November 2008Vol. 9, No. 9Print issueSpotlight on National Adoption Month

In 2006, Florida implemented a 5-year waiver from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, which allowed the State to use title IV-E funds for child welfare services other than direct foster care. Eighteen months later, a new issue brief reports on early efforts to improve child welfare outcomes by using the flexible funding to expand programs and services in the following key areas:

• Creation and expansion of prevention and diversion services
• Implementation of permanency resources for children already in out-of-home care
• Enhancement of preservice and inservice training for all child welfare staff
• Engagement of community organizations, stakeholders, and caregivers

While it is early in the evaluation process, the issue brief does note some positive trends, including improvement in all permanency indicators and a decrease in the percentage of children who experience maltreatment recurrence within 6 months after leaving the system. The brief also presents a discussion of the project's theory of change and how it has been refined since the project began.

The full report, Evaluation Brief on the Status and Activities Related to Florida's IV-E Waiver Demonstration Project: First 18 Months, by T. King-Miller et al., is available on the University of South Florida, Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute website:

http://cfs.fmhi.usf.edu/publications/detail.cfm?id=226

A new report from the American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force on Evidence-Based Practice for Children and Adolescents recommends ways to disseminate evidence-based practices to improve mental health services for children and adolescents, including those involved with the child welfare system. The task force defines evidence-based practice as the integration of the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences. The report recommends that providers should adhere to the following ideals when providing mental health services to children and families:

• Partnerships with other providers
• Cultural responsiveness
• A developmental approach
• A socioecological framework

Systems-level strategies that can improve the provision of evidence-based practices include enhancing education and training for service providers, increasing funding for research, and revising policies and practices so that evidence-based services are available to all children and families.

Find the full report, "Disseminating Evidence-Based Practice for Children and Adolescents: A Systems Approach to Enhancing Care," on the APA website:

www.apa.org/releases/EBPCAreport0608draftfinal.pdf (858 - KB)

Children's Advocacy Centers (CACs) were developed to improve the investigative process and minimize trauma to victims of abuse, especially sexual abuse, through a better coordination of multidisciplinary services in centralized, child-friendly environments. In a recent report published in the Juvenile Justice Bulletin, researchers at the University of New Hampshire evaluated the effectiveness of CACs in responding to cases of child sexual abuse to determine whether research supports CACs' growing popularity.

Data from more than 1,000 cases of sexual abuse were collected in four CACs and comparison communities that used traditional child protective services investigation models. Research findings showed that communities with CACs had:

• Greater law enforcement involvement
• More evidence of coordinated investigations
• Better child access to medical exams
• Higher rates of referrals to child mental health services
• Greater caregiver satisfaction with the investigative process

While more studies are needed to confirm these findings, researchers suggest that CACs play an essential role in improving the experience of children and families while ensuring the delivery of needed services and the prosecution of offenders.

"Evaluating Children's Advocacy Centers' Response to Child Sexual Abuse," by Theodore P. Cross et al., appeared in the Juvenile Justice Bulletin, August 2008, and is available online:

www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/218530.pdf (307 - KB)

Many child welfare agencies use differential response (DR) as a strategy for addressing child maltreatment in cases deemed to carry low to moderate risk for endangering a child. DR allows an agency to partner with a family and work to strengthen and support the family so that the child can remain in the home while the parents address issues that led to the maltreatment report. This prevents further involvement in the child welfare system, removal of the child, and disruption in the child's home, school, and community life.

A recent issue of American Humane's Protecting Children focuses on this special topic: "Exploring Differential Response: One Pathway Toward Reforming Child Welfare." Several of the articles describe results from specific programs:

• "The Parent Support Outreach Program: Minnesota's Early Intervention Track" describes the use of the Parent Support Outreach Program (PSOP) with families with young children who have been reported for maltreatment but screened out. Pilot counties receive funding to offer the voluntary PSOP to these families, who then receive services and referrals (e.g., counseling, job training). An early evaluation showed that two-thirds of surveyed families were better able to care for their children after participating in the PSOP.
• "Implementation of California's Differential Response Model in Small Counties" reports on the use of DR in 11 rural counties. Results thus far indicate improvement in the counties' methods of case identification, an increase in formalized partnerships between child welfare agencies and other organizations, and a shift to preventive services. Challenges include confidentiality issues and geographic isolation in these rural communities.
• "Development and Field Testing of a Family Assessment Scale for Use in Child Welfare Practice Settings Utilizing Differential Response" presents results from a study using the North Carolina Family Assessment Scale for General Services in a county using a DR services model with low- to moderate-risk families. The instrument exhibited good psychometric properties and may be useful in helping workers assess families and construct service plans in the DR context.

These and other articles are available in Protecting Children, Volume 23, Numbers 1 & 2, 2008, and are downloadable from the American Humane website: 

www.americanhumane.org/assets/pdfs/children/protecting-children-journal/pc-23-1-2.pdf

Related Item

The Children's Bureau recently awarded funding to American Humane to create the Quality Improvement Center on Differential Response in Child Protective Services. The purpose of this 5-year project is to generate knowledge on effective practice models of differential response in child protective systems and support the infrastructure needed at the State and local levels to improve child welfare outcomes for children and their families referred for suspected maltreatment.

An article in the journal Child Welfare describes the use of a racial equity "scorecard" to determine disproportionality at key points in the child welfare process in order to improve policies and practices and reduce disparity in a jurisdiction's child welfare system. The scorecard, developed by the Casey Foundation/Center for the Study of Social Policy Alliance on Racial Equity, measures involvement with the child welfare system by race at six key points, or "gateways":

• Acceptance of a hotline report for investigation
• Assessment or investigation
• In-home service provision or out-of-home placement
• Type of placement
• Permanency goal
• Time to permanency

By collecting data on involvement by race at these points in the child welfare process, the scorecard can pinpoint where improvements are most needed. Communities can then develop strategies targeted at reducing disproportionality in those areas. The scorecard also can help track changes in involvement by race over time to evaluate the effectiveness of a community's efforts.

The article highlights a county in Iowa that used the racial equity scorecard to address the disproportionate representation of Native American children in the child welfare system. Informed by the scorecard data, the community implemented strategies to reduce the involvement of Native American families at the initial gateways. The two main strategies were (1) a prevention strategy to educate families about their rights and responsibilities and (2) use of the Parents as Partners mentoring concept. While results are preliminary, anecdotal evidence suggests improved outcomes for families and increased collaboration among members of the community to address racial equity.

"Evaluating Multisystemic Efforts to Impact Disproportionality Through Key Decision Points," by Dennette Derezotes, Brad Richardson, Connie Bear King, Julia Kleinschmit-Rembert, and Betty Pratt, was published in Child Welfare, Volume 87(2). The article was part of the special issue "Racial Disproportionality in Child Welfare" and can be purchased online:

www.cwla.org/pubs/pubdetails.asp?PUBID=J872

Some children who are the victims of child maltreatment also experience traumatic stress due to either acute instances of maltreatment or to chronic maltreatment. Children who suffer from traumatic stress often need specific therapeutic treatment that targets the traumatic stress and its symptoms. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) offers information on children's traumatic stress and evidence-based interventions and treatments. NCTSN develops and disseminates evidence-based interventions, trauma-informed services, and public and professional education for traumatized children and their families. NCTSN is a group of 70 member centers that are currently or were previously funded by the Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through a congressional initiative.

Many resources (including some in Spanish) are available through the NCTSN website. Resources are grouped according to the target audience, including parents and caregivers, military families, educators, the media, and professionals in a number of social service disciplines, including disaster response, juvenile justice, and mental health. Resources include:

• Training in trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, including a web-based course
• Searchable Knowledge Bank that provides access and referral to print materials, audio and video productions, and the expertise of the NCTSN centers and individuals
• Factsheets on empirically supported treatments and promising practices
• Information on different types of trauma
• Database of reviews of tools that measure children's experiences of trauma
• Electronic newsletter, published quarterly, that highlights some of the successful programs
• Information on writing grants and sustainability

Visit the NCTSN website for more information:

www.nctsnet.org/nccts/nav.do?pid=hom_main

Child welfare agency caseworkers use risk and safety assessments to identify children at risk of maltreatment and in need of services. A newly released study, "Risk and Safety Assessment in Child Welfare: Instrument Comparisons," examines the research on an array of risk and safety instruments to assess the reliability, validity, outcomes, and use of such instruments with children and families of color.

Two major approaches to risk assessment are examined. The first, a consensus-based model, emphasizes a comprehensive assessment of risk based on various theories of child maltreatment. Many of these instruments describe areas to be assessed by the worker, and the worker codes each area as high, moderate, or low risk, based upon his or her judgment.

The second approach, an actuarial-based model, uses statistical procedures that identify and weigh factors that predict future maltreatment. Factors identified as predictive of maltreatment are incorporated into a checklist.

The study examines several instruments using both approaches, focusing particularly on predictive validity, i.e., the accuracy of the instrument in predicting a particular outcome. The findings suggest that actuarial instruments have stronger predictive validity than consensus-based instruments.

Written by Amy D'Andrade, Michael J. Austin, and Amy Benton, the study is available in the Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, Volume 5(1/2), published by the Haworth Press:

www.haworthpress.com/

The University of Louisville, Kent School of Social Work has designed a website for information sharing among the growing network of Child Welfare Agency/University Partnerships. These partnerships develop programs in social work education that prepare undergraduate and graduate students for work in public child welfare. They also provide high quality inservice training to practitioners in public child welfare agencies, as well as training for foster and adoptive families.

These partnerships have been formed to guide the use of title IV-E funds in creative ways that bear the intent of Federal legislation while addressing the unique needs of each State. Resources on the website include current research projects, a directory of State contacts, child welfare curricula, journal articles and papers, and links to external resources.

http://louisville.edu/kent/projects/iv-e

MENTOR's National Mentoring Institute now offers an online community and blog to allow participants (mentors, mentees, and professionals) to share experiences. A recent visit to the online community showed an active exchange on such topics as:

• Motivation for becoming a mentor
• Activities for mentors and mentees
• Resources in Spanish
• Closing the mentoring relationship

The blog, "Musings on Mentoring," is posted by Allison Smith, who is a mentor, a former mentee, and an employee of a mentoring program. Read her new postings every Monday for this unique perspective on mentoring.

To join the mentoring online community, visit:
http://forums.mentoring.org/ntlm/

To read the mentoring blog, visit:
http://forums.mentoring.org/ntlm/blog?blog.id=musings_on_mentoring

The Kinship Care Resource Center is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide support for the physical, emotional, cultural, and social well-being of kinship families in Michigan. Sponsored by the School of Social Work at Michigan State University, the center provides a centralized location where relative caregivers and professionals can receive assistance and find resources. The center's services include:

• A toll-free hotline to answer general questions about financial resources for kinship care, legal assistance, and other needs
• Referrals for support groups
• Resource brochures and booklets
• Training and workshops for kinship caregivers and agency professionals
• Consulting services for kinship program development
• Kinship research
• A kinship coalition and a legislative task force group

More details about the Kinship Care Resource Center are available on the Michigan State University website:

www.kinship.msu.edu/index.html

Upcoming national conferences on adoption and child welfare through February 2009 include:

December 2008

• Time and Effort: Perspectives on Workload Roundtable
  The American Humane Association and the Consortium on Workload
  December 3-5, Santa Fe, NM
  www.americanhumane.org/protecting-children/conferences-trainings/workload-roundtable.html
• 23rd National Training Institute
  Connecting Science, Policy and Practice: Improving Outcomes for Infants and Toddlers
  ZERO TO THREE: National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families
  December 5-7, Los Angeles, CA
  www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=prof_nti&JServSessionIdr009=e2rzjilgj4.app13b

January 2009

• SSWR Thirteenth Annual Conference
  Research That Promotes Sustainability and (Re)Builds Strengths
  Society for Social Work and Research
  January 16-18, New Orleans, LA
  http://www.sswr.org/conferences.php
• 23rd Annual San Diego International Conference on Child and Family Maltreatment
  Chadwick Center for Children and Families
  January 26-30, San Diego, CA
  www.chadwickcenter.org/conference.htm

February 2009

• Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs Annual Conference
  Launching Maternal and Child Health: Opportunities for a New Era
  February 21-25, Washington, DC
  www.amchp.org/events/
• Fourth International Conference on Post Adoption Services
  Adoption Connections Training Institute: OneWorld Neighborhood
  Center for Family Connections
  February 23-25, Cambridge, MA
  www.kinnect.org/training.html#ACTION
• CWLA 2009 National Conference
  Children Today: America's Future!
  Child Welfare League of America
  February 23-25, Washington, DC
  www.cwla.org/conferences/ShowConference.asp?CONF=NATIONAL&YEAR=2009

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:

www.childwelfare.gov/calendar/index.cfm

Resources for conducting 1-hour trainings for child welfare workers and managers/supervisors on the Transitional Independent Living Plan (TILP) are available on the California Social Work Education Center website. The TILP is developed in collaboration with teens in out-of-home care to serve as their roadmap for services and goals while they are part of the child welfare system. The online training materials include a basic manual and other resources, including sample TILP agreements.

Access the resources on the California Social Work Education Center website:

Child abuse prevention professionals are encouraged to consider the latest training opportunity from the PREVENT Child Maltreatment Institute, Chapel Hill, NC. The 2009 institute, Enhancing Leadership in Child Maltreatment Prevention, will offer intensive training sessions and coaching to experienced, multi-organizational prevention teams. The institute will include:

• Three days of onsite coursework and team-based activities (February 16-18, 2009)
• A 6-month team project back home with an experienced coach to apply new skills
• Three more days of onsite courses and team presentations (September 2009)

Teams and individuals will learn to create sustainable strategies for preventing child maltreatment. Sessions are designed by experienced faculty with a special emphasis on application of skills to each team's goals. Letters of intent (encouraged but not required) are due November 14, 2008. The application deadline is December 10, 2008.

http://prevent.unc.edu/education/institute.htm