Research Publications

Little empirical research has examined the effects of case characteristics on high‐quality teamwork within family meetings in child welfare. We attempted to fill this gap using 497 child welfare cases in a Midwestern state in the United States. We found that overall teamwork was negatively associated with domestic violence, frequent placement moves, and a permanency plan of adoption, whereas teamwork was positively associated with the length of involvement in the child welfare system. We also examined the relationships between the case characteristics and two components of teamwork. The results showed that domestic violence and the length of the involvement were equally significant factors for both team formation and functioning.

Despite the prevalence of family team meetings in child welfare, little empirical research has examined the effects of case characteristics on its teamwork. The authors attempted to fill this gap using 497 child welfare cases in the United States.

Adolescents who reenter school after treatment for cancer may face certain challenges, such as social exclusion by their peers and difficulties in cognitive functioning, due to the cancer treatment and its psychosocial sequelae. Such challenges may have an impact on their mental health.

Families exposed to maltreatment have high rates of co-occurring substance misuse. Yet, few child welfare interventions concurrently address both child maltreatment and parental substance misuse, and, therefore, fail to intervene around their shared precipitants.

Mental health problems are, unfortunately, a common occurrence among youth who experience maltreatment. This study used an interdisciplinary approach to consider how demographic differences, justice involvement, type of treatment agency involved, and child welfare effectiveness impact mental health. The study analyzed Quality Services Review (QSR) data from 2,110 randomly sampled child welfare cases in a Midwestern state. Multinomial logistic regression was used to predict the likelihood of problem severity based upon agency involvement, team effectiveness, and intervention effectiveness.