Objective: Organizational climate has emerged as an important factor in understanding and addressing the complexities of providing services in child welfare. This research examines the psychometric properties of each of the dimensions of Parker and colleagues' Psychological Climate Survey in a sample of voluntary child welfare workers. Methods:…

Objective: This research examines the psychometric properties of the Perceptions of Child Welfare Scale (PCWS). This instrument is designed to assess child welfare workers' understanding of how society views their role and their work. Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was utilized to analyze data on 538 child welfare workers. Results:…

Strengths-based practice (SBP) is one of the primary modalities of social work practice. The literature on SBP does not address a standardized tool for measuring SBP or whether receipt of a social work degree is related to practice orientation. We measure SBP with a provider-based Strengths-Based Practices Inventory (SBPI-P) and examine whether a…

The actuarial method is the gold standard for risk assessment in child welfare, juvenile justice, and criminal justice. It produces risk classifications that are highly predictive and that may be robust to sampling error. This article reports a revalidation study of the Arizona Risk/Needs Assessment instrument, an actuarial instrument for juvenile…

This population-based study investigated the unique and cumulative relations between risks that are monitored by public surveillance systems and academic and behavioral outcomes for an entire cohort of third graders in a large, urban public school system. Using integrated, administrative records from child welfare, public health, housing, and…

Citizen Review Panels (CRPs) for Child Protective Services are groups of citizen-volunteers throughout the United States who are federally mandated to evaluate local and state child protection systems. This study presents a profile of 332 CRP members in 20 states with regards to their demographic information, length of time on the panel, and …

This study report provides information about kinship foster care and foster family care focusing on the demographic characteristics of the providers; the services providers receive; the children served in care; and issues of visitation with birth parents. The study highlights marked differences in providers and in the services they receive, and…

This report presents a statistical look at the well-being of children in the state of Illinois, quantifying the problems confronting them and outlining steps that policymakers and service providers can take to improve the situation. The first part of the report summarizes the state's situation in the areas of education, health, special needs, and…

Fifty-six Delaware families who had adopted special needs children were interviewed concerning the adoptions and family support systems. A majority of the children were adopted by White foster families who were adaptable, close-knit, and active in their church. Recommendations are made to increase the likelihood of adoptions for special needs…

Examined the mortality rate in a one-year cohort of children with child welfare status in Alberta. Found the rate to be significantly elevated compared to children not in care. Neglected and abused children were apt to have died violently, while handicapped children were more likely to have died because of disease or infirmity. (HTH)

This document is a brief summary of the National Study of Social Services to Children and Their Families. Conducted by the United States Children's Bureau, the survey was planned to answer a number of questions about public social service programs: How many children receive service? Who are the children and their families? Why do they come to the…

This paper provides a summary of a baseline study of Canadian child welfare services from 1959 to 1977. The nation-wide study relates main trends in the services to a background of demographic, social, legislative and organizational change. Progress of the research project is outlined to illustrate some of the constraints on research in Canada at…

This report includes information conerning demographic trends affecting children over the past few years, the status of children as determined by critical normative data pertaining to their health, education, welfare and the identification and targeting of programs and services to meet the needs of children. Section I covers demographic trends in…

To determine how the Internet is being used in education, researchers surveyed newsgroup participants. Questions concerned demographics and usage. Responses totaled 147. Results indicate that there is a solid foundation of users who are optimistic about the future despite hardware and software problems and concerns about offensive material. Seven…

This paper reports findings of a retrospective longitudinal reconstruction of child welfare service activities in Canada. The first section discusses demographic developments and the child welfare services. It is reported that the increase in the number of children in care in the 20-year period from 1940 to 1960 was to some extent a reflection of…