February 2021Vol. 22, No. 2Print issueSpotlight on Strengthening the Protective Capacities of Families

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many families have had to endure a range of negative experiences, including increased stress, social isolation, and economic hardship. These negative experiences particularly affect families involved with the child welfare system and may lead to increased incidences of child maltreatment.

From April 2019 to April 2020, Texas saw a 50-percent decline in calls to child protective services and a 56-percent decline in online reports, which can be attributed to children not being in school and in the presence of mandatory reporters. However, a recent report from Prevent Child Abuse Texas, Child Abuse and Neglect Risks During COVID-19, describes how, despite these decreases in reports, research in Texas supports the assumption that the stresses of COVID-19 on families is likely increasing the risk of child maltreatment during the pandemic.

According to the report, stressors such as natural disasters, economic recessions, and mental health issues tend to increase the chances for family violence to occur. The following are some statistics related to these stressors that show how child maltreatment may be increasing despite decreases in reports to child protective services:

• National estimates on the actual prevalence of child maltreatment in the United States range between 3 and 40 percent. Most maltreatment is unreported and may be known only to the perpetrator and the victim. Researchers suggest that the decrease in child maltreatment reports may have been driven by school closures as two-thirds of child maltreatment reports are usually submitted by professionals such as teachers and other school staff.
• Intimate partner violence is a risk factor for child maltreatment, and this type of family violence tends to increase following natural disasters. Quarantining and shelter-in-place orders may make it harder for people who might otherwise leave violent relationships to physically leave their environments.
• Research on previous recessions conclude that increases in unemployment rates tend to increase incidences of family violence. 
• Well-documented relationships exist between family violence, substance use (particularly alcohol use), and depression.

The report concludes that, although child maltreatment is a complex issue based on many factors, it is reasonable to assume that child maltreatment increased during 2020 based on previous research about how school closures affect maltreatment reporting, natural disasters affect family relationships (particularly with regard to intimate partner violence), unemployment is correlated to increases in incidences of abuse, and behavioral issues and substance use are related to increases in family violence.

This research makes it clear that protecting children means supporting and strengthening their families in ways that will help parents provide stable, nurturing, safe environments.  
 

A recent report from the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families presents information on early intervention and special education trends among children in out-of-home care. According to the report, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act allows each state to set the criteria for eligibility for early intervention services for children younger than 3 years old and special education services for children 3 years of age and older. Children who meet the criteria for receiving special education services should have an individualized education plan for receiving special education, and those meeting the criteria for early intervention services should have an individualized family services plan for receiving early intervention. In addition, the Keeping Children Safe Act requires states to implement procedures for referring children under 3 years old who have experienced maltreatment to early intervention services.

The report goes on to note that, according to the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, which is a nationally representative study of children involved with child welfare in the United States, children ages 0 to 2 who have been placed in nonrelative foster care are more likely to have a developmental delay (37 percent) than those placed in formal kinship care (22 percent) and voluntary kinship care (26 percent). Among children ages 3 to 17, developmental, cognitive, or academic needs were identified for 29 percent of children placed in nonrelative foster care, 36 percent of children placed in formal kinship care, and 21 percent of children placed in voluntary kinship care.

In addition, among children who have been identified as having a condition that would potentially qualify them for early intervention or special education services, their caregivers reported that half or fewer of those children received an individualized family services plan for early intervention services or an individualized education plan for special education services. Having unmet early intervention and special education needs is particularly prevalent among children who are living in voluntary kinship care, but these deficiencies can be seen in all types of out-of-home care.

The report, Child Well-Being Spotlight Children Living in Kinship Care and Nonrelative Foster Care Are Unlikely to Receive Needed Early Intervention or Special Education Services, can be found on the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation website.

 

Parents who become involved with the child welfare system usually experience a significant amount of stress, fear, and hopelessness that can make them less willing to engage with a system they see as threatening. For this reason, caseworkers must be diligent about meaningful engagement with these families. Meaningful family engagement, where parents and children have a say in their case and outcomes, has been shown to promote family well-being and reduce repeat occurrences of maltreatment and the need for out-of-home care. 

A recent article from Casey Family Programs—How Can Motivational Interviewing Be Used in Child Protection?—highlights the benefits of motivational interviewing as an evidence-based tool for engaging families. Motivational interviewing is intended to help parents assess their willingness to make the changes needed to keep their families safely together.

The following are the elements needed for successful motivational interviewing:

• An authentic partnership between the practitioner and the client
• A nonjudgmental and respectful approach to signal the practitioner's acceptance of the client
• Compassion for and prioritizing of the client and their well-being
• Evocation of the client's own desire to work toward change

The process for facilitating meaningful engagement include the following:

• Engaging in a working relationship through listening and understanding
• Focusing on a shared purpose about what needs to change
• Evoking parents' ideas and motivations to explore ambivalence and understand the "why" of behavior change
• Planning for change that is led by parents in a way that highlights their strengths and expertise

The article also includes motivational interviewing training resources as well as an example from the District of Columbia Child and Family Services Agency, which added motivational interviewing to its title IV-E prevention program 5-year plan.

Related Item

Child Welfare Information Gateway, a service of the Children's Bureau, recently published Motivational Interviewing: A Primer for Child Welfare Professionals.

 

Children and youth are facing increased emotional stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those involved with child welfare. Child Trends released Trauma-Informed Strategies for Supporting Children and Youth in the Child Welfare System During COVID-19 to provide guidance for child welfare administrators and staff on how to use trauma-informed strategies to promote healing and increase the resilience of children, youth, and families during the COVID-19 pandemic and their involvement in the child welfare system.

The COVID-19 pandemic presents unprecedented challenges to the child welfare system as well as to the families it serves. Disruptions to services and supports, increased financial hardship, increased stress among parents and caregivers, separation from family and social supports, and fear for their health are just some of the obstacles families are facing. It is during these difficult and ever-evolving times that it is as important to promote families' and workers' emotional safety and well-being as it is to make sure they stay physically healthy.

This brief highlights five trauma-informed ways child welfare administrators can promote emotional well-being, resilience, and healing during the pandemic:

• Develop and implement comprehensive agency policies that are trauma informed and prioritize the emotional and physical safety of children and youth.
• Ensure these policies and procedures are culturally informed and represent the unique needs of families.
• Establish regular contact with children, youth, and their families and help them to maintain the important social connections in their lives.
• Establish trauma-informed and pandemic-specific contingency plans and policies.
• Develop a plan to address the well-being of staff.

The brief also includes additional resources for supporting children and youth involved with child welfare during the pandemic.
 

Written by the Capacity Building Center for States

Child welfare agencies can use data exploration—coupled with family engagement—to better understand protective capacities among families they serve and identify areas where more supports are needed.

Protective capacities are characteristics of a parent or other caregiver that help ensure the safety of his or her child (Capacity Building Center for States, 2016a). Caregiver protective capacities can be divided into three categories (Action for Child Protection, 2000; Capacity Building Center for States, 2016a):

• Cognitive: Knowledge and understanding of a child's needs and recognition of threats
• Emotional: Feelings, attitudes, and attachments that protect against danger
• Behavioral: Actions that keep the child safe from harm

Assessment of protective capacities at the case level informs child protection safety plans, placement decisions, and case plan services. At the system level, analysis of protective capacities may provide insight into the ways parents keep their children safe and the areas where additional services are needed.

The approach outlined below can help agency teams—including child welfare agency leaders, program managers, management information system (MIS) and data staff, and family representatives—explore protective capacities at the system level as a foundation for planning.

Define Terms and Identify Measures

A critical early step in examining protective capacities at a systems level is to develop a common understanding across all program, MIS, and data staff about how information on protective capacities is assessed and captured. For example, does the agency use a specific assessment tool, scale, parent survey, or other instrument to identify and capture information about protective capacities? Is this information captured in data fields that can be pulled into reports or does it appear in assessments that may be examined in a case review?

If protective capacities are not currently assessed or captured in a consistent way, teams will need to clearly define terms and identify how they can be measured. This work may draw language from safety or family assessments. Program, data, and research staff can work together to identify indicators that suggest the presence of the desired characteristics and how they are documented. For instance, this could mean specifying what will show that parents have appropriate expectations for their children (a cognitive capacity) or can demonstrate impulse control (a behavioral capacity).

Identify Research Questions

With the foundational pieces in place, teams can turn to identifying research questions. To better understand protective capacities among populations served, agencies may ask questions like the following:

• Which protective capacities are most common among families in contact with our child welfare system? Which are least common?
• Are there differences in protective capacities among different population subgroups (e.g., by race/ethnicity, by age, by location)?
• What services are in place to build protective capacities?
• When families receive services to strengthen protective capacities, does maltreatment recurrence decline?
• What barriers exist to strengthening protective capacities?

Collect and Analyze Data

To answer their questions, agencies may explore both quantitative (numerical) and qualitative (narrative) data sources. These can include MIS data capturing safety, risk, and family assessments; case plan and case plan reviews; and services data. In addition, surveys, focus groups, or interviews may help provide a more comprehensive picture.

Disaggregating data—or breaking it down—is an approach that allows teams to dig deeper into whether different groups have different experiences. For example, a state may disaggregate data to explore which groups of children experience repeat maltreatment at the highest rates. Additional case review or interview data may offer insights into the reasons why and help target resources to build protective capacities where they may have the biggest impact.

Gather Stakeholder Perspectives

Gathering stakeholder perspectives is a critical part of collecting and interpreting child protection data and information (World Vision International, 2011). Family members can help shape research questions, refine survey questions in culturally sensitive ways, and share views on the findings and the nuanced reasons behind them. In addition, child welfare staff and community service providers can help identify data sources, participate in surveys or interviews, and discuss data findings.

Make Connections to Prevention-Oriented Efforts

Agencies can align their efforts to promote protective capacities at the individual level with prevention-oriented initiatives that build protective factors at the individual, family, and community levels (Capacity Building Center for States, 2016b). For example, a parent support program can increase caregiver protective capacities and strengthen community protective factors. By gaining a deeper understanding of the data and then reinforcing prevention-protection connections across the prevention continuum, agencies can work together with families and communities to promote family well-being and ensure child safety.

References

Action for Child Protection. (2000). Safety assessment and family evaluation: A safety intervention model by Action for Child Protection.

Capacity Building Center for States. (2016a). "Protective capacities and protective factors: Common ground for protecting children and strengthening families." [Infographic] 

Capacity Building Center for States. (2016b). "Protective capacities and protective factors: Common ground for protecting children and strengthening families." [Webinar] 

World Vision International. (2011). Analysis, design, and planning tool (ADAPT) for child protection. 

 

According to recent data, 1 in 10 children are sexually abused before they turn 18, and about 90 percent of victims know their abusers. Child sexual abuse is detrimental to a child's development in many ways, both physically and emotionally, and can have long-term consequences to a child's ability to learn life skills. Children involved with child welfare are more likely to have experienced or experience sexual abuse.

The guide Step Up to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse: A Guide for Parents & Caregivers is intended for parents, foster parents, and kinship caregivers of children and youth under the age of 18. The guide aims to teach parents about what sexual abuse is, signs indicating a child has been sexually abused, who the perpetrators are and the grooming techniques that are often used to lure children, and how to protect the children in their care from being sexually abused.

Some signs of child sexual abuse include the following:

• Displays sexual knowledge beyond their age/development
• Verbalizes what sexual contact looks or sounds like
• Mimics sexual behavior
• Acts out sexually and does not respond to limits
• Displays extreme behaviors, such as lack of emotion or aggressive and risk-taking behavior
• Suddenly changes their eating habits or refuses to eat
• Suddenly has nightmares or problems sleeping
• Has headaches, stomach pain or chronic pain
• Displays sudden, unexplained personality changes or mood swings
• Acts out or becomes withdrawn

The guide also includes information about child protection laws and additional resources on preventing and reporting child sexual abuse.

 

When considering whether to become foster parents or accept a foster placement, it is important to research whether the child or youth will be a good fit and to understand the differences between a child who has just come into the foster care system and one who has experienced multiple placements.

The AdoptUSKids article "Questions to Ask When Accepting a Foster Placement" lists the following questions foster parents should ask when deciding whether to accept a child who has come into care for the first time:

• What is the age and sex of the child (or children)? This information can help to determine sleeping arrangements and whether the child will fit in with the rest of the children in the household.
• Why are they coming into care? Knowing this information can help foster parents understand the child's behaviors and accommodate any previous trauma the child may have suffered.
• Are there siblings who are also entering care? This information can help foster parents with consider potential visitation schedules with the child's siblings.
• Will they be changing school districts if they are placed with me? This information will help foster parents manage their time if they need to enroll the child in a new school.
• What is the caseworker's cell phone number—and what is their supervisor's? Parents should be able to contact the child's caseworker if they need to.

The following are questions foster parents should ask when considering whether to accept a child who has experienced multiple placements:

• What is their understanding of the reason they are in foster care? Some children are unaware of why they had to leave their homes and families.
• Do they have allergies—including to animals? Along with asking about allergies, it is important to ask a child if he or she is comfortable with animals in the home.
• What are their favorite foods—likes and dislikes? Are they vegetarian? Knowing a child's food preferences can help ease their transition into the family.
• What are their upcoming and routine appointments? What is their visitation schedule with birth family members—and where do they live?
• Are they a runaway risk? The answer to this question can help foster parents consider what precautions to take.
• When is their birthday? How have they celebrated it—and other holidays—in the past? This information can help give the child a sense of normalcy within the family.
• What are the child's medical needs? This information is important to determine whether the foster family can handle the child's needs.

The article also includes questions that should never be asked, such as how long the child will be staying.
 

Upcoming conferences and events on child welfare and adoption include the following:

February

• Results From a Formative Evaluation of Two Employment Programs for Young People Transitioning Out of Foster Care [Webinar]
  Urban Institute
  February 2, online, 1 p.m.

• Nineteenth Annual Mississippi Child Welfare Institute Conference [Virtual]
  Jackson State University/School of Social Work
  February 4-5, online

• Race and Equity Conference [Virtual]
  North American Council on Adoptable Children
  February 23, online, 10 a.m.

March

• 2021 National School Social Work Conference
  School Social Work Association of America
  March 22-24, Baltimore, MD

April

• 39th Annual Virtual Protecting Our Children National American Indian Conference [Virtual]
  National Indian Child Welfare Association
  April 11-14, online
  
   

The Families Thrive training is intended for child welfare professionals working to implement the tenets of the Family First Prevention Services Act, which aims to reduce the need for foster care by substantially redirecting funds to programs and services that strengthen parents' capacity to safely care for their children at home. The training combines aspects of the Center for the Study of Social Policy's Youth Thrive and Strengthening Families trainings and is based on the protective and promotive factors. However, unlike Youth Thrive and Strengthening Families, it extends the focus from infancy to young adulthood to address the entire lifecycle of families.

Families Thrive is a 4-day intensive course that devotes one session to each of the protective and promotive factors and teaches practical techniques for applying the framework in programs, practices, and communities. The training is based on five premises that reflect what adults need to do to promote the long-term well-being of the children in their care:

• Understand current research on neuroscience and adolescent development and its implications for working with young people
• Understand the impact of traumatic stress on young people and which relationship skills will reduce that impact
• Recognize relationships as a primary source of growth and learning for young people
• Provide culturally appropriate services that draw on the strengths of the young person's culture
• Assess and modify your own beliefs and practices and take care of yourself during difficult times

Visit the Youth in Focus website to learn more.