IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v99y2019icp441-450.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

To preserve or not to preserve: That is the question. Decision-making about family preservation among families in multi-problem situations

Author

Listed:
  • Vischer, Anne-Fleur W.K.
  • Knorth, Erik J.
  • Grietens, Hans
  • Post, Wendy J.

Abstract

High rates of failed reunification indicate that family preservation (FP) does not necessarily lead to permanency for children. It could be argued that, in such failed cases, the decision-making process leading to the preservation of the family was inadequate. In order to gain insight into the role that decision-making plays in family preservation practice, we studied decision-making within an FP-intervention program provided by the Expertise Center. The Expertise Center explicitly combines treatment and decision-making in an assessment-based intervention that is provided to families seeking either to be reunited with their young child (0–2) or to avoid an out-of-home placement of the child. In addition, at least one of the parents has psychiatric problems. We hereby attempted to a) map decision-making trajectories in practice and b) provide feedback about Expertise Center decision-making based on evidence regarding the – sometimes evolving – quality of parental behavior as observed in the participants. We have used a descriptive design (n = 100) as well as a one-group repeated measures design (n = 28) to examine parental behavior using the Atypical Maternal Behavior Instrument for Assessment and Classification (AMBIANCE). We hypothesized that a negative recommendation regarding family preservation would manifest itself in the display of more frequent and more severe atypical parental behavior. Our results indicate that the Expertise Center succeeded in contributing broadly to timely decision-making in the context of permanency planning, and that implementation of the Decision-making Continuum potentially improved the quality of clinical decision-making. Furthermore, our hypothesis was confirmed by four out of five measurements of parental behavior that have been proven to be significant for children's attachment security. Since these are promising results, the Expertise Center program could serve as an inspiration for the practice field.

Suggested Citation

  • Vischer, Anne-Fleur W.K. & Knorth, Erik J. & Grietens, Hans & Post, Wendy J., 2019. "To preserve or not to preserve: That is the question. Decision-making about family preservation among families in multi-problem situations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 441-450.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:99:y:2019:i:c:p:441-450
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.01.040
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0190740918308880
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.01.040?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. Lindsey, Duncan, 1994. "Family preservation and child protection: Striking a balance," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(5-6), pages 279-294.
    2. Festinger, Trudy, 1996. "Going home and returning to foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(4-5), pages 383-402.
    3. Maluccio, Anthony N. & Abramczyk, Lois W. & Thomlison, Barbara, 1996. "Family reunification of children in out-of-home care: Research perspectives," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(4-5), pages 287-305.
    4. Kimberlin, Sara E. & Anthony, Elizabeth K. & Austin, Michael J., 2009. "Re-entering foster care: Trends, evidence, and implications," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 471-481, April.
    5. Arad-Davidzon, Bilhah & Benbenishty, Rami, 2008. "The role of workers' attitudes and parent and child wishes in child protection workers' assessments and recommendation regarding removal and reunification," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 107-121, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Chartier, Stéphanie & Blavier, Adélaïde, 2021. "Should the reintegration of children in foster care into their biological families be the only goal of the legislation governing foster care? Factors influencing the relations between parents and thei," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    2. Berry, Marianne, 1998. "Adoption in an Era of family preservation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 1-12.
    3. Moore, Kathleen & Sharp, Amanda & Alitz, Paige & Yampolskaya, Svetlana & Kleinman, Mary & Carlson, Melissa & Argerious, Alexa, 2020. "Reconsidering success for an integrated family dependency treatment court," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    4. Fernandez, Elizabeth & Delfabbro, Paul & Ramia, Ioana & Kovacs, Szilvia, 2019. "Children returning from care: The challenging circumstances of parents in poverty," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 100-111.
    5. Pine, Barbara A. & Spath, Robin & Werrbach, Gail B. & Jenson, Cary E. & Kerman, Benjamin, 2009. "A better path to permanency for children in out-of-home care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(10), pages 1135-1143, October.
    6. Ubbesen, Mads Bonde & Petersen, Liselotte & Mortensen, Preben Bo & Kristensen, Ole Steen, 2012. "Out of care and into care again: A Danish register‐based study of children placed in out-of‐home care before their third birthday," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(11), pages 2147-2155.
    7. Jedwab, Merav & Shaw, Terry V., 2017. "Predictors of reentry into the foster care system: Comparison of children with and without previous removal experience," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 177-184.
    8. Strolin-Goltzman, Jessica & Holbrook, Hannah, 2023. "The influence of Decision-making ecology on placement into foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    9. Shipe, Stacey L. & Shaw, Terry V. & Betsinger, Sara & Farrell, Jill L., 2017. "Expanding the conceptualization of re-entry: The inter-play between child welfare and juvenile services," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 256-262.
    10. Venables, Jemma, 2019. "Practitioner perspectives on implementing an alternative response in statutory child protection: The role of local practice context and leadership teams in shaping practice," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    11. Diana N. Teixeira & Isabel Narciso & Margarida R. Henriques, 2022. "Driving for Success in Family Reunification—Professionals’ Views on Intervention," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-20, December.
    12. Balsells, Maria Àngels & Pastor, Crescencia & Mateos, Ainoa & Vaquero, Eduard & Urrea, Aida, 2015. "Exploring the needs of parents for achieving reunification: The views of foster children, birth family and social workers in Spain," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 159-166.
    13. de Kwaadsteniet, Leontien & Bartelink, Cora & Witteman, Cilia & ten Berge, Ingrid & van Yperen, Tom, 2013. "Improved decision making about suspected child maltreatment: Results of structuring the decision process," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 347-352.
    14. Barth, Richard P. & Weigensberg, Elizabeth C. & Fisher, Philip A. & Fetrow, Becky & Green, Rebecca L., 2008. "Reentry of elementary aged children following reunification from foster care," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 353-364, April.
    15. Storhaug, Anita Skårstad, 2023. "The decision-making ecology of child welfare emergency placements," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    16. Yampolskaya, Svetlana & Callejas, Linda M., 2020. "The effect of child mental health service use on child safety and permanency in substance misusing families," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    17. Kim, Minseop & Garcia, Antonio R. & Lee, Lewis H., 2021. "Dual system youth: Subsequent system re-entry after receiving mental health services," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    18. Ryan, Joseph P. & Garnier, Philip & Zyphur, Michael & Zhai, Fuhua, 2006. "Investigating the effects of caseworker characteristics in child welfare," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(9), pages 993-1006, September.
    19. Becker, Marion A. & Jordan, Neil & Larsen, Rebecca, 2007. "Predictors of successful permanency planning and length of stay in foster care: The role of race, diagnosis and place of residence," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(8), pages 1102-1113, August.
    20. Gibson, Matthew, 2016. "Constructing pride, shame, and humiliation as a mechanism of control: A case study of an English local authority child protection service," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 120-128.

    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:99:y:2019:i:c:p:441-450. 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.