Examining Safety Assessments in Child Protective Services

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Walton, Kellana C.
Language:	English
Published:	University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK 2017
Subjects:	Psychology Child Welfare Child Protective Services Safety Assessment Safety Assessment form Safety Assessment tool Safety Assessment instrument
Online Access:	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1490352064231644

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spelling	ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin14903520642316442021-08-03T07:00:57Z Examining Safety Assessments in Child Protective Services Walton, Kellana C. Psychology Child Welfare Child Protective Services Safety Assessment Safety Assessment form Safety Assessment tool Safety Assessment instrument Annually, over 3 million reports of child maltreatment are made to state agencies in the United States (HHS, 2013). Between four and seven child deaths occur daily in the U.S. due to child abuse and neglect (USGAO, 2011; HHS, 2013). Adult survivors of child sexual abuse report poorer interpersonal relationship functioning, high-risk sexual behavior, and a tendency toward revictimization. (Polusny & Follette, 1995). Safety and risk assessments play a critical role in keeping children safe and preventing maltreatment recurrence (Fluke et al, 2001; DePanfilis & Scannapieco, 1994). A study by Dorsey et al (2008) revealed low correspondence between caseworkers’ assessments and subsequent reports of maltreatment, indicating that considerable work is needed to improve accuracy and identification of children who are unsafe or at risk. There have been few studies on the predictive utility of safety assessments. Additional research is needed to examine how caseworkers utilize the existing knowledge about safety factors and correlates of safety to make safety decisionsThe first objective was to examine the association between safety factors and the safety decision. The second objective was to investigate the effect of adult protective capacity and child vulnerability on caseworker safety decisions. Finally, the predictive utility of caseworker safety decisions was evaluated by considering their relationships with risk, case disposition, and case decision. The study sample was drawn from Ohio’s Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS) database. Safety assessment items were 15 dichotomous indicators. Each safety assessment item was assigned to one of three categories: 1) safety factors (SF); 2) indicators of a lack of adult protective capacity (APC), and; 3) indicators of child vulnerability (CV). Odds ratios were computed between individual safety factors and between each safety factor and the safety response. Two logistic regression models predicting safety were developed: (a) one based on safety factors, adult protective capacity proxies, and child vulnerability and (b) the other based on these three predictors as well as their interactions. The final analysis examined the congruence of caseworker safety decisions with risk assessments, case dispositions, and case decisions. As expected, the odds of a safety assessment resulting in a safety plan were greater for each additional safety factor and APC proxy that was endorsed, and slightly greater for children under the age of 6 years (CV). Also, as hypothesized, the interactions among safety factors, APC, and CV added to the predictive power of the model. It was found that cases with intensive risk, substantiated reports, and those opened for ongoing services were associated with greater odds of a safety plan. The results of this study suggest that interactions among safety factors, APC, and CV matter. The SA used by Ohio caseworkers does not separate safety factors from APC and CV indicators are missing from the form. Thus, the SA form needs to be redesigned to include sections where indicators of CV and APC can be assessed and where the format prompts sequential evaluation of safety factors in conjunction with a consideration of APC and CV. 2017-06-16 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1490352064231644 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1490352064231644 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection	NDLTD
language	English
sources	NDLTD
topic	Psychology Child Welfare Child Protective Services Safety Assessment Safety Assessment form Safety Assessment tool Safety Assessment instrument
spellingShingle	Psychology Child Welfare Child Protective Services Safety Assessment Safety Assessment form Safety Assessment tool Safety Assessment instrument Walton, Kellana C. Examining Safety Assessments in Child Protective Services
author	Walton, Kellana C.
author_facet	Walton, Kellana C.
author_sort	Walton, Kellana C.
title	Examining Safety Assessments in Child Protective Services
title_short	Examining Safety Assessments in Child Protective Services
title_full	Examining Safety Assessments in Child Protective Services
title_fullStr	Examining Safety Assessments in Child Protective Services
title_full_unstemmed	Examining Safety Assessments in Child Protective Services
title_sort	examining safety assessments in child protective services
publisher	University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
publishDate	2017
url	http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1490352064231644
work_keys_str_mv	AT waltonkellanac examiningsafetyassessmentsinchildprotectiveservices
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Examining Safety Assessments in Child Protective Services

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