucial look at child welfare practices in Canada, social work as a tool for advocacy, and the need to address the historical legacy of the Sixties Scoop.

Developing an Empirically Based Practice Initiative documents practice techniques that were used during a three-year training/demonstration project for child welfare supervisors working in the frontlines of child protection services in the Southeastern United States. This unique book is a guide to combining research methodology with staff training to enhance the quality of evidence-based practice in the field. The book examines techniques that were used in training modules in four states, highlighting practice models and intervention outcomes from an evidence-based perspective. Developing an Empirically Based Practice Initiative includes details about the project from the federal perspective (The Children’s Bureau) and the operational implications at the Southern Regional Quality Improvement Center (SRQIC) level. The book examines the issues of providing technical research assistance to child welfare agencies and the complexities of cross-site evaluation with different political jurisdictions. Developing an Empirically Based Practice Initiative examines: The Children’s Bureau discretionary grant program the relationship between child welfare workers’ career plans and their abilities to accomplish core work tasks secondary traumatic stress (STS) in child protective services workers methods for monitoring and evaluating child welfare supervisors clinical decision-making as a tool for building effective supervision skills the use of outcome data for decision-making the development and implementation of the Tennessee project the use of “360-degree” evaluations to improve clinical skill development the Intervention Design and Development model Developing an Empirically Based Practice Initiative is an invaluable aid for social work practitioners, child welfare workers, case managers, and supervisors, and for social work academics and students.

This book presents a model of supervision that is based on both contemporary theory and research, which is strongly contextualized to child and family social work. It draws directly from analysis of in-depth interviews with experienced and post graduate qualified supervisors and supervisees about ‘what works’ in supervision. These findings bring ‘news of difference’ in relation to social work supervision offering hope, inspiration and a contemporary model of supervisory practice.