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Purpose: Toxic stress has been identified as a key mechanism by which poverty impacts health and empirical evidence on the relationship between poverty and biological markers of toxic stress is acc...

This study investigates the reliability and construct validity of the Functional Impact of Toxic Stress for Parents (FITS-P) measure in an online crowdsourced pilot sample (n = 202) and a pediatric clinic sample (n = 889). The objective of the FITS-P is to provide a low burden (i.e., four items) measure for capturing aspects of the parental side of the toxic stress equation, specifically defining toxic stress as being severe enough to go beyond feelings of overwhelm to functional impairment in major domains of life. Patterns of item endorsement were analyzed in both samples, and construct validity was assessed in the clinic sample in relation to a series of measures of parental stress and psychological resources also administered to parents. Overall, analyses supported reliability and validity, and suggest utility of this new measure. Most importantly, it was found that only a single FITS-P item endorsed was sufficient to produce a significant increase in risk for most of the construct validity measures. This suggests that, as hoped, functional impact may capture parental variance in the toxic stress constellation more efficiently and effectively than typical methods such as life event stress, adverse childhood experiences, or perceived stressfulness of only the parenting role. Results are discussed in terms of the promise of the FITS-P as a low-burden assessment that can be used in two-generational approaches to ameliorating toxic stress.

Purpose: The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act requires child welfare agencies to have provisions in place to refer young children to early intervention services, yet the socioemotional health needs of children are often challenging to recognize and treat effectively. This study reviews the substantive and psychometric properties of screening instruments designed for children ages 10 and younger. Methods: Major social science databases, websites of national organizations, and the Mental Measurements Yearbook were used to identify instruments for review. Results: Twenty-four instruments met review criteria, and eight show above-average measurement properties and testing, tap children’s strengths and concerns, and have evidence of validity with families similar to child welfare–involved families. Discussion: It is important to effectively screen for children showing concerns in early childhood, so that treatment and prevention can be prioritized. This study indicated several tools with adequate testing and with emerging evidence and applicability to child welfare.

Supervisors play a vital role in workplace productivity and organizational health, and are at the forefront of improving the capacity of the child welfare workforce. Yet there is limited research about their organizational longevity and satisfaction compared with child welfare caseworkers. This study uses data from 85% of supervisors statewide in a child welfare organization to describe intent to leave, supervision provided and received, and job qualities. Questions are: (1) what are the personal and job qualities of child welfare supervisors? (2) To what extent do supervisors report receiving and providing supervision, and (3) what personal and job qualities predict intent to leave among supervisors? Using bivariate and multivariate analyses, results showed that supervisors who receive more frequent supervision report lower levels of job stress and time pressure and more positive perceptions of organization leadership. These supervisors also reported providing more supervision to caseworkers. Greater time pressure predicted intent to leave among supervisors, indicating that there is an important balance between workload and resources in efforts to maintain quality supervisors.

This study introduces a new measure that assesses the extent of organizational change tactics usage within a human service organization. The Organizational Change Tactics Questionnaire (OCTQ) was developed based on a comprehensive review of effective organizational change tactics and adapted to the unique needs of human service organizations. This study presents the psychometric properties of the OCTQ using the tool with 13 large child welfare organizations experiencing organizational change. Respondents who saw a greater use of change tactics and those who were more involved with the change process were significantly more likely to perceive the change process as successful.

This study views the extent to which staff buy-in for an organizational innovation in child welfare (CW) relates to implementation progress. The study occurs during implementation of a statewide practice model that was supported with technical assistance from the Mountains and Plains Child Welfare Implementation Center (MPCWIC) and framed around the National Implementation Research Network model. Mixed methods were used to address three study questions: (1) what is the level and nature of buy-in related to the innovation? (2) does buy-in vary according to staff characteristics, and (3) what is the relationship between buy-in, local level agency readiness, and implementation status one year after project start? Survey data were collected from 568 CW staff in 13 local county agencies and 12 implementation specialists assigned as coaches. Focus groups and interviews were conducted with 52 staff in four agencies. Bivariate chi-square analyses and multivariate regression using a cumulative logit model showed that buy-in was related to gender and agency tenure. Implementation progress was higher among smaller agencies, and agencies with lower levels of job stress. Qualitative themes centered on staff inclusivity in project design, communication, and supervisor support. Findings highlight the need to adapt implementation strategies in urban and rural locales, and to attend strongly to staff selection, supervision, and inclusion during implementation. Addressing job stress may help bolster implementation.

This article describes a new measure designed to examine the process of implementation of child welfare systems change. The measure was developed to document the status of the interventions and strategies that are being implemented and the drivers that are being installed to achieve sustainable changes in systems. The measure was used in a Children's Bureau-supported national effort to assess the ongoing implementation of 24 systems-change projects in child welfare jurisdictions across the country. The article describes the process for measure development, method of administration and data collection, and quantitative and qualitative findings.

Many young children investigated for maltreatment have developmental problems qualifying them for early intervention services, yet only a portion of these children receive such services. To address this gap, all children ages 0–3 with child welfare (CW) substantiated maltreatment in Pennsylvania are screened for developmental and socioemotional problems using the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ). This study views screening results for over 500 children to address whether children's substantiation status, living situation, and administering worker as CW or early intervention (EI) predicts screening rates. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were used. Results showed that 22% of children scored in the problem-range of at least one developmental area and 18% scored in the problem-range of social–emotional concerns warranting EI referral. Results of bivariate analyses showed that children who spent time in the NICU were more likely to have developmental concerns. Socioemotional concerns were related to child race, foster care living situation, child as the subject of the referral, and physical neglect. Older children and children whose referral involved lacking basic needs showed both developmental and socioemotional concerns. There were no significant differences in screening results of children with substantiated versus unsubstantiated maltreatment. Children whose screening was conducted by EI were more than three times as likely to show developmental concerns compared with those screened by CW. Child welfare workers need more support when conducting developmental screening, and policies that limit screening to children with substantiated maltreatment or to children in out-of-home care should be reconsidered.

In the USA, African-American children are overrepresented in the child welfare system. However, little is known about the child welfare system experiences of biracial children, who are predominately both White and African-American. To better understand this population, data from public child welfare in a US county were used to examine biracial children in the child welfare system. Results showed significant racial differences between children in the child welfare system. Despite the common belief that biracial children will have experiences similar to African-American children, the child welfare system seems to view them differently. Biracial children are more likely to be referred, rated as high risk and investigated compared with White or African-American children. Their mothers were younger, and were more often assessed as having physical, intellectual or emotional problems. These caregivers were also considered to have lower parenting skills and knowledge compared with White or African-American caregivers. Although the disproportionate representation of African-American children in the system has been well documented, this study provides evidence that biracial children are also overrepresented. Despite the fact that this is a rapidly growing population in the USA, there is little research available about biracial children and their families.

This study examined Family Group Decision Making (FGDM) among a nationally representative sample of African-American and White children investigated for maltreatment in the US. While FGDM was developed for work with ethnic minority families, there is no research on how this is being carried out in the US, where African-American children are overrepresented in child welfare services. The study views racial differences in child, caregiver and maltreatment characteristics related to FGDM; composition of FGDM meetings; service referrals and receipt; and service satisfaction. Data are from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being (NSCAW), a study of 5501 children ages 0–14. Current analyses include African-American and White children (n= 4129). Stratified, bivariate and multivariate regression analyses were used. Results showed that while race was not related FGDM receipt, different characteristics lead to FGDM among African-American and White families. Surprisingly, caregivers report feeling no more involved in decision-making in association with FGDM. FGDM is provided at low rates overall (10%) and less frequently among White caseworkers. Child access to mental health services increases in relation to FGDM. Implications are discussed.

Examination of a nationally representative, longitudinal study of infants and toddlers investigated for maltreatment reveals disproportionate representation of teen mothers, fair/poor health, poverty, and being African-American. Infants are more likely to have special needs reported, subst`ance abusing caregivers, low-quality home environment, out-of-home placement, physical neglect, and substantiated maltreatment. At school-age, approximately one-fifth of all investigated infants and toddlers have an Individualized Education Program (IEP), indicating special education placement. Early characteristics associated with having an IEP include poverty, boys, fair/poor health, and low language scores. Hispanic children and those investigated for physical or sexual abuse were less likely to have an IEP. At school-age, infants had lower Woodcock–Johnson-III math subtests scores, whereas toddlers had lower reading comprehension performance.

This article presents propensity score matching as a method to implement randomized conditions to analyze service effects using nonexperimental data. Most social work research is challenged to implement randomized clinical trials, whereas administrative and survey data are often available and can provide valuable information about services received under naturalistic conditions. This article discusses the assumptions of this method and the analytic steps involved; and it presents three examples of the approach, demonstrating that it is possible to approximate the conditions of a randomized controlled trial, and when selection bias is reduced, investigators can have more confidence in their findings.

Objective: This study tests the hypothesis that information typically collected during a maltreatment investigation can be used to screen children for mental health problems. Method: Data are from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Cumulative risk scores were created for 3,022 children and compared to reports of clinical-level problems using standardized measures. Bivariate, multivariate, and sensitivity analyses were used. Results: Cumulative risk showed 73% sensitivity to identify children with mental health concerns and 52% specificity to identify children without such concerns. Comparatively, child welfare worker indications showed 48% sensitivity and 78% specificity. Conclusions: Investigative information could serve the dual purpose of screening children for mental health problems, having the potential for benefit and cost avoidance.