Developing and testing a framework for evaluating the quality of comprehensive family assessment in child welfare

Over the last decade, Comprehensive Family Assessment (CFA) has become a best practice in child welfare. Comprehensive Family Assessments go beyond risk assessment to develop a full picture of the child's and family's situation. When appropriately synthesized, assessment information can lead to a clear articulation of the patterns of child or family functioning which are related to child abuse and maltreatment or which can be strengthened to facilitate change. This study defines and provides concrete examples of dimensions of quality in child welfare assessment reports that are consistent with the CFA guidelines and best practices embraced by child welfare agencies, courts, and other key stakeholders. Leveraging a random assignment design, the study compares the quality of reports written by a caseworker alone versus those written by a caseworker paired with a licensed Integrated Assessment (IA) screener. Findings are discussed in the context of the dual professional model and factors contributing to the timely completion of high quality assessment reports.