IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v79y2017icp506-516.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Factors associated with service utilization in child welfare: A structural equation model

Author

Listed:
  • Hollinshead, Dana M.
  • Kim, Sangwon
  • Fluke, John D.
  • Merkel-Holguin, Lisa

Abstract

A key premise of child protective services systems is that families who participate in needed services will be associated with better outcomes. Using data from 1849 cases involved in a randomized control trial study conducted in three child welfare systems implementing Differential Response, this research tested a conceptual framework of engagement by exploring caregiver, caseworker, and agency factors and their roles in enhancing or suppressing service utilization. The findings from this exploratory study identified particular agency, caseworker and caregiver dynamics that were associated with greater participation in services. Controlling for other variables, receipt of an alternative response intervention, a caseworkers' inclusive interaction style, caregivers' positive emotional responses to their caseworker, and their satisfaction with their experiences were associated with utilization of counseling, employment-related, and/or basic needs services. Unexpectedly, caregivers reporting a negative emotional response were also associated with higher levels of service utilization, no matter the service type category; a finding that suggests that service utilization may be enhanced both by supportive and coercive means. The results of this research enhance our understanding of the interplay of policies, practices, casework skills, and caregiver characteristics with respect to child welfare outcomes, including indicators of engagement such as service utilization.

Suggested Citation

  • Hollinshead, Dana M. & Kim, Sangwon & Fluke, John D. & Merkel-Holguin, Lisa, 2017. "Factors associated with service utilization in child welfare: A structural equation model," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 506-516.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:79:y:2017:i:c:p:506-516
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.07.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740917301469
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.07.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schreiber, Jill C. & Fuller, Tamara & Paceley, Megan S., 2013. "Engagement in child protective services: Parent perceptions of worker skills," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 707-715.
    2. Estefan, Lianne Fuino & Coulter, Martha L. & VandeWeerd, Carla L. & Armstrong, Mary & Gorski, Peter, 2012. "Receiving mandated therapeutic services: Experiences of parents involved in the child welfare system," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 2353-2360.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Janczewski, Colleen E. & Nitkowski, Jenna, 2023. "Predicting mental and behavioral health service utilization among child welfare-involved caregivers: A machine learning approach," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    2. Lisa Merkel-Holguin & Ida Drury & Colleen Gibley-Reed & Adrian Lara & Maleeka Jihad & Krystal Grint & Kendall Marlowe, 2022. "Structures of Oppression in the U.S. Child Welfare System: Reflections on Administrative Barriers to Equity," Societies, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Huebner, Ruth A. & Hall, Martin T. & Smead, Erin & Willauer, Tina & Posze, Lynn, 2018. "Peer mentoring services, opportunities, and outcomes for child welfare families with substance use disorders," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 239-246.
    2. Lehtme, Rafaela & Toros, Karmen, 2020. "Parental engagement in child protection assessment practice: Voices from parents," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    3. Calheiros, Maria Manuela & Garrido, Margarida Vaz & Lopes, Diniz & Patrício, Joana Nunes, 2015. "Social images of residential care: How children, youth and residential care institutions are portrayed?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 159-169.
    4. Dunkerley, Stacy & Brown, Amanda & Akin, Becci & McArthur, Vickie, 2024. "Honoring Family: Using parent partner expertise to strengthen a child welfare coaching program," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    5. Kemp, Susan P. & Marcenko, Maureen O. & Lyons, Sandra J. & Kruzich, Jean M., 2014. "Strength-based practice and parental engagement in child welfare services: An empirical examination," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(P1), pages 27-35.
    6. Xu, Yanfeng & Ahn, Haksoon & Bright, Charlotte Lyn, 2017. "Family involvement meetings: Engagement, facilitation, and child and family goals," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 37-43.
    7. Garcia, Antonio R. & DeNard, Christina & Ohene, Serena & Morones, Seth M. & Connaughton, Clare, 2018. "“I am more than my past”: Parents' attitudes and perceptions of the Positive Parenting Program in Child Welfare," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 286-297.
    8. Chambers, Ruth M. & Brocato, Jo & Fatemi, Maryam & Rodriguez, Angel Y., 2016. "An innovative child welfare pilot initiative: Results and outcomes," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 143-151.
    9. Chambers, Ruth M. & Crutchfield, Rashida M. & Goddu Harper, Stephanie G. & Fatemi, Maryam & Rodriguez, Angel Y., 2018. "Family reunification in child welfare practice: A pilot study of parent and staff experiences," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 221-231.
    10. Damiani-Taraba, Gissele & Dumbrill, Gary & Gladstone, James & Koster, Andrew & Leslie, Bruce & Charles, Michelle, 2017. "The evolving relationship between casework skills, engagement, and positive case outcomes in child protection: A structural equation model," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 456-462.
    11. Davies, Kate & Ross, Nicola & Cocks, Jessica & Foote, Wendy, 2023. "Family inclusion in child protection: Knowledge, power and resistance," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    12. Toros, Karmen & DiNitto, Diana Maria & Tiko, Anne, 2018. "Family engagement in the child welfare system: A scoping review," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 598-607.
    13. Charest-Belzile, Dorothée & Drapeau, Sylvie & Ivers, Hans, 2020. "Parental engagement in child protection services: A multidimensional, longitudinal and interactive framework," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    14. Bekaert, S. & Paavilainen, E. & Schecke, H. & Baldacchino, A. & Jouet, E. & Zabłocka – Żytka, L. & Bachi, B. & Bartoli, F. & Carrà, G. & Cioni, R.M. & Crocamo, C. & Appleton, J.V., 2021. "Family members’ perspectives of child protection services, a metasynthesis of the literature," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    15. González-Pasarín, Lucía & Bernedo, Isabel M. & García-Martín, Miguel A., 2023. "A qualitative study about changes that parents experience through a pilot parenting support program to improve the quality of contact visits in non-kinship foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    16. Arbeiter, Ere & Toros, Karmen, 2017. "Participatory discourse: Engagement in the context of child protection assessment practices from the perspectives of child protection workers, parents and children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 17-27.
    17. Cheng, Tyrone C. & Lo, Celia C., 2016. "Linking worker-parent working alliance to parent progress in child welfare: A longitudinal analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 10-16.
    18. Rácz, Andrea & Bogács, Ernő, 2019. "Towards an Integrative and Inclusive Child Protection Practice," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 44, pages 143-160.
    19. Akin, Becci A. & Bryson, Stephanie A. & Testa, Mark F. & Blase, Karen A. & McDonald, Tom & Melz, Heidi, 2013. "Usability testing, initial implementation, and formative evaluation of an evidence-based intervention: Lessons from a demonstration project to reduce long-term foster care," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 19-30.
    20. Dolbin-MacNab, Megan L. & Smith, Gregory C. & Hayslip, Bert, 2022. "The role of social services in reunified custodial grandfamilies," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:79:y:2017:i:c:p:506-516. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.