James D Simon

Although some studies have examined child maltreatment recidivism following participation in a home-based, differential response program (HBDR) after a child protective services (CPS) investigation, they often do not include adequate comparison groups, are limited to one outcome, and do not examine successful completion. Using administrative data from a Southwestern state including children whose families received HBDR services following an allegation of maltreatment, this study compared families who received HBDR services (n=4,079) to families that were investigated but did not receive HBDR services (n=4,221) using two indicators of CPS recidivism (i.e., re-reports and substantiation) over a period of 4 ½ to 7 years.
Bivariate analyses indicated that families who received HBDR services had an average substantiation rate of 7.9% using a revised federal methodology, which was slightly higher than the comparison group; the substantiation rate for HBDR families during the entire study period was 14.5%. However, HBDR families had lower re-report rates at one year and during the overall study period relative to the comparison group. In contrast, the re-report and substantiation rate for HBDR families who successfully completed services was lower than the comparison group. Multivariable analyses indicated that successful completion of HBDR was associated with lower re-referral rates and substantiation rates after adjusting for demographic and case characteristics. These findings suggest that prevention programs offering HBDR could make a short-term and long-term impact on the re-referral and substantiation rates among high-risk families after a child abuse investigation and emphasize the importance of ensuring that participants successfully complete HBDR as this was associated with reductions in both re-referral rates and substantiation rates.

Background
Mandated reporting policies, a core response to the identification of child maltreatment, are widely debated. Currently, there are calls to abolish or scale back these policies to include only certain professionals. These calls warrant evaluation of whether there are any differences in child welfare outcomes based on report source.

Objective
To determine if the initial report source predicts immediate and long-term risk of re-referral, substantiation, and placement.

Participants and setting
We used yearly National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) hotline report and placement data. Children (0-14y) with a first ever hotline report in 2012–2014 were followed for three years. The final sample included 2,101,397 children from 32 states.

Methods
We use descriptive and bivariate statistics to show initial report outcomes by reporter source type and logistic regression models to evaluate the effect of report source on immediate and subsequent report outcomes.

Results
Professional sources varied in levels of substantiation and placement, with law enforcement, medical, and social service sources showing much higher rates. Reports from professional sources have higher odds of initial report substantiation and foster care entry, and slightly lower odds of later re-report than nonprofessional sources. We found no differences between professional and nonprofessional sources in subsequent foster care entry.

Conclusions
Reports from professional, nonprofessional, and unclassified sources have varying levels of risk in some of their short- and long-term outcomes. To the degree that child protective services embrace a long-term preventative role, reports by nonprofessional report sources may provide opportunities for prevention.

Despite the growing importance of teaching about diversity and its connection to intersectionality, privilege, and oppression in social work education, few studies have examined whether teaching interventions could enhance students’ knowledge of oppression. Thus, this study assessed the extent to which students assimilated content related to intersectionality, privilege, and oppression after an enhanced teaching intervention. Using a one-group pretest/posttest research design, this study measured the effect of an enhanced lecture and modified assignments on knowledge of intersectionality, privilege, and oppression among 30 MSW students enrolled in a generalist social work practice course at a public university in the Southwestern United States.
Using the Diversity and Oppression Scale (DOS) and open-ended questions, non-parametric test results revealed a moderate-to-strong effect of the intervention indicating increased knowledge of diversity and oppression (Z = 3.30, p < .001, r = .43). Additionally, results from open-ended questions corroborated quantitative findings, as several students indicated that TED talks and interactive exercises were helpful learning modalities. Despite the limited sample size, findings from this study suggest that combined teaching interventions including pre-lecture activities, interactive lectures, and modified assignments may improve knowledge of diversity and oppression though additional research is needed to replicate these findings.

Data-driven decision making (DDDM) in public child welfare (PCW) has become increasingly important with the passage of the Family First Prevention Services Act (FFPSA), making PCW agencies across the U.S. examine their various programs to ensure that they meet the service requirements of FFPSA. Family Preservation (FP) is an important program that is offered by PCW agencies nationwide, yet little is known about how programs like FP can implement DDDM to examine outcomes to improve practice. This study describes how one of the largest PCW agencies nationwide adopted DDDM in their FP program and presents preliminary findings along with lessons learned as part of the process to meet FFPSA requirements. For example, FP established a baseline recurrence rate using the standard federal definition of the recurrence of maltreatment adapted for FP; this rate was 6.6% for families receiving FP in the target county compared to 8.4% for families not receiving FP services. Subsequent case reviews revealed issues related to engagement, family expectations, and termination codes, which led to standardized definitions and practice changes. Several lessons learned are provided as part of the incorporation of DDDM in FP as well as implications for practice and research.

We are thankful for the opportunity to respond to Reddy, Williams-Isom, and Putnam-Hornstein's review of anti-bias trainings as a solution to racial disparities in child protection systems (CPS). As researchers debate the role of racial bias in CPS (Barth et al., 2021; Dettlaff et al., 2021), this article raises important concerns about the effectiveness of individual-level, antibias trainings to address systems-driven disparities. Yet, we believe the conclusion to abandon anti-bias trainings altogether may be premature given: (1) current evidence that certain anti-bias trainings can change behavior; (2) problems in measuring racial bias in CPS, and (3) the role of individuals with bias in perpetuating structural racism and poverty, which drive racial disparities.

The objective of this paper is to frame, understand, and draw implications from existing research on families screened out by child protective services (CPS) after a referral alleging child maltreatment. We review descriptive and outcome data together with emerging intervention research amidst a developing consensus that the current reactive role of CPS should be supplemented by supportive and preventative services that primarily address poverty. State-level data indicate that screened-out families are at high risk of re-referral and similar to higher risk families reported to CPS. Intervention research is scant and mixed, but there is indication that providing community-based services may reduce future CPS involvement. Considering that screened-out referrals present an opportunity to prevent future maltreatment, CPS should identify and collaboratively engage screened-out families in community-based services. More research on the outcomes of these community responses is needed to identify best practices related to engagement and service provision.

In this article, we argue that those in social work education should refocus how they conceptualize and teach intersectionality to produce more effective social work practitioners. We emphasize that social work should shift from educating students to evaluate diverse clients as the accumulation of individual identities operating in isolation (e.g., race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation) to recognizing how these identities intersect to influence health and well-being based on these identities’ shared roots in oppression and privilege. This emphasis is grounded in the belief that training social work students to identify the multiple forms of inequities resulting from oppression related to gender, race, and class that influence clients’ social, economic, and health (physical and mental) outcomes will better prepare them to deliver culturally responsive and structurally competent practice that aligns with and advances the mission and ethics of the social work profession. We further discuss how intersectionality should be conceptualized, defined, and taught in social work education through explicit naming and discussion of oppression and privilege, and we close by presenting some common barriers to teaching intersectionality as well as possible strategies to overcome them.

You can download the original article for free for a limited time at the following link:
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/XSHM3UC8CWWDHUJ2S7IQ/full?target=10.1080/10437797.2021.1883492

Objective: Matching needs and services among families investigated by child protective services agencies (CPS) may reduce incidents of recidivism, such as re-reports to CPS. Yet, many families under CPS supervision do not receive the matched services they need, or they receive unneeded services. Thus, this study examines the relationship between needs, matched services, and CPS re-report. Method: Data are from a longitudinal study of a community-based prevention initiative aimed at strengthening families at risk of child maltreatment. The sample included 836 caregivers with complex needs whose children remained at home following an initial CPS investigation. The Family Assessment Form was used to measure concrete, educational/parenting, and clinical needs and matched services. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regressions were used to examine relationships among needs, services, a match, and a subsequent CPS report. Results: Concrete needs, educational/parenting needs, and clinical needs involving mental health were appropriately matched; complex needs related to domestic violence and substance use were not well matched. Only matched educational/parenting services were associated with reduced odds of a re-report. Conclusions: Findings suggest that increased attention to educational and parenting factors may be key to improving engagement and reducing re-reports following a CPS investigation.

Abstract
Background and purpose
Matching needs and services following a child protective services (CPS) investigation is important for families with complex needs (i.e. mental health, substance use, and domestic violence) because several studies indicate that a service match is associated with important child welfare outcomes including decreased substance abuse, lowered rates of maltreatment, and increased family reunification. However, few of these studies have examined whether matching services reduces the different areas of need that service matching targets. In response, this study examined the change in need among families with complex needs that received matched services in a community-based prevention program following an initial CPS investigation.

Methods
The sample consisted of 836 families with complex needs related to mental health, substance use, and domestic violence that had an unfounded or inconclusive CPS investigation between July 2006 and December 2010. Eligible families had a child five or younger that remained at home after an initial CPS investigation and were at moderate to high risk of future maltreatment. The Family Assessment Form (FAF) was used to indicate need in three areas (concrete, clinical, and educational/parenting) and families received an array of services including concrete, educational/parenting, and/or clinical services. A match occurred if a caregiver had an aforementioned need and received a corresponding service. Reduced need was indicated by a change from a mean score of >3 (problematic functioning) on the FAF to a mean score of <3 (adequate functioning). Paired sample t-tests and Pearson Chi-2 analyses were used to examine bivariate associations between matched services by area of need on reduced need. Multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to determine the impact of matched services on reduced need in targeted areas and overall while controlling for caregiver demographic characteristics including ethnicity, age, income, number of caregivers and children, and history of abuse.

Findings
Bivariate analyses revealed that matched concrete and educational/parenting services was significantly associated with reduced need in targeted areas. For matched clinical services, this pattern was found for mental health and substance use but not for domestic violence. Multivariate analyses indicated that receiving matched concrete services was associated with an increased likelihood of overall reduced need (OR = 3.46; 95% CI = 1.84, 6.52) as was a match for educational/parenting need related to caregiver–child interactions (OR = 2.16; 95% CI = 1.15, 4.04). For clinical need, receiving matched clinical services for mental health (OR = 4.11; 95% CI = 2.39, 7.09) was associated with an overall reduction in need but not for substance use or domestic violence.

Conclusion and implications
Matching needs and services for families with complex needs following a CPS investigation remains important considering the number of families with complex needs that come to the attention CPS. Findings from this study highlight that matching needs and services can reduce targeted areas of need, overall need, and may serve as a catalyst for change in multiple areas of need.

Social workers work primarily in eight policy sectors, but no existing text gives them skills to engage in policy advocacy in each of those sectors despite the extensive analysis of problems that consumers experience in each of them.In the child and family sector, millions of children lack sufficient or adequate childcare and thousands of children graduate from foster care only to become homeless.
This text provides the first framework that links micro policy advocacy, mezzo policy advocacy, and macro policy advocacy—and demonstrates how these three kinds of advocacy can be used by social workers in the  child and family sector to promote social justice. This text identifies seven core problems that advocates must confront to address the needs of their consumers and clients in the child and family sector.