Understanding the risk factors for child maltreatment is critical to efforts to reduce its prevalence.
This study investigated the association between characteristics and circumstances of mothers ...during pregnancy and the subsequent identification of concerns about child maltreatment.
The study drew on two data sets: (i) data from questionnaires administered to the expectant mothers of 11,332 children born in a deprived multi-ethnic local authority in England between 2007 and 2011, for a birth cohort study, and (ii) administrative data on children referred to child welfare services.
The linkage of these two pre-existing data sets enabled the prospective study of risk factors for child maltreatment.
A range of factors captured during the antenatal period were associated with an increased likelihood of subsequent recorded child maltreatment concerns, including: younger maternal age (HR=0.96; p < .001), lower maternal education level (HR=1.36; p < .001), maternal mental illness (HR=1.17; p = .001), maternal smoking in pregnancy (HR=1.69; p < .001), single motherhood (HR=1.41; p = .022), larger family size (HR=1.13; p < .001), multiple deprivation (HR=1.01; p = .011), social housing (HR=1.72; p < .001), paternal unemployment (HR=1.79; p < .001), and the receipt of means-tested welfare benefits (HR=1.43; p < .001). A greater total number of risk factors during pregnancy also increased the risk of subsequent maltreatment concerns (HR=1.45; p < .001).
The identification of multiple risk factors in this study supports claims that single targeted interventions are unlikely to be successful in preventing or reducing child maltreatment due to its multifactorial nature, and that multidimensional interventions are required.
Permanency has been a key goal of the child welfare system for nearly forty years, with most discussion of this issue focusing how best to achieve legal and physical permanence. Although there has ...been some attention to the subjective dimensions of permanence, there has been no exploration of how fostered children develop a sense of belonging to their substitute families. This article draws on interviews with fostered children and their foster carers, conducted in the course of a larger study of outcomes in permanent placements, to present a qualitative analysis of belonging in long-term foster care. Interviews with fostered children revealed four types of perceived belonging: 'as if', 'just like', qualified and provisional. These were shaped by the interplay of a variety of factors, including day-to-day family practices in foster families, the actions and commitment of foster and birth parents, children's mental representations of their past and current experiences in these families and the meaning that children ascribed to blood and non-blood relationships.
BackgroundPermanently Progressing? Building secure futures for children in Scotland is the first study in Scotland to investigate decision making, permanence, progress, outcomes and belonging for ...children who became looked after aged five or under. A significant proportion of these children become looked after away from home in the first few weeks after birth. It is important to understand more about the circumstances in which accommodation occurs, and the pathways and outcomes for these children.
MethodsAnonymised child-level data (Children Looked After Statistics) was provided by the Scottish Government on the total cohort of 1,355 children in all 32 local authorities who started to be looked after away from home in 2012-13 aged five and under. Pathways and timescales to permanence were tracked between 2012-2016 using this administrative data. For a sub-group of 433 children, information on histories, progress and outcomes 3-4 years after they became looked after was gathered from surveys of adoptive parents, foster and kinship carers, and social workers.
Results/conclusion This paper will discuss key findings from the study, in relation to those who became looked after soon after birth. Nearly half of those looked after away from home were under one year old when removed from parents, including 250 (18%) less than seven days old. These younger children were more likely to be looked after on an emergency basis, less likely to be placed with kinship carers, and more likely to have been adopted 3-4 years later, than those looked after when older. The complementary use of survey and administrative data is important. Evidence from the surveys of carers and social workers enhances our understanding of the circumstances around removal (including experience of maltreatment, removal of siblings, and parental substance misuse), and suggests that outcomes (emotional, behavioural and attachment) were generally better for children who were accommodated and placed with carers and adoptive parents at an earlier age and remained there.
BackgroundEach year many children in Scotland who cannot be cared for by their birth parents become looked after by Local Authorities. Where reunification is not an option, children need to be ...settled as soon as possible in safe and secure alternative homes. However, more research evidence is needed to guide the placement decisions that are so crucial to children’s wellbeing.
ObjectivesThe Permanently Progressing? study aims to help identify factors that are associated with children achieving a permanent home. The study hopes to inform policy, planning and practice in relation to young children who cannot live with a birth parent.
MethodsUsing the Children Looked After Statistics that are collected by the Scottish Government from all 32 Local Authorities, the study followed a group of children who became ‘looked after and accommodated’ at age five or under (n=1355) in 2012-13. Children’s pathways through the system over a four-year period were investigated and compared to another group of children aged five or under who became ‘looked after’ in the same year but remained with their birth parent(s) at this time (n=481).
FindingsThe paper discusses children’s pathways through the looked after system, together with factors which may influence these pathways, such as age when becoming looked after, number and type of placements, and types of permanence achieved 3-4 years after becoming looked after.
ConclusionsThis longitudinal analysis of administrative data offers unique insights into factors that may influence child welfare system responses to vulnerable children, which will be discussed, along with issues surrounding the difficulties associated with the definition and measurement of outcomes using these data.
Abstract Little is known about decision-making regarding the reunification of children in care, or about the consequences of these decisions for the children concerned. This study compared ...decision-making and outcomes for 149 maltreated children in seven English authorities (68 reunified, 81 who remained in care). Children were followed up six months after their return home or, for those who were not reunified, six months after the ‘effective decision’ that they should remain in care. They were followed up again four years (on average) after the return or effective decision. Data were extracted from case files at baseline and six month follow-up and were gathered from surveys of social workers and teachers at final follow-up. The two key predictors of reunification were assessments that parental problems had improved and that risks to the child were not unacceptably high. Two-thirds returned to improved family circumstances, sometimes due to a change in the household they returned to, but others were reunified despite persisting concerns. However 35% re-entered care within six months and 63% re-entered at some point during the four-year follow-up period, often due to recurring abuse or neglect. At final follow-up remaining in care was the strongest predictor of positive outcomes on a range of dimensions, even once children's characteristics and histories were taken into account. Outcomes were especially poor for neglected children who were reunified, irrespective of whether reunification was stable or unstable. Results show the potential of the care system to produce positive outcomes for maltreated children.
Children in out-of-home care are consistently found to have poor mental health compared to children in the general population. However, UK research has so far failed to disentangle the impact of the ...care system on children’s mental health outcomes from the effects of the adverse circumstances that led to their admission to care.
This research investigated the association between care placement and the presence of child mental health problems after controlling for children’s pre-care experiences. It also identified factors associated with mental health problems among children in care.
The sample comprised three groups of children involved with child welfare services due to maltreatment, including children in out-of-home care (n = 122), reunified children (n = 82) and those who had never been in care (n = 159).
The mental health of the children in the three groups was compared, using information collected from their parents/foster carers and social workers.
The odds of a child in out-of-home care having a mental health problem were not significantly higher than those of a child who had never been in care (AOR = 1.24; p = 0.462). However, the odds of a child in out-of-home care having reactive attachment disorder (RAD) were significantly higher than those of a child who had never been in care (AOR=1.92; p = 0.032).
These findings make an important contribution to international debates about whether placing children in care is beneficial or detrimental to their wellbeing, and highlight a range of inter-linking factors associated with the mental health of children in out-of-home care.
•This study examines to what extent parents are involved in child protection assessments or investigations by assessing the number of contacts with professionals.•This research project investigated ...child protection assessments and investigations in England, the Netherlands, and Germany.•Fathers in these three countries seem to have less contacts during child protection assessments and investigations compared to mothers.•In the Netherlands, parents with a migration background seem to have fewer contacts with professionals during child protection assessments or investigations.
Involvement of parents in child protection investigations and assessments is important and associated with the quality of care in the system. However, it seems that not all parents are involved to the same extent. Mothers seem to be more involved compared to fathers and parents of minoritized ethnic groups or with migration backgrounds seem less likely to be involved compared to parents of advantaged ethnic populations. In this study, we operationalized involvement by analyzing the number of contacts parents had with child protection agencies. We investigated whether gender and ethnicity or migration background impacted contacts in child protection investigations and assessments in England, the Netherlands, and Germany. We conducted a quantitative case file study and analyzed case files representing investigations and assessments regarding suspected child abuse and neglect (1,954 parents involved in 1,207 child protection cases). Using linear multilevel regression analyses, we investigated whether parent gender and family ethnicity/migration background were associated with the number of contacts that parents had. In all countries, we found that fathers had fewer contacts compared to mothers. In the Netherlands only, we found that parents in migrant families had fewer contacts. We discuss strategies to enhance the involvement of fathers and parents with migration backgrounds.
Abstract
Previous research has highlighted the poor educational attainment of children in out-of-home care, until relatively recently seen as a potential failure of the care system itself. However, ...the relationship between care and education outcomes is complex. It is important to disentangle the impact of the care system from that of adverse circumstances leading to admission to care. In this study, educational outcomes for 68 children (aged 3–9 years) in foster-care due to concerns about abuse or neglect were compared to those for 166 children with current or past child welfare involvement living at home. Data from teacher assessments of communication and literacy, and a standardized measure of receptive vocabulary were analysed. Accounting for key differences between the two groups, there was little evidence that educational attainment of children in care was significantly worse than that of children living at home. The findings suggest that being in care is unlikely to be the direct cause of poor educational achievement amongst children in care relative to the wider population of children. The study has implications for the ways in which schools and other services, both across the UK and internationally, work with children in and on the margins of care.
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