Engaging families in child welfare services: an evidence-based approach to best practice

Successfully engaging clients in the helping process is a critical task for child welfare practitioners. Drop-out and noncompliance rates in child welfare services are high and lead to high rates of removal of children from their families and to eventual termination of parental rights. Although no known interventions guarantee treatment compliance, this review of the empirical literature delineates critical components of engagement in child welfare services. Effective engagement strategies, including service components and caseworker qualities and behaviors, are identified as contributing to the positive case outcomes of treatment compliance, family preservation, and placement prevention. The unique needs of neglectful parents are also examined, with recommendations for practice.