Screening decisions for non-abuse concerns reported to child protection agencies- a structural equation model for referral content and decision outcome

Objectives: Child protection referrals that contain information about incidents of physical child abuse, sexual abuse, and domestic violence have a high chance of being screened in for investigation. The aim of the current study is to investigate which case factors that affect the decision to screen-in cases with other types of concerns. Method: A sample of referrals (N = 1365) to child protection services in Norway was randomly drawn. Information was collected regarding (i) child and family characteristics, (ii) the content of the referral (iii) the decision to investigate. A structural equation model that describe how case characteristics and the contents of the report influence the screening decision was estimated. Results: Non abuse-concerns were grouped in three latent variables. The first consisted of referrals that contained concerns about a wide range of problems related to the child’s health and development. The second consisted of referrals that contained concerns about parental conflicts and child safety. The third consisted of concerns related to different types of family and environmental risk factors. Families with immigrant background have an increased chance of being screened-in, irrespective of referral content. Cases with previous referrals have a decreased chance of being screened-in. Conclusions: When controlling for other case factors, more complex referrals with multiple concerns have increased chance of being screened in

Måleegenskaper ved den norske versjonen av Crowell-prosedyren

Crowell-prosedyren er utviklet for å observere og vurdere samspillet mellom omsorgsgivere og sped- og småbarn gjennom en sekvens av ni ulike oppgaver, med en varighet på 45 minutter. Prosedyren ble utviklet av Crowell og kollegaer ved Stanford universitetet i USA i 1988, og har senere blitt revidert flere ganger. Det foreligger en norsk upublisert oversettelse av prosedyren. Samspillet mellom omsorgsgiver og barn skåres på to hovedskalaer som måler henholdsvis barnets atferd og hvordan foreldre forholder seg til barnet. Barnedelen har syv delskalaer og foreldredelen har fem. Det er ingen kjente formelle krav til kompetanse for bruk av prosedyren. Opplæring gis i form av et tre-dagers kurs. Det ble ikke identifisert noen relevante norske eller skandinaviske publikasjoner. Litteratursøket ga ikke grunnlag for å vurdere måleegenskapene ved den norske versjonen av Crowell-prosedyren. Måleegenskapene til den norske versjonen er ukjent.publishedVersio

Placement disruption in long-term kinship and nonkinship foster care

The purpose of this study was to explore factors related to placement disruption in long-term kinship and nonkinship foster care in a Nordic country. The study included 136 children aged 4–13 years in kinship and nonkinship foster care in Norway in the year 2000, with updates for the year 2008. Placement and demographic information and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were collected from foster parents and youths. Generalized linear mixed model analysis was undertaken. A thorough literature review was done in order to study association between disruption and relevant variables. None of the predominant variables from previous literature were significantly associated with disruption for this sample of children in long-term foster care. Since long-term stable foster care (rather than adoption) is the preferred option in Nordic as well as some other European countries, there is a need to explore the processes of inclusion that give children a lifelong commitment to their foster familie

Barnevernets undersøkelsesarbeid- oppsummering av hovedtrekkene i forskningslitteraturen. Delrapport 1

Denne rapporten er en oppsummering av hovedtrekkene i forskningslitteraturen om barnevernets undersøkelsesarbeid. Rapporten inneholder oversikt over (i) erfaringer med bruk av utredningsmaler internasjonalt, (ii) risikovurderinger, (iii) brukernes erfaringer med barnevernundersøkelser og (iv) forhold som har betydning for barnevernets beslutninger etter en undersøkelse

How does the Kvello assessment framework attend to important dimensions of the children’s needs and welfare? A comparison with the BBIC and the ICS frameworks for child welfare investigations

This study aimed to compare the content of the Norwegian Kvello AF for child welfare investigations with similar frameworks from Sweden (BBIC) and Denmark (ICS). The comparison was based on detailed descriptions of each framework, retrieved from authorized websites, textbooks, manuals, course material, and, for the Kvello AF, also personal communication with the author. An ecological triangle model similar to the British AF was chosen as a guideline for the comparison, as all three frameworks referred to bio-ecological developmental theory. The content of the frameworks was thus compared along dimensions and categories related to 1) the child’s needs and development, 2) the parents’ capacity, and 3) environmental factors. The main finding was that the Kvello AF included many of the same elements for gathering information as the other frameworks, but there were some important differences. The Kvello AF seemed to have a narrower perspective on the children’s needs and welfare than the other frameworks, implying a stronger focus on the child–parent interaction and a less focus on environmental factors and the child’s functioning outside the family

Service Provision by Child Protection Services — Exploring Variability at Case and Agency Levels in a Norwegian Sample

In this study, we look at the decision to provide services following a child protection investigation in Norway. More specifically, we want to look at variability at the case level and at the agency level in order to identify factors that may impact a decision to provide services. The study was designed as a cross-sectional archive study that was carried out retrospectively. Included predictors for service provision were presence of abuse, and risk factors related to child, parental and family function. Agency predictors were referral rate and metropolitan location. Variation in service provision was sectioned into case level (N = 883) variation and agency level (N = 16) variation. Five nested multilevel models were estimated. Service provision for families following a child protection investigation was on average 38.4% in the sample. Among the 16 agencies, it varied between 21.9 and 60.0%. This variation is mostly explained by case variables. The strongest were physical abuse (OR = 1.37) and neglect (OR = 1.18). There is evidence for agency differences with respect to the types of cases being referred. Differences in agency thresholds for service provision when controlling for the referral reason seem to be quite small

The impact of case characteristics on child welfare service investigations in Norway

This article explores the extent of activities in child welfare investigations. Several studies have reported that families can experience an investigation as both stressful and intrusive (Harris 2012; Tembo and Studsrød 2019). The extent of the investigation and its relation to reported concerns is important to better understand the investigation phase. The aim of this study was to examine which case characteristics lead to either an investigation with a high activity level or an investigation with a low activity level. Few previous studies have been identified, resulting in an explorative approach. Designed as a case file study, 1,123 investigations from 16 agencies in Norway were included. Multi-nominal regression by the generalized linear mixed model was employed to assess the relationships between case characteristics and the extent of the investigations, accounting for differences between agencies. For investigations with low activity, the main predictor was concerns regarding medical and educational neglect. Predictors for high activity included younger children, concerns of physical/sexual abuse, and concerns regarding the child’s social relations

Factors that determine children’s participation in child welfare decision making.

The papers of this thesis are not available in Munin: I. Vis, S. A., Thomas, N. (2009): 'Beyond talking-children's participation in Norwegian care and protection cases', European Journal of Social Work, 12(2), 155-168, available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13691450802567465 II. Vis, S. A., Holtan, A., Thomas, N. (2012): 'Obstacles for child participation in care and protection cases – why Norwegian social workers find it difficult', Child Abuse Review, 21(1), 7-23, available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/car.1155. The accepted manuscript version of this article is available in Munin at http://hdl.handle.net/10037/4226 III. Vis, S.A., Fossum, S. (2013): 'Organizational factors and child participation in decision-making: differences between two child welfare organizations', Child & Family Social Work, Article first published online: 20 May 2013 and available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cfs.12076 IV. Vis, S.A., Fossum, S. (2013): 'Representation of children's views in court hearings about custody and parental visitations — A comparison between what children wanted and what the courts ruled', Children and Youth Services Review, 35(12), 2101– 2109, available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.10.015. The accepted manuscript version of this article is available in Munin at http://hdl.handle.net/10037/5724</a

Samtaler med barn i barnevernet

Dette prosjektet er gjennomført med finansiering fra Stiftelsen Wøyen. Vi takker stiftelsen for deres interesse og engasjement for å gjøre barns stemmer hørt. Vi takker også de som har stilt opp på intervju og som gjennom sine fortellinger bidrar til kunnskapsutvikling i barnevernet

Samtale med barn i barnevernet- Utprøving og evaluering av implementeringsstrategier

I prosjekt ”Samtale med barn i barnevernet” kombineres forskning, utvikling og implementering av arbeidsmetoder i barnevernet. Prosjektet gjennom føres i fire faser i perioden 2003-2007. Det rapporteres her for Fase 3 ”Samtale med barn i barnevernet - utprøving og evaluering av implementeringsstrategier”. Dette delprosjektet er finansiert av stiftelsen Wøyen