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Authors of accountability: Paperwork and social work in contemporary child welfare practice

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  • Gibson, Katherine
  • Samuels, Gina
  • Pryce, Julia

Abstract

This analysis drew from a study in which child welfare professionals were interviewed about their definitions of “well-being” and the barriers and facilitators to promoting well-being in their daily practices. Participants consistently identified an unfortunate irony: that the practices they consider essential to promoting well-being are often constrained by system-wide efforts to ensure compliance with child welfare mandates, including the well-being mandate. The systems' need for data on accountability and compliance was often viewed as antithetical to practices of well-being for children and families. During in-depth interviews with 28 child welfare professionals in a large Midwestern city, casework was described as having two key dimensions: social work and paperwork. “Social work” was characterized as the work of building strengths-based relationships with clients. “Paperwork” was characterized as requirements to document practices to ensure compliance with institutional mandates. The latter form of work was often described as diverting time and attention away from the former. However, poignant counterpoints to this characterization of paperwork were provided, illustrating ways that it might facilitate social work. We propose a set of essential questions for future research in the role of paperwork in child welfare practice, including an exploration of what kinds of accountability paperwork enables and how these forms of bureaucratic authorship relate to other forms of communication and relationality in contemporary child welfare systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Gibson, Katherine & Samuels, Gina & Pryce, Julia, 2018. "Authors of accountability: Paperwork and social work in contemporary child welfare practice," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 43-52.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:85:y:2018:i:c:p:43-52
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2017.12.010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. McBeath, Bowen & Collins-Camargo, Crystal & Chuang, Emmeline & Wells, Rebecca & Bunger, Alicia C. & Jolles, Mónica Pérez, 2014. "New directions for research on the organizational and institutional context of child welfare agencies: Introduction to the symposium on “The Organizational and Managerial Context of Private Child Welf," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 83-92.
    2. 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.
    3. Lars Tummers & Victor Bekkers, 2014. "Policy Implementation, Street-level Bureaucracy, and the Importance of Discretion," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 527-547, May.
    4. Jones, Annette Semanchin & LaLiberte, Traci & Piescher, Kristine N., 2015. "Defining and strengthening child well-being in child protection," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 57-70.
    5. Blome, Wendy Whiting & Steib, Sue D., 2014. "The organizational structure of child welfare: Staff are working hard, but it is hardly working," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 181-188.
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    Cited by:

    1. Furrer, Carrie J. & Rodgers, Angela C. & Cooper, Christine & Rockhill, Anna & Lauzus, Nicole, 2023. "Creating conditions that encourage youth engagement in family child welfare case planning meetings: A youth perspective," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    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. Zeitlin, Wendy & Chakravarty, Sreyashi & Lawrence, Catherine & DeCristofano, Angela, 2019. "Direct practice contact: Predicting frontline child welfare workers' time with clients," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 9-15.
    4. Malginov, Georgiy (Мальгинов, Георгий) & Radygin, Alexander (Радыгин, Александр), 2015. "Property management of the state treasury of the Russian Federation: some of the current trends [Управление Имуществом Государственной Казны Рф: Некоторые Актуальные Тенденции]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 4, pages 20-46.

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