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Risk of Future Maltreatment: Examining Whether Worker Characteristics Predict Their Perception
Kristen Lwin1, Joanne Filippelli2, Barbara Fallon2
18637University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, Canada.
Child Maltreatment
|July 27, 2021
Summary
Child welfare caseworkers’ characteristics, like education and experience, influence their risk perception. This may lead to inconsistent services for families involved with the child welfare system.
Area of Science:
- Child welfare research
- Social work practice
- Risk assessment in child protection
Background:
- Child welfare workers connect families to services, aiming for child safety and well-being.
- Equitable service delivery in child welfare should be based on clinical factors, not caseworker attributes.
- Previous research has not fully explored how caseworker characteristics impact risk perception.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if child welfare worker characteristics predict their perception of future maltreatment risk.
- To examine the influence of education, age, and experience on risk assessment in child welfare cases.
Main Methods:
- Secondary data analysis of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS-2008).
- Utilized multilevel modeling, including logistic regression analyses.
- Included 1729 investigations and 419 child welfare workers.
Main Results:
- Caseworkers with a Master's degree, over two years of experience, and managing over 18 cases were more likely to perceive future maltreatment risk.
- An interaction between degree level and age also significantly predicted risk perception.
- Caseworker factors demonstrably influence the perception of future maltreatment risk.
Conclusions:
- The perception of risk for future child maltreatment is associated with caseworker characteristics.
- Variations in caseworker factors may lead to disparities in service provision for families in the child welfare system.
- Further research is needed to ensure consistent and equitable child welfare services.
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