Background: Newborns of parents with intellectual disabilities face higher risks in their environment for child unsafety, despite parents' good intentions. To help parents prevent unsafe circumstances, a good understanding of the risk factors faced by these parents is needed. Methods: This casefile study examined (1) which risk factors were…

Integrated data systems are often used to inform decision making at the top tiers of local or state government. Policymakers use analyses based on large numbers of integrated data system (IDS) records (from which personal identifying information has been removed) to understand the overlap between cases that receive services from different systems…

An integrated data system (IDS) that links information from separate administrative data systems offers policymakers, program administrators and researchers a powerful tool to analyze interactive effects across systems and make more informed decisions to improve outcomes for vulnerable families. This case study discusses how two states (Washington…

Using administrative sources in the history of education and childhood involves a range of methodological and ethical considerations. This article discusses these problems, as well as the role of archives and archival policies in preserving history and shaping our understanding of past childhoods. Using Finnish child welfare archives from the…

Young people in the child welfare system are subjected to intensive and wide-ranging observation, surveillance and documentation practices that have been facilitated by the expanding use of digital technologies. Drawing on qualitative research, this article examines the pervasiveness of these governmental practices and their impacts on the…

Foster parents have special needs which must be addressed to retain them in the child welfare system. Several of these needs may be addressed within their foster parent training experience; however, little research is available to determine the effectiveness of these training programs. What little research is available is fraught with…

Prior research has raised concern about the appropriateness of psychotropic medication use and the validity of psychiatric diagnosing for youth in child welfare but has lacked in-depth case information. This study reports results from a psychiatric nurse review conducted with eight youth entering a foster care intervention using case records and…

This article reports on research carried out on 189 child welfare files from the largest welfare authority in Northern Ireland from 1950 to 1968. The literature review provides a commentary on some of the major debates surrounding child welfare and protection social work from the perspective of its historical development. The report of the…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the nature of neglect in child welfare clients, to describe these experiences, to examine its typologies, and to understand how different types of neglect co-occurred with each other and with other types of maltreatment. Methods: Case record abstraction was conducted on the child welfare case…

The Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study examined the relation between experiences in foster care and depression among young adults who spent at least a year in foster care as adolescents. Results indicate that preparation for leaving foster care, nurturing supports from the foster family, school stability, access to tutoring, access to therapeutic…

When a child is placed in the state's foster care system because of a parent's abuse or neglect, the state--represented by teams of social workers, lawyers, judges, foster parents, and other caregivers or guardians--steps into many aspects of the parental role. Too often, though, the state's representatives are attempting to fulfill a parental…

Much controversy exists regarding the effectiveness of residential treatment. Recently, emerging research has demonstrated that community-based residential treatment has more positive long-term outcomes for youth. This article describes a community-based program that was implemented at a residential treatment agency serving youth. Targeted…

Objective: Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) aim to improve child forensic interviewing following allegations of child abuse by coordinating multiple investigations, providing child-friendly interviewing locations, and limiting redundant interviewing. This analysis presents one of the first rigorous evaluations of CACs' implementation of these…

Reviews trends in and current uses of child welfare case recordkeeping, and proposes a flexible format for organizing public child welfare case records. In the design of recordkeeping systems, recognition must be given to the multiple purposes case records are put to and the needs and demands of casework staff. (MDM)

The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997 includes provisions to deny reunification services under specified conditions and gives states latitude to develop any number of additional "aggravated circumstances" in which parents need not be offered services. California legislators have developed a relatively large number of…