Principles of public health practice can be applied to problems, such as child maltreatment, that have behavioral antecedents and injury outcomes. Successful campaigns to promote bicycle helmet use to prevent brain injur...Principles of public health practice can be applied to problems, such as child maltreatment, that have behavioral antecedents and injury outcomes. Successful campaigns to promote bicycle helmet use to prevent brain injury and to promote supine sleeping to prevent sudden infant death are described. These programs were universally applied, featured simple behavioral goals, were based on the best available evidence, and monitored both behavioral and health-related outcomes.
Richmond-Crum M, Joyner C, Fogerty S
… +2 more, Ellis ML, Saul J
Child Welfare
· 2013 · PMID 24199325
Child maltreatment prevention is traditionally conceptualized as a social services and criminal justice issue. Although these responses are critical and important, alone they are insufficient to prevent the problem. A pu...Child maltreatment prevention is traditionally conceptualized as a social services and criminal justice issue. Although these responses are critical and important, alone they are insufficient to prevent the problem. A public health approach is essential to realizing the prevention of child abuse and neglect. This paper discusses the public health model and social-ecology framework as ways to understand and address child maltreatment prevention and discusses the critical role health departments can have in preventing abuse and neglect. Information from an environmental scan of state public health departments is provided to increase understanding of the context in which state public health departments operate. Finally, an example from North Carolina provides a practical look at one state's effort to create a cross-sector system of prevention that promotes safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments for children and families.
Fatal child maltreatment is a compelling problem in the United States. National estimates of fatal child maltreatment, based largely on child welfare data, have fluctuated around 1,500 deaths annually for the past ten ye...Fatal child maltreatment is a compelling problem in the United States. National estimates of fatal child maltreatment, based largely on child welfare data, have fluctuated around 1,500 deaths annually for the past ten years. However, the limitations of child welfare and other mortality data to accurately enumerate fatal child maltreatment are well documented. As a result of these limitations, the true magnitude of fatal child maltreatment remains unknown. Public health surveillance has been proposed as a mechanism to improve estimation of fatal child maltreatment, as well as to collect and analyze relevant risk factor data for the ultimate goal of developing prevention strategies. This paper describes public health surveillance efforts undertaken to improve estimation of fatal child maltreatment, and presents the unique challenges of identifying fatal child neglect. The strengths and limitations of existing sources of child maltreatment fatality data are reviewed and broad recommendations for strategies to advance public health surveillance of fatal child maltreatment are presented.
Putnam-Hornstein E, Wood JN, Fluke J
… +2 more, Yoshioka-Maxwell A, Berger RP
Child Welfare
· 2013 · PMID 24199323
In this article we examine risk factors for severe and fatal child maltreatment. These factors emerge from studies based on different data sources, including official child maltreatment data, emergency department and hos...In this article we examine risk factors for severe and fatal child maltreatment. These factors emerge from studies based on different data sources, including official child maltreatment data, emergency department and hospitalization data, death certificates, and data from child death review teams. The empirical literature reflects a growing effort to overcome the measurement uncertainties of any one individual data system. After review and reflection upon what is known, we consider how integrating this information can advance efforts to protect children, providing examples where the use and linkage of multiple sources of data may enhance surveillance, improve front-end decisionmaking, and support cost-effective research and evaluation.
This article reviews significant research findings regarding child maltreatment fatalities over the last thirty years. Notably, the article focuses on several important subsets of children who die from maltreatment, incl...This article reviews significant research findings regarding child maltreatment fatalities over the last thirty years. Notably, the article focuses on several important subsets of children who die from maltreatment, including young children, children reported to child protective services, and children who live in families with poor parental attachment, mental illness, substance abuse, and domestic violence. The article then sets forth three proposals for broadening the United States' approach to child protection and reducing child maltreatment fatalities.
Over the past 50 years, most major advances in child maltreatment have focused on protecting severely maltreated children and punishing perpetrators. This article argues that it is time to rigorously apply a public healt...Over the past 50 years, most major advances in child maltreatment have focused on protecting severely maltreated children and punishing perpetrators. This article argues that it is time to rigorously apply a public health framework to improve our understanding of, and accelerate efforts to, prevent child abuse and neglect. The article describes the fundamentals of a public health approach; discusses how this approach has been applied to improve surveillance of serious maltreatment injuries and fatalities, the understanding of risk and protective factors, and the long-term consequences of maltreatment; and describes how a public health approach is an effective means to prevention.
Josef K. Friedjung's Advanced Pediatrics--A Companion to Traditional Textbooks (Erlebte Kinderheilkunde--eine Ergänzung er gebräuchlichen Lehrbucher), published in 1919 in Vienna, has cast a long but nearly-vanished shad...Josef K. Friedjung's Advanced Pediatrics--A Companion to Traditional Textbooks (Erlebte Kinderheilkunde--eine Ergänzung er gebräuchlichen Lehrbucher), published in 1919 in Vienna, has cast a long but nearly-vanished shadow over modern child welfare theory. The originality of his focus on "the whole child" was in some ways a commentary on Sigmund Freud, but its overtly progressive political character gave Friedjung's argument visible applicability within the field of urban social welfare. As a pediatrician and an ardent cosmopolitan, Friedjung was willing to consider conflicting values between traditional family systems and the state. Had the Nazis not forced him into exile in Palestine, where he died in 1946, Friedjung's pioneering oeuvre would have joined our child welfare narrative long ago. Fortunately today archival evidence on which this study draws, fragmented as it is in both German and English, does confirm that the first and second generation psychoanalysts, Friedjung among them, built a mental health movement around a social justice core closely allied to the cultural context of central Europe from 1918 to 1933. In many ways, child welfare as we know it emerged as a practical implementation of that ideology.
Approximately 80% of children served by child welfare agencies have parents who abuse or are dependent on alcohol or illicit drugs. Despite the devastating effects on children from living in substance abusing families, c...Approximately 80% of children served by child welfare agencies have parents who abuse or are dependent on alcohol or illicit drugs. Despite the devastating effects on children from living in substance abusing families, child protective service practitioners have limited options available to assist these families. The Parenting in Recovery program was created to address the needs of substance-abusing mothers involved in child welfare. This manuscript describes this program and perceptions of participants concerning its effectiveness.
This national study of child custody disputes within the context of child protection investigations confirms and reinforces the perception in the field that child custody disputes are more likely to reopen for investigat...This national study of child custody disputes within the context of child protection investigations confirms and reinforces the perception in the field that child custody disputes are more likely to reopen for investigations, include higher rates of malicious referrals and involve a higher proportion of children with emotional and functioning issues compared to non-custody-related investigations. Future research might consider the reasons for these higher rates so to improve the identification of these cases and to make more informed decisions about how best to respond to these families. The greatest contribution of this study is that it provides important new evidence to reinforce the need to prioritize child custody disputes within the context of child protection services given the unique challenges and opportunities for making well-informed case plan decisions.
This article presents substantiation assessment criteria as an evidentiary framework for evaluating contested substantiation of child maltreatment in child protection practice. To accomplish this purpose, the article dis...This article presents substantiation assessment criteria as an evidentiary framework for evaluating contested substantiation of child maltreatment in child protection practice. To accomplish this purpose, the article discusses contested substantiation and judicial outcomes in contested cases as a means of underscoring the criteria's evidentiary relevance. The article presents conceptually and empirically driven substantiation assessment criteria and highlights their relevance for guiding substantiation decisions, evidentiary hearings, and future research in contested substantiation of child maltreatment.
Examination of the policymaking process can yield a better understanding of the rationale behind policy content and prescriptions for shaping future policies. To this end, this study uses data from 38 child welfare heari...Examination of the policymaking process can yield a better understanding of the rationale behind policy content and prescriptions for shaping future policies. To this end, this study uses data from 38 child welfare hearings held by the U.S. Congress from 1999-2010 to describe key hearings, as well as Congress, committee member, and child welfare indicators. This manuscript concludes with implications for research and practice.
Collins-Camargo C, Armstrong MI, McBeath B
… +1 more, Chuang E
Child Welfare
· 2013 · PMID 23984485
Little is known about effective strategic planning for public and private child welfare agencies working together to serve families. During a professionally facilitated, strategic planning event, public and private child...Little is known about effective strategic planning for public and private child welfare agencies working together to serve families. During a professionally facilitated, strategic planning event, public and private child welfare administrators from five states explored partnership challenges and strengths with a goal of improving collaborative interactions in order to improve outcomes for children and families. Summarizing thematic results of session notes from the planning event, this article describes effective strategies for facilitation of such processes as well as factors that challenge or promote group processes. Implications for conducting strategic planning in jurisdictions seeking to improve public/private partnerships are discussed.
This article examines the factors that can affect job satisfaction, organizational culture and climate, and intent to leave at a public child welfare agency. Findings from focus group data collected from direct line, mid...This article examines the factors that can affect job satisfaction, organizational culture and climate, and intent to leave at a public child welfare agency. Findings from focus group data collected from direct line, middle, and senior managers revealed a passive defensive culture. The authors discuss concrete organizational interventions to assist the agency in shifting to a constructive oriented culture through enhancements in communication, including supervision and shared decisionmaking, recognition and rewards, and improvement in other areas related to working conditions.
The past 50 years have revealed dramatically shifting trends in the familial structure of American society. When examining these trends, and family research in general, the American Indian family unit has received little...The past 50 years have revealed dramatically shifting trends in the familial structure of American society. When examining these trends, and family research in general, the American Indian family unit has received little to no attention. This study utilized data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine the living conditions of urban American Indian children in unmarried families. Results showed that while these children appear to have a strong start, concerns are raised regarding American Indian mothers' low educational achievement and high incidence of poverty. These concerns can lead to potential issues regarding sustained development that can arise as the children grow. Therefore, child welfare workers must understand these issues and work to ameliorate them in order to provide culturally competent services to urban American Indian families and children.
Currently, there are 565 federally recognized tribes in the United States who are independent sovereign nations. These tribes have varying capacities to manage and administer child welfare programs. Most provide some typ...Currently, there are 565 federally recognized tribes in the United States who are independent sovereign nations. These tribes have varying capacities to manage and administer child welfare programs. Most provide some type of child welfare service to the children and families within their tribal land. However, there are no national resources to document the number of children in foster care or the extent of abuse and neglect in the families served by tribal child welfare agencies. Information is only known about those Native American/Alaska Native families and children who are reported to state child protection agencies. Native American children represented 0.9% of all children in the United States in the late 1990s, but they comprised 3.1% of the substitute care population in state-run child welfare systems (Morrison, et al., 2010). Incident rates of child welfare referrals, substantiated referrals, and foster care placement among Native American children and families are relatively high compared to other ethnic groups (Earle & Cross, 2001) but precise interpretation of Native American status is difficult due to variations in child welfare reporting systems (Magruder & Shaw, 2008).
Porter LL, Zink PP, Gebhardt AR
… +2 more, Ells M, Graef MI
Child Welfare
· 2012 · PMID 23444793
The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families and the Midwest Child Welfare Implementation Center are collaborating with Wisconsin's tribes and county child welfare agencies to improve outcomes for Indian children by...The Wisconsin Department of Children and Families and the Midwest Child Welfare Implementation Center are collaborating with Wisconsin's tribes and county child welfare agencies to improve outcomes for Indian children by systemically implementing the Wisconsin Indian Child Welfare Act (WICWA). This groundbreaking collaboration will increase practitioners' understanding of the requirements of WICWA and the need for those requirements, enhance communication and coordination between all stakeholders responsible for the welfare of Indian children in Wisconsin; it is designed to effect the systemic integration of the philosophical underpinnings of WICWA.
Marcynyszyn LA, Bear PS, Geary E
… +4 more, Conti R, Pecora PJ, Day PA, Wilson ST
Child Welfare
· 2012 · PMID 23444792
This article describes an adapted Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) practice model for Native American communities, the FGDM family and community engagement process, and FGDM evaluation tools as one example for other n...This article describes an adapted Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) practice model for Native American communities, the FGDM family and community engagement process, and FGDM evaluation tools as one example for other native communities. Challenges and successes associated with the implementation and evaluation of these meetings are also described in the context of key historical and cultural factors, such as intergenerational grief and trauma, as well as past misuse of data in native communities.