Providers' experiences collaborating with child welfare workers: The good, the bad, and the impacts

Successful interprofessional collaborations have been identified as a potential solution to mitigate problems associated with negative outcomes for clients involved with the child welfare system. The barriers to collaborative relationships need to be better understood and effectively addressed.

To understand the characteristics, barriers, and facilitators of collaborations between different types of providers and child welfare workers, as well as their impacts.

Mental health professionals, foster and kinship parents, legal professionals, and other providers responded to an online survey distributed in a Northeastern State of the United States of America.

Participants (n = 208) completed the Quality of Collaboration with Child Welfare survey. Qualitative responses were analyzed by three coders using three levels of axial coding with constant comparison.

Participants identified different aspects of communication, relationships, and follow-through as key elements of successful collaborations, as well as the items most likely to interfere with their formation. Providers differed somewhat in how concerned they were with various aspects of collaborations in accordance with their professional roles. Barriers to successful collaborations included both individual and systemic factors which often resulted in negative outcomes. Overall, more negative experiences were offered than positive ones.

Strategies are needed to improve communication, promote positive relationships, and address systemic barriers to enhance collaboration and, in turn, improve outcomes for child welfare-involved clients.