The fourth National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-4) is now underway. Mandated by Congress, NIS gathers information from multiple sources to estimate the number of children who are abused or neglected. The study also provides information about the nature and severity of maltreatment; characteristics of children, perpetrators, and families; and the extent of changes in the incidence or distribution of child maltreatment since the time of the last national incidence study.

In contrast to other studies, such as the National Data System on Child Abuse and Neglect (NCANDS), the NIS design assumes that the children seen by child protective services (CPS) agencies represent only part of the child maltreatment picture. NIS estimates include children investigated by CPS as well as maltreated children who are identified by professionals in a wide range of agencies in representative communities. These professionals, called "sentinels," may include those working in elementary and secondary public schools; public health departments; public housing authorities; short-stay general and children's hospitals; State, county, and municipal police departments; licensed child care centers; juvenile probation departments; voluntary social services and mental health agencies; and shelters for runaway and homeless youth or victims of domestic violence.

NIS-4 will gather data in a nationally representative sample of 122 counties, selected to ensure a mix of geographic regions and of urban and rural areas. The CPS agencies serving these counties will be asked to provide data about all children in cases they accept for investigation during the study period (September 4 through December 3, 2005). Professionals working in the same counties will be asked to serve as NIS-4 sentinels.

A number of reports about the study will be released, including technical reports concerning all activities. The final document will be a Report to Congress on the study findings.

Learn more about the study on the NIS-4 website (www.nis4.org).

Family group conferencing (FGC) has shown positive results for engaging families and enhancing permanency for children in out-of-home care. A recent study in Washington State explored the effectiveness of FGC as a strategy for improving placement and relationship outcomes for some of the most troubled children in the child welfare system—those in group care.

Connected and Cared For was a 3-year project of the Northwest Institute for Children and Families and the Washington State Children's Administration, Region 3, with funding from the Stuart Foundation. During the project, 81 family group conferences were conducted for 96 children between 11 and 18 years of age who were in group care at the time of the conference. A total of 57 youth were ultimately included in the study sample. Of these youth, more than half had experienced more than six placements, and 19 percent had experienced more than 10 placements.

Postconference interviews indicate that the conferences were largely successful in engaging families in planning for the youth and increasing communication among families, social workers, and service planners. Findings include:

• Family participation. An average of 7.8 family members or fictive kin attended each conference on behalf of the youth. Just over half of the conferences (53 percent) included at least one member from the paternal side. Fathers themselves were present at 34 percent of the conferences.
• Improved relationships. Nearly all (97 percent) of the family plans included visitation with the child. Sixty-five percent of the youth reported that the amount that they talked to or saw family members increased after the conference.
• Enhanced placement outcomes. At 6 months postconference, 59 percent of the youth had exited group care: 20 percent had returned home; 16 percent were placed with relatives; and 23 percent were placed in regular foster care. At 12 months postconference, 67 percent of the youth had exited group care to less restrictive placements.

A final report on the evaluations was completed in January 2005. The report and an executive summary may be obtained by contacting Karin Gunderson of the institute at kgund@u.washington.edu.

Reactive attachment disorder is the subject of considerable debate within the adoption field. Professionals disagree about what constitutes the disorder and whether or not it is overdiagnosed. A study published in the February 2005 issue of Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal (Vol. 22, No. 1) attempted to assess the attachment problems of children in child welfare custody and, at the same time, to validate the Randolph Attachment Disorder Questionnaire (RADQ)—an instrument professionals use with children's caregivers to diagnose attachment disorders. Instead, researchers concluded that the RADQ has not been adequately validated and may have limited usefulness as a clinical assessment tool.

The authors' conclusions are based on a double-blind study of 54 children in the custody of North Carolina's child protective services. Children in the sample varied with respect to placement setting, gender, age, length of time in placement, and number of placements. Adults who had lived with the children at least 3 months completed the questionnaires. Findings included:

• The group of children in this sample had significantly lower total scores on the RADQ than expected. Although the children in this study had experiences that would seem to contribute to the development of an attachment disorder (as defined by the instrument), only one child in the sample had a RADQ score that suggested the disorder.
• In contrast, the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) more clearly identified problems as would have been expected, given the children's histories. Most of the children in the sample scored significantly higher on the CBCL than the normative sample, indicating they were having more difficulties. However, CBCL scores for the children in this sample were not outside the "typical" or average range.
• None of the placement variables were significantly related to any of the RADQ variables. However, several of these variables (e.g., number of placements, length of time in placement) were significantly related to scores on the CBCL.

From these findings, the authors concluded that the RADQ's ability to differentiate among different pathologies, including attachment disorder, may be limited. The authors note that future research should examine RADQ's usefulness in other samples and geographic locations. They also note that the sample for this study was taken from a suburban-rural area and may not represent the types of children in placement in an urban area.

The article, "Correlates of the Randolph Attachment Disorder Questionnaire (RADQ) in a Sample of Children in Foster Placement," by G.G. Cappelletty, M.M. Brown, and S.E. Shumate, can be found in the Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 22(1). Find information about the journal online at www.springerlink.com/link.asp?id=104690

Tragedies of great proportion, such as the Southeast Asia tsunami of 2004, reveal both the best and worst of human nature. In the case of the tsunami, enormous generosity, including offers to adopt orphans, existed side by side with exploitation, including trafficking in children. In the aftermath of such tragedies, the need for policies that will protect the most vulnerable victims—the children—becomes apparent.

A recent policy brief by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute examines the role of intercountry adoption in emergencies such as natural disasters and armed conflicts. The brief outlines the unique threats to children and current policies, such as the U.N. Declaration and the Hague Convention, that regulate and guide intercountry adoption in these situations.

Suggested organizational responses to children's needs in the wake of emergencies are outlined under the following categories:

• Protection of children (including safety, security, and basic physical needs)
• Family tracing and reunification
• Family and community solutions (including an emphasis on family care over institutional care)
• Widespread trauma
• Respect for nation, culture, and religion

Recommendations include the use of intercountry adoption, under specific circumstances, but never immediately after an emergency. Other recommendations include:

• Use of concurrent planning along with reunification efforts when family members are difficult to trace
• Engaging child welfare experts in the immediate aftermath of the emergency to help assess needs and develop long-term systems of care
• Priority for adoption by relatives
• Establishment of international standards for care of children in emergencies

The full policy brief, "Intercountry Adoption in Emergencies: The Tsunami Orphans," can be downloaded from the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute website at www.adoptioninstitute.org/publications/2005_Brief_ICA_In_Emergencies_April.pdf (Editor's note: Link no longer active).

Related Items

For more information on U.S. and international policies regarding intercountry adoption, see the following:

• Information offered by the U.S. State Department regarding intercountry adoption can be found at www.adoption.state.gov
• The 1986 U.N. Declaration on the Social and Legal Principles Relating to the Protection and Welfare of Children, with Special Reference to Foster Placement and Adoption, Nationally and Internationally, can be found at www.un.org/documents/ga/res/41/a41r085.htm
• The 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption can be found at www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.text&cid=69

A toolkit is now available that offers practical strategies and promising practices for agencies seeking permanent homes for adolescents and youth in out-of-home care. The overarching approach is based on a permanency assessment that includes all the youth's current relationships and all possible pathways to permanency. An array of permanency options is discussed—including family preservation, reunification, legal guardianship, kinship care, and customary adoption in tribes—recognizing that the best permanency solution may be different for each youth. In addition, the toolbox describes a variety of techniques for supporting permanency, including:

• Mentoring programs
• Lifebooks
• Youth leadership organizations and councils
• Newsletters
• Appreciative inquiry
• Person-centered planning approaches
• Family group conferencing

Appendixes to the toolbox offer additional practical resources and models for permanency planning for youth. Toolbox No. 3: Facilitating Permanency for Youth, by G. P. Mallon, can be purchased from CWLA Press at www.cwla.org/pubs/pubdetails.asp?PUBID=0043.

The movement toward partnerships between child welfare agencies and communities is based on the consensus that safety, permanency, and well-being for children are more successful when children and families are supported within their communities. Putting this concept into practice means that child welfare agencies must determine meaningful ways to partner with communities so that the responsibility for supporting families is broadly shared. Moving this vision from theory to practice is the focus of a recent series of articles from the Center for Community Partnerships in Child Welfare (CCPCW). The articles include the following:

• "Establishing a Positive Community Presence for Public Child Welfare Agencies" describes strategies that agencies can use to facilitate partnerships with neighborhoods, such as outbasing workers or co-locating staff within other community agencies. An example is provided from Louisville, KY, in which staff from various agencies are housed together within the community.
• "The Community Partnership Practice Model" describes an approach to preventing and addressing child maltreatment that involves the community and local agencies. This outcome-driven approach focuses on building a team to support the family, using comprehensive family assessments to identify strengths and challenges, individualizing services, and tracking results.
• "Human Resource Management's Role in Recruiting, Hiring, and Retaining a Workforce Committed to a New Practice Model" argues that building community partnerships requires child welfare agencies to rethink the ways in which they recruit and train staff. Different competencies may be required for staff who work in community settings, as well as different management and appraisal models.
• "The Pay-Off of Comprehensive Training" notes that both staff and community partners may require training. For instance, community partners may require training in such areas as advocacy, decision-making, and governance.

The full text of these articles can be found in the Spring 2005 issue of CCPCW's Safekeeping at http://www.cssp.org/publications/child-welfare/community-partnerships-for-the-protection-of-children/safekeeping-spring-2005.pdf (PDF - 390 KB).

The May spotlight article on the BRYCS website "Refugee Children Without Their Parents: Guardianship, Kinship Care, and Foster Care," examines programming challenges and resources for separated refugee children living in the United States. Read more at www.brycs.org/documents/upload/brycs_spotmay2005.pdf (PDF 52 KB).

The ARC (Accessing Resources for Community and Faith-Based Organizations) Initiative, a project of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention's National Training and Technical Assistance Center, has created a new toolkit designed to help community and faith-based organizations effectively navigate the Federal funding process.

Originally developed to supplement trainings conducted in 2004, the ARC toolkit provides information in nine areas:

• Building and maintaining partnerships
• Establishing a 501(c)(3) organization
• Evaluating current capacity to secure Federal funds
• Finding training and technical assistance
• Identifying funds
• Identifying and securing grant writers and other consultants
• Learning from promising programs and practices
• Writing winning grants
• Web-based glossaries

The website also features an interactive learning community. Complete information about accessing and using the toolkit is available on the ARC website at https://www.nttac.org/index.cfm?event=arc.Toolkit

Related Item

Find a list of current, open Children's Bureau Discretionary Grant announcements on the Children's Bureau website at www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/programs_fund/index.htm.

Two recent books look at the child welfare system from the perspective of serving African-American children.

Race Matters in Child Welfare: The Overrepresentation of African American Children in the System (2005), edited by D. Derezotes, J. Poertner, and M. Testa, is a collection of papers originally presented at the first Race Matters forum held in Washington, DC, in January 2001. These papers consider child welfare policy and practice, the causes of child maltreatment, and how each affects the disproportionate representation of African-American children in the system. They provide readers with a model with which to examine what is happening along the entire child welfare continuum, including screening, investigation, service provision, out-of-home care, and reunification. Race Matters is published by CWLA Press at https://www.cwla.org/pubs/pubdetails.asp?PUBID=8746.

Child Welfare Revisited: An Africentric Perspective (2004), edited by J. Everett, S. Chipungu, and B. Leashore, asserts the importance of cultural perspective when formulating child welfare policies and practices to secure the safety, permanence, and well being of African-American children. Grouped into three sections, "Societal and Cultural Context," "Understanding African American Families and Children," and "Using an Africentric Perspective for Practice and Service Delivery," the essays stress the importance of kinship ties; collective identity; spirituality; unity of body, mind, and spirit; and harmony between nature and humanity. Topics covered include unwed fathers' participation in permanency planning, homelessness, HIV/AIDS, systems of care for mental health disparities, and adoption. The book is published by Rutgers University Press (http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu).

The National Association of Social Workers website now has a research section (www.socialworkpolicy.org/research) that provides information to inform policy, practice, and education. Developed through a partnership with the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research, the site highlights research findings and provides helpful information for practitioners. Featured topics change monthly, and archives will be available.

Clinicians, juvenile justice workers, and other professionals who work with juvenile sexual offenders will find a range of information in a recent volume of the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse. Volume 13 (No. 3/4) focuses entirely on children and youth who commit sexual offenses and includes information on research, statistics, models, treatment, and therapy. Articles address the following topics:

• Subtypes of juvenile sexual offenders
• Interviewing strategies with youth who sexually offend
• Working with parents of sexual offenders
• Cognitive behavioral treatment in a collaborative outpatient program
• Multifamily group therapy
• Current practices in residential treatment
• Recidivism of youth sexual offenders

Articles from this issue of the Journal of Child Sexual Abuse are available for purchase from Haworth Press. Find information about the journal and tables of contents at http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/wcsa20/current#.U3F4G86tKyc.

Related Item

The topic of youth who commit sexual offenses was covered by Children's Bureau Express (http://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov) in "Treating Youth Who Sexually Abuse: An Integrated Multi-Component Approach" (November/December 2001).

Need help with conducting program evaluations and already have a full plate? The first in a series of quarterly tip sheets from the Minnesota Office of Justice Programs may provide the assistance you seek. Prepared by Wilder Research as one means of technical support to grantees, Laying the Foundation: Tips for Conducting Program Evaluations (January 2005) offers 12 steps to a solid evaluation and why you should consider conducting one. The tip sheet is available online at www.wilder.org/fileadmin/user_upload/research/crimevictimservices1_1-05.pdf (PDF 174 KB).

Upcoming national conferences on adoption and child welfare through November 2005 include:

August

• Investigation and Prosecution of Child Abuse: Equal Justice for Children (National Center for Prosecution of Child Abuse/American Prosecutors Research Institute; August 1 through 5; Portland, OR)
• 2005 National Conference on At-Risk Youth (The Performance Institute; August 2 through 4; Arlington, VA)
• 2005 NACAC Conference (North American Council on Adoptable Children; August 3 through 6; Pittsburgh, PA)
• 6th National Conference on Child Sexual Abuse Prevention (National Children's Advocacy Center and the Association for Sexual Abuse Prevention; August 10 through 12; Huntsville, AL)
• 2005 Meeting of States and Tribes "Cultivating Change: Strategies for Improving Outcomes in Child Welfare" (Children's Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; August 23 through 25; Arlington, VA)
• 28th National Children's Law Conference (National Association of Counsel for Children; August 25 through 28; Hollywood, CA)
• Destination Future 2005 Youth Leadership Conference (National Child Welfare Resource Center for Youth Development; August 26 through 28; Glorieta, NM)

September

• Generations United 13th International Conference "The Intergenerational Current: Across the Lifespan and Around the Globe" (September 13 through 17; Washington, DC)
• 2005 National Respite and Crisis Care Conference (Oklahoma Respite Resource Network; September 14 through 16; Oklahoma City, OK)
• 10th International Conference on Family Violence (Family Violence and Sexual Assault Institute; September 16 through 21; San Diego, CA)
• APSAC Forensic Child Interview Clinic (American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children; September 19 through 23; Portsmouth, VA)
• National Independent Living Conference "Growing Pains" (National Independent Living Association; September 21 through 24; Atlanta, GA)
• National Summit on Your City's Families (National League of Cities; September 25 through 28; San Antonio, TX)

October

• Substance Exposed Newborns: Weaving Together Effective Policy & Practice (National Abandoned Infants Assistance Resource Center; October 6 through 7; Washington, DC)
• APSAC Forensic Child Interview Clinic (American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children; October 10 through 14; Seattle, WA)
• Bridging Culture in a Changing World (National Black Child Development Institute; October 16 through 18; Orlando, FL)
• 2005 National Public Agency Roundtable (Council on Accreditation; October 17 through 19; Little Rock, AR)

November

• Healthy Communities Healthy Youth (Search Institute; November 3 through 5; Dallas, TX)
• ZERO TO THREE 20th National Training Institute (November 4 through 6; Washington, DC)
• 3rd Annual "It's My Life" Conference (Casey Family Programs; November 13 through 15; Baltimore, MD)

Further details about national and regional adoption and child welfare conferences can be found in the "Conference Calendar " on Child Welfare Information Gateway: www.childwelfare.gov/calendar

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) offers a series of six online courses to help social workers comply with Federal HIPAA regulations. Their newest offering, HIPAA Security Basics, will familiarize social workers with HIPAA security regulations, provide examples of the three categories of security measures required, and review practical applications of security for electronic health information. Other courses in the series include:

• HIPAA Basics for Social Workers
• Understanding HIPAA Transactions and Code Sets Standards
• Clients' Rights
• Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information
• Notice of Privacy Practices

The cost for one course is $35 for NASW members ($45 for nonmembers). Package prices also are available. Find complete information about the courses on the NASW website at www.socialworkers.org/hipaa/class.asp.