In urban settings, child welfare involvement is strongly associated with poverty, while children's mental health problems appear to be a greater contributor to child welfare involvement in nonurban settings, according to a recent study. The study examined the relationship between children's mental health, children's age, and family poverty as they are associated with child welfare involvement for children in urban and nonurban settings.

Researchers used data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, including information on 3,798 children involved with child welfare services, approximately one-third of whom were in out-of-home care. Information on family income, the ability of the family to meet basic needs, and the presence of clinical mental health or behavior issues, along with other factors, was analyzed. Results showed a complex interplay among the various factors:

• The poverty level was high among the entire group. About half of the children in out-of-home care and one-third of those receiving in-home services lived in families where the parents had trouble meeting the children's basic needs.
• Very poor children from urban settings were significantly more likely to enter out-of-home placement than other urban children; in nonurban settings, there was no significant difference in the likelihood of placement by poverty status.
• Among all nonurban children in out-of-home care, approximately 83 percent had a borderline or clinical score on a measure of child behavior and mental health; among urban children, the percentage was 56 percent.

The authors of the study suggest that approximately 19 percent of children entering out-of-home placements in child welfare do not necessarily have an unfit parent; instead, many of the families of these children turn to child welfare to obtain mental health services for their children. This seems to be more common among nonurban, nonpoor families who are not experiencing the problems often associated with child welfare involvement, such as domestic violence or substance abuse. The overall diversity of children and families who have child welfare involvement highlights the ongoing need for individualized approaches and for adequate mental health services in all areas.

"Placement Into Foster Care and the Interplay of Urbanicity, Child Behavior Problems, and Poverty," by Richard Barth, Judy Wildfire, and Rebecca Green, appeared in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Vol. 76(3). The article can be purchased online:

http://content.apa.org/journals/ort/76/3/358

While placements in foster or pre-adoptive homes across State lines may be in the best interests of many children in the child welfare system, such placements are often delayed due to complications in the interjurisdictional placement process. A new report from the Children's Bureau provides recommendations for addressing the delays and complexities of these placements. Interjurisdictional Placement of Children in the Child Welfare System: Improving the Process is based on a survey of 48 States about strategies and supports for overcoming barriers to interjurisdictional placement. State child welfare directors identified 85 strategies and supports that were widely used, highly effective, or of significant interest.

A national workgroup reviewed the survey results and formulated 10 recommendations to provide focus for a national reform strategy to remove barriers to interjurisdictional placements. The recommendations are not intended to elicit additional Federal regulations but are designed as steps for technical assistance and for national organizations supporting improved processes. The steps include:

• Develop a national uniform home study template
• Provide training on interjurisdictional issues to judges and other court personnel
• Create a national website of State requirements, including criminal background checks, home study requirements, and more
• Clarify Federal expectations on accountability, especially for Child and Family Services Reviews
• Change laws or policies so that receiving States cover educational expenses
• Set and enforce reasonable deadlines for processing requests for criminal records checks and fingerprinting
• Factor interstate duties into workers' caseloads
• Identify model practices and policies
• Develop mechanisms for participation by attorneys and other parties in out-of-State reviews
• Arrange purchase-of-service contracts with agencies to conduct home studies

The Children's Bureau is working with its technical assistance providers to integrate many of these strategies and supports into the assistance available to States and Tribes.

The full report, which was prepared by Barbara Dalberth, Jennifer Hardison, Deborah Gibbs, and Susan Smith, can be downloaded from the website of the National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning:

www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/downloads/IJReport.pdf (PDF - 1,200 KB)

Related Items

Children's Bureau Express last covered the issue of interjurisdictional placement in the following articles:

• "Initiatives to Improve Interjurisdictional Placement" (June 2006)
• "Interstate Placement for Adoption" (March 2004)

Valid and reliable instruments can help caseworkers with family assessment by structuring the collection of information and ensuring that relevant categories of information are included. A recent study evaluated 85 family assessment instruments to identify those that are comprehensive, valid and reliable, and practical for use in child welfare settings.

To evaluate the instruments for comprehensiveness, researchers compared them against the five family assessment domains described by the Children’s Bureau (Comprehensive Family Assessment Guidelines for Child Welfare at www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/family_assessment/index.htm):

• Patterns of social interaction
• Parenting practices
• Background characteristics of parents
• Problems in access to basic necessities
• Other behaviors, including domestic violence, mental illness, and substance abuse

Validity and reliability were based on psychometric data provided in the literature, and practicality was determined by evaluating such factors as ease of administration.

Researchers identified seven instruments as most comprehensive and appropriate for use in a child welfare setting. Others showed promise as specialized instruments for assessing specific family assessment domains. For example, five measures were identified as useful for the assessment of parenting practices and also showed promise for assessing family strengths, developing service plans, and monitoring progress.

As part of a comprehensive family assessment process, results from family assessment instruments can be used to make decisions about referrals to services and to monitor client progress. Agencies conducting family assessments need to examine their key administrative areas to make sure that policies, training, supervision, and systems of accountability are in place to support the assessment process.

To read the full study on family assessment instruments, Family Assessment in Child Welfare Services: Instrument Comparisons, by Michelle A. Johnson et al., visit the Center for Social Services Research website:

cssr.berkeley.edu/bassc/public/BASSC_FamilyAssessment_FULL_REPORT091406.pdf (PDF - 255 KB)

Related Items

Children’s Bureau Express wrote about family assessment in the following articles:

• "Foster Family Assessments" (September/October 2006, Resources section)
• "Family Assessment Guidelines for Child Welfare" (June 2005)

Grandparents who are caregivers for grandchildren will now be eligible for supportive services at an earlier age. On October 17, President Bush signed the Older Americans Act Amendments of 2006 (P.L. 109-365), which amended the Caregivers Support Program of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 3030s) to lower the age limit for these grandparent caregiver programs from 60 to 55.

The program provides Federal monetary support for State programs that provide older caregivers such services as caregiver training, respite care, and other supplemental services through the National Family Caregiver Support Program (NFCSP). The new law also gives priority to caregivers who provide care for children with severe disabilities.

The text of the Act is available online:

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h6197enr.txt.pdf (PDF - 200 KB)

For more information about the Act and about the NFCSP, visit the Generations United website:

www.gu.org

Child welfare professionals employed in public agencies now have a periodical to call their own. The Journal of Public Child Welfare debuted this fall, with Volume 1, Number 1, hitting the library shelves in October. In their opening Letter, Editors Rowena Wilson and Alberta Ellett introduce the charter issue and discuss the journal's goal, which is to inform the field of findings and issues in public child welfare research, practice, and policy.

Articles in the quarterly journal will include quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods theory-based or applied research, literature reviews, policy analyses, and program evaluations focusing on child safety, permanence, and well-being. The first issue provides a good sampling of the topics that will be covered. These articles include:

• "What Happened? An Historical Analysis of the De-Professionalization of Child Welfare with Implications for Policy and Practice" by Alberta Ellett and Leslie Leighninger
• "Adolescent Adoption and the Birthfamily" by Lois Wright, Cynthia Flynn, and Wendy Welch
• "Is Social Work the Best Educational Degree for Child Welfare Practitioners?" by Gail Folaron and Carol Hostetter
• "Issues in Risk Assessment in Child Protective Services" by Ronald Hughes and Judith Rycus
• "Child Welfare and the Courts: An Exploratory Study of the Relationship Between Two Complex Systems" by Sarah Carnochan et al.

To find out more about the new Journal of Public Child Welfare, visit the Haworth Press website:

http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wpcw20

A hospital-based parent education program has shown compelling results in reducing the incidence of abusive head injuries among infant and toddlers. Materials are shared with parents by nurses before the parents check out of the hospital with their new baby. The program materials include an informational brochure and a videotape that describe the dangers of shaking a baby and how best to handle infant crying. The program also asks parents to sign a commitment statement saying that they understand the materials.

The program was first tested in Western New York State, where abusive head injuries were reduced by 47 percent after the program. Building on that success, the program was expanded throughout the rest of New York. Phase II added a second commitment form for parents, which they signed at their first pediatrician visit. This has resulted in an additional 9 percent reduction in the incidence of shaken baby syndrome.

Other States are now considering or implementing similar programs. Pennsylvania began statewide implementation in 2003, and the chief researcher, Dr. Mark Dias, recently reported similar outstanding results in that State. Hospitals in Connecticut and Ohio, among others, are also testing hospital-based prevention methods.

Advantages of the program are its low cost, ease of administration, and effectiveness in reaching fathers, who are historically the most likely perpetrators of violent shaking.

To read the original New York study, "Preventing Abusive Head Trauma Among Infants and Young Children: A Hospital-Based, Parent Education Program," by Mark Dias et al., which appeared in Pediatrics, visit the journal's website:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1542/peds.2004-1896

To find out more about shaken baby syndrome, visit the website for the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome:

www.dontshake.com

The potential of child welfare caseworker visits to promote positive outcomes for children and families is the focus of a new report from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Child Welfare Caseworker Visits With Children and Parents: Innovations in State Policy, explores the lessons learned by States through the Child and Family Services Reviews (CFSRs). Evidence from these reviews shows a strong positive association between quality and frequency of caseworker visits and the ability of agencies to promote safety, provide services, and engage parents and children in planning permanency outcomes.

The report also offers strategies for legislators interested in supporting child welfare agency administrators in enhancing the quality and frequency of those visits through improvements in State law, policy, and funding.

The report is available on the NCSL website:

www.ncsl.org/programs/cyf/caseworkervisits.htm

Related Items

Children's Bureau Express (http://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov) last covered the topic of caseworker visitation in the following articles:

• "Standards for Caseworker Visits With Children in Foster Care" (March 2006)
• "Guidelines for Caseworkers' Family Access and Visitation" (April 2005)
• "Curriculum for Caseworker-Child Visits" (March 2005)

Focused family foster care that incorporates specific key elements has shown promising results in the treatment of young (pre-adolescent) children with serious or dangerous sexual behavior problems. The special problems of these children make them difficult to place, because residential treatment is generally not designed for children of this age, and placement in traditional foster families may endanger other children in those families. In addition, these children have almost always suffered severe abuse—sexual and otherwise—and require an environment that can meet their specific safety needs.

A recent study describes a North Carolina foster family program for children with sexual behavior problems that has proven successful during 6 years with most of the 30 children served. This success is attributed to the 10 program components:

• Selection and training of program parents
• Matching of clients with program parents
• Regular (at least weekly) visits to the family by the program manager
• Program manager availability 24/7 by phone
• Comprehensive safety planning and monitoring for children
• Weekly group educational sessions with children
• Group educational sessions with program parents
• The stabilizing effect of the foster family environment
• Respite services
• Counseling, testing, and other community services

In a short survey regarding the importance of each program component for the children's sexual behavior problems, program managers, staff, and parents all ranked "safety planning and monitoring" as the most important factor.

This study also discusses some of the lessons that staff and parents have learned over the years. For instance, the children who require these special placements commonly present with pronounced attachment issues and nonsexual behavior problems that may be more difficult to manage than their sexual behaviors. In addition, program parents rarely believe that their foster children have serious sexual problems until they witness the behaviors, despite the training that parents receive.

The study, "Focused Foster Care for Children with Serious Sexual Behavior Problems," by Robert Jones, Mark Ownbey, Julie Everidge, Bonnie Judkins, and Gary Timbers, was published in the June 2006 issue of the Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal. It is available for purchase online:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10560-006-0048-7

Refugee resettlement workers and administrators now have a new resource to help them navigate the child welfare system. Refugees and the U.S. Child Welfare System: Background Information for Service Providers is an online toolkit designed to help refugee services professionals understand how the child welfare system works and how to help their clients access appropriate services. Topics include:

• Child abuse and neglect
• Making a child protective services (CPS) report
• The courts and CPS
• Child labor
• Helping refugee clients referred to CPS
• Building bridges between refugee services and the child welfare system

Several appendixes provide additional background information on child welfare terminology, indicators of child abuse, and a flowchart of the child welfare system.

The toolkit was written by Susan Schmidt and produced by Bridging Refugee Youth & Children's Services (BRYCS). It is available on the BRYCS website:

http://www.brycs.org/publications/upload/CWToolkit.pdf (PDF - 324 KB)

The November issue of the BRYCS Monthly Spotlight focuses on issues addressed in the new toolkit, highlighting the positive aspects of collaboration between child welfare workers and refugee service providers:

[Editor's note: This link no longer exists.] 

The Andrus Family Fund awards grants to projects that help foster youth ages 18 to 21 transition to independent living. AFF funds projects that are based on a "transition" framework, which focuses on the internal process of how a person responds to changes in life, and have strong direct service programs to prepare foster youth for independence.

Information on the transition framework, current grantees, and the application process are available on the Andrus Fund website:

www.affund.org/Applying_For_A_Grant.html

Powerful Families is a website sponsored by Casey Family Programs and community- and faith-based organizations as a resource for training families and caregivers for self-sufficiency. The Powerful Families program is a strengths-based, parent empowerment model for promoting family stability and security. The program provides parents, kinship care providers, and foster youth becoming legal adults with tools to advocate for the material and psychological needs of their families. Free workshops teach parents to become better financial managers and more effective leaders and advocates for their families and communities.

Resources on the Powerful Families website include a parent's toolkit with parenting tips and a facilitator's toolkit that features ice-breakers and exercises, curriculum summaries, and a listserv for sharing information. The site also provides a program evaluation and a listing of scheduled workshops and other events.

[Editor's note: This link no longer exists.] 

Children and Family Futures (CFF) is a California-based nonprofit organization that works to improve the lives of children and families, particularly those affected by substance use disorders. CFF advises Federal, State, and local government and community-based agencies; conducts research on the best ways to prevent and address substance abuse; and provides comprehensive and innovative solutions to policymakers and practitioners. The CFF website features project descriptions, publications, and presentations on alcohol and other drug policy, as well as children and family policy.

www.cffutures.com

The Center for Child Welfare Policy of the North American Resource Center for Child Welfare (NARCCW) presented its 2006 Pro Humanitate Literary Awards at an October 3 luncheon. The annual awards have been made since 2001 to recognize books and articles that champion best practice in child welfare. The group's director, Dr. Ronald C. Hughes, and Program Director, Dr. Judith Rycus, were on hand to recognize the following winners:

• David Stoesz, for his 2005 book, Quixote's Ghost: The Right, the Liberati, and the Future of Social Policy
• Julia Littell, for her 2005 article, "Lessons From a Systematic Review of Effects of Multisystemic Therapy," Children and Youth Services Review, Vol. 27
• Allen D. DeSena, Robert A. Murphy, Heather Douglas-Palumberi, Gary Blau, Blandina Kelly, Sara M. Horwitz, and Joan Kaufman, for their 2005 article, "SAFE Homes: Is It Worth the Cost? An Evaluation of a Group Home Permanency Planning Program for Children Who First Enter Out-of-Home Care," Child Abuse & Neglect, Vol. 29
• Wanda Friedrich, who accepted an award for her late husband, Bill Friedrich, co-author with Mark Chaffin of a 2004 article, "Evidence-Based Treatments in Child Abuse and Neglect," Children and Youth Services Review, Vol. 26

To read more about the awards and winners, visit the NARCCW website:

www.narccw.com/CWPolicy/awards.htm

The National Foster Parent Association (NFPA) offers scholarships for foster youth who wish to further their education beyond high school, including college or university studies, vocational and job training, and correspondence courses (including the GED). Applicants must be in their senior year of high school.

To be considered, the application must be submitted no later than March 31.

Complete eligibility requirements and an application form are available on the NFPA website, along with links to other scholarship programs:

http://www.nfpainc.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1066740

College students who were in foster care at their 18th birthday or adopted from the foster care system after their 14th birthday may be eligible to apply for a summer internship program run by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI). The Washington, DC, program provides 16 students with 8-week internships in congressional offices. Interns receive professional experience, as well as a stipend that covers living and travel expenses.

To read more about the internship program and download an application, visit the CCAI website:

http://www.ccainstitute.org/our-programs/foster-youth-internship.html

Strengthening family resilience is a primary focus of prevention and intervention programs for at-risk families and children. Social workers and child welfare workers will find a practical guide to helping families build their resilience in Froma Walsh's new edition of Strengthening Family Resilience. The book covers key family processes in resilience and practice applications for workers. Case illustrations show how diverse families handle loss, trauma, disaster, and other crises. The author highlights ways to help family members rebuild relationships and draw on cultural, spiritual, and community resources for support.

Strengthening Family Resilience is published by the Guilford Press:

www.guilford.com

The Casey-CSSP (Center for the Study of Social Policy) Alliance for Racial Equity in the Child Welfare System recently published a new paper by Robert Hill, titled Synthesis of Research on Disproportionality in Child Welfare: An Update. The author surveyed the professional literature on the overrepresentation of minority children in the child welfare system to examine:

• Patterns of child maltreatment and disproportionality
• Race and child protective services decision-making
• Disparities in treatment
• The impact of related systems, including public welfare, mental health, and juvenile justice

The paper summarizes current research findings on disproportionality, with a focus on the disparities in treatment and services for Black and White children.

Read the full report on the Race Matters Consortium website:

http://www.cssp.org/reform/child-welfare/other-resources/synthesis-of-research-on-disproportionality-robert-hill.pdf (PDF - 511 KB)

An updated Systems of Care (SOC) webpage is available on the Child Welfare Information Gateway website to provide resources for professionals interested in developing interagency collaborations to help meet the needs of children and families. Topics covered by the SOC webpage include:

• History and guiding principles of SOC
• Child welfare and SOC
• Building SOC in your community
• Communicating with professionals about SOC

A new section also was created on the webpage to provide information on the Children's Bureau Demonstration Initiative: Improving Child Welfare Outcomes Through Systems of Care. In addition, the Publications section was updated and expanded to create the SOC Resource Library.

www.childwelfare.gov/management/reform/soc

Children involved with child welfare often experience low academic achievement, but there are steps that child welfare workers can take to promote school success for these children. Recent issues of the North Carolina Division of Social Services' Practice Notes and Training Matters focus on the educational needs of children in foster care and how child welfare professionals can work with schools to meet these needs. The newsletters cover such topics as handling confidentiality, forging strong relationships with teachers, using the Individual Education Plan, and empowering foster parents.

Practice Notes, Vol. 11, No. 4:
www.practicenotes.org/vol11_no4.htm

Training Matters, Vol. 7, No. 4:
www.trainingmatters-nc.org/tm_v7n4/tm_v7no4.htm

A collaboration between the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) and the Children's Defense Fund has resulted in a series of factsheets—one for each State and one for the nation—on child welfare statistics. Each two-page State factsheet provides essential statistics on the child population, children living in poverty, foster care, permanency, relative caregivers, and sources and amounts of child welfare spending. The factsheets provide quick and useful background information for policymakers, professionals in related disciplines, and the public on child welfare issues and spending.

Access the factsheets through a map on the CLASP website:

http://clasp.org/publications/statefactsheetsonchildwelfarefunding06.htm

The Center for the Improvement of Child Caring (CICC) is a private, nonprofit education organization that provides training for parent instructors in effective parenting skills. CICC offers programs in Confident Parenting, Effective Black Parenting, Los Ninos Bien Educados (for Hispanic parents), and Steps to Independence (for parents of children with special needs).

Until recently, CICC conducted parenting instructor workshops in different cities nationwide. The emphasis now is on collaborative workshops where local agencies, schools, or government departments partner with CICC in arranging instructor workshops in their area. Information is available on the CICC website:

http://www.ciccparenting.org/cicc_instrwrkshps_31.aspx

The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) is offering the latest of its series of Indian Child Welfare Training Institutes January 30–February 1, 2007, in Phoenix, Arizona. These institutes offer professional development workshops designed specifically for Indian child welfare workers in reservation, urban, or rural settings. Workshops on the Indian Child Welfare Act, native fatherhood, and positive Indian parenting are available.

Registration information is available on the NICWA website:

http://www.nicwa.org/training

Upcoming national conferences on adoption and child welfare through April 2007 include:

January

• 21st Annual San Diego International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment
  The Chadwick Center for Children and Families
  January 22–26, San Diego, CA
   
• The National Conference on Substance Abuse, Child Welfare, and the Courts
  Putting the Pieces Together for Children and Families
  Children and Family Futures
  January 31–February 2, Anaheim, CA
   

February

• Symposium 2007
  A Place to Call Home
  National Network for Youth
  February 4–7, Washington, DC
   
• 3rd International Conference on Post Adoption Policy and Practice
  Adoption Connections Training Institute: OneWorld Network
  February 19–21, Cambridge, MA
   
• BACW 2007 Annual Conference
  Celebrating Our Legacy: The Gateway to New Village Leadership in Child Welfare
  Black Administrators in Child Welfare, Inc.
  February 22–24, Baltimore, MD
   
• CWLA 2007 National Conference
  Children 2007: Raising Our Voices for Children
  Child Welfare League of America
  February 26–28, Washington, DC
   

March

• AAC's 28th International Conference
  Take the Freedom Trail to Truth in Adoption
  American Adoption Congress
  March 7–10, Wakefield, MA
   
• 23rd National Symposium on Child Abuse
  It's All About the Children
  The National Children's Advocacy Center
  March 20–23, Huntsville, AL
   

April

• Parents as Teachers Conference 2007
  Why Research Matters: Bringing Research and Practice to Daily Parenting
  April 2–5, St. Louis, MO
   
• 25th Annual "Protecting Our Children" National American Indian Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect
  Reconciliation in Child Welfare: Touchstones of Hope for Indigenous Children, Youth, and Families
  National Indian Child Welfare Association
  April 15–18, Oklahoma City, OK
   
• 16th National Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect
  Protecting Children, Promoting Healthy Families, and Preserving Communities
  Children's Bureau, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect
  April 16–21, Portland, OR
   

Further details about national and regional adoption and child welfare conferences can be found through the "Conference Calendar Search" feature on the Child Welfare Information Gateway website:

http://www.childwelfare.gov/calendar/index.cfm