Decision-Making and Judgment in Child Welfare and Protection Theory, Research, and Practice

Professionals in child welfare and protection are often required to make decisions--fraught with many difficulties and shortcomings--that have crucial implications for children and families. There are many indications that these decisions are frequently unreliable and involve unavoidable errors in judgement due to the uncertainties. Despite the central role of judgements in the field, child welfare and protection training and research programs pay limited attention to leveraging the human factors aspect of practice.

Although extensive research exists in relevant areas--such as medicine, psychology, business administration, and economics--little has been done to help develop, transfer, and translate scientific knowledge to the child welfare arena. Decision-Making and Judgment in Child Welfare and Protection pulls together the best internationally sourced expertise and makes it accessibly available and applicable to scholars, educators, practitioners, students, and policymakers--the key stakeholders in child protective services and child welfare.

John D. Fluke, PhD, is Professor and Associate Director for Systems Research and Evaluation at the Kempe Center in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

M?nica L?pez L?pez, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Rami Benbenishty, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at the School of Social Work and Social Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Erick J. Knorth, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Donald J. Baumann, PhD, is an instructor at St. Edwards University. He retired from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services where he was head of the Evaluation Section of Child Protective Services.

Preface

Part One: Frameworks and Models in Decision Making and Judgement in Child Welfare and Protection
Chapter 1: Key Theoretical Perspectives and Historical Overview, Rami Benbenishty and John D. Fluke
Chapter 2: Exploration in Predictive Analysis and Machine Learning, Kelly Stepura, Jim Schwab, Donald J. Baumann, Natalie Sowinski, and Stephanie Thorne

Part Two: Methodology for the Study of Decision Making in Child Welfare and Protection
Chapter 3: Empirical Methods for Studying Decision Making in Child Welfare and Protection, Joel Gautschi and Rami Benbenishty
Chapter 4: Instrumentation to Understand the Child Protective Services Decision Making Processes, Allan J. Dettlaff, Dana Hollinshead, Donald J. Baumann, and John D. Fluke

Part Three: Ecological Models of Decision Making in Child Welfare
Chapter 5: The Decision Making Ecology of Placing a Child into Foster Care: A Structural Equation Model, J. Christopher Graham, Alan J. Dettlaff, Donald J. Baumann, and John D. Fluke
Chapter 6: Lessons Learned from International Studies on Child Protection Decision Making Employing the Model of Judgments and Decisions Processes in Context (JUDPiC), M?nica L?pez L?pez and Rami Benbenishty
Chapter 7: The Psychosocial Process Underlying Residential Care Placement Decisions, Leonor Rodrigues, Manuela Calheiros, and C?cero Pereira
Chapter 8: The Decision to Substantiate Allegations of Child Maltreatment, Sarah A. Font, Kathryn Maguire-Jack, and Rebecca Dillard
Chapter 9: The Impact of Drugs, Infants, Single Mothers, and Relatives on Reunification: A Decision Making Ecology Approach, Kim Wittenstrom, Donald J. Baumann, John D. Fluke, J. Christopher Graham, and Joyce James
Chapter 10: Exploring Alternate Explanations for Agency-Level Effects in Placement Decisions Regarding Aboriginal Children, Barbara A. Fallon, John D. Fluke, Martin Chabot, Cindy Blackstock, Vandna Sinha, Kate Allan, and Bruce MacLaurin

Part Four: Decision making in child welfare and protection in practice
Chapter 11: The Use and Usability of Decision-Making Theory in Child Welfare Policy and Practice, Cora Bartelink, Tom A. van Yperen, Ingrid J. Ten Berge, and Erik J. Knorth
Chapter 12: The Voice of the Child in Child Protection Decision Making: A Cross-Country Comparison of Policy and Practice in England, Germany, and the Netherlands, Susanne Witte, Helen Baldwin, and M?nica L?pez L?pez
Chapter 13: Teaching and Learning Decision Making in Child Welfare and Protection Social Work, Brian J. Taylor

Part Five: Future Directions: Implications for Policy, Practice and Research
Chapter 14: Advancing the Field of Decision Making and Judgement in Child Welfare and Protection: A look Back and Forward, John D. Fluke, M?nica L?pez L?pez, Rami Benbenishty, Erik J. Knorth, and Donald J. Baumann