Evaluating Family-Based Services by Jacquelyn McCroskey

Author:Jacquelyn McCroskey [McCroskey, Jacquelyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Feminism & Feminist Theory
ISBN: 9780202360935
Google: xRp9QgAACAAJ
Goodreads: 3793579
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1995-01-15T09:05:45+00:00

Screening Cases for Family-Based Services

Another major limitation to using placement prevention as an outcome variable was discussed in Chapter 3, but bears repeating. A growing number of FBS programs state that they will serve only families where the children or adolescents are in danger of being placed at some point in the future (e.g., immediately, within one week, within one year). The validity and reliability of the processes that workers in child welfare use to make decisions about the need for placement are not very high (Stein & Rzepnicki, 1984), and a number of problems regarding adherence to FBS intake criteria have been noted (Feldman, 1990a; Jones, 1985; Tracy, 1991).

Determining what criteria and screening process to use is a complex decision. For many cases, the process might involve assessing the risk of future child maltreatment. For other cases, it may be determining how much risk this child poses to herself or others through substance abuse, delinquency or other behaviors. In addition, families might be identified as appropriate for service only when a referring worker, with approval pending from a judge, plans to place a child outside the home in non-shelter care within five days. Developing decision-making protocols has been hampered by the lack of valid conceptual frameworks for decisionmaking and of reliable and valid assessment instruments (English & Pecora, 1994; Stein & Rzepnicki, 1983; Wald & Woolverton, 1990), although a number of groups have been developing resources in this area (e.g., Haapala, Kinney & McDade, 1988; Holder & Corey, 1986).

As mentioned in Chapter 3, to use “risk of imminent placement” as a valid intake criterion, agencies need to develop explicit decision-making rules and possibly interdepartmental screening committees who work closely with the court so that the consistency and validity of these decisions can be more easily examined and refined. Program administrators and staff members will need to move practice technology beyond an “art form” to a more precise approach that can be documented. Unfortunately, the complexity of family problems, cultural issues, interactive factors, explosive combinations of risk elements, the need to analyze family strengths, and other issues will make this a difficult task.

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