Mental health counselling outcomes in child welfare

Research in child welfare generally talks about child outcomes, followed by family outcomes, and parent outcomes. Outcomes of interest include mental health, parent depression symptoms, rates of re-referral, parent-child... [ view full abstract ]

Research in child welfare generally talks about child outcomes, followed by family outcomes, and parent outcomes. Outcomes of interest include mental health, parent depression symptoms, rates of re-referral, parent-child dysfunction and adjustment, etc. There is an absence of child welfare research that focuses on client outcomes using routing outcome measurement,
Some child welfare scholars believe the Stage of Change model is useful in assessing the risk of future harm to children, identifying appropriate interventions for families of abused and neglected children, and making out-of-home placement and reunification decisions. Other researchers have suggested that higher levels of readiness for change sustain caregivers’ intentions to enroll in services that address parenting problems. Others posit that caregivers who are ready to change abusive or neglectful practices pose less risk of future harm to children. Readiness for change has been linked to service engagement and child maltreatment and has become a common target of intervention and, for some, a consideration in case planning.
This study explores the relationship between Readiness for Change and client outcomes among a sample of Calgary Counselling Centre clients referred by Child Welfare. Data is available for over 500 closed cases with 182 cases that have both outcome and readiness for change data. Other measures include: Number of counselling sessions, problem, age, gender, marital Status, education, employment, income, and ethnicity. Results suggest that clients receiving counselling as part of their involvement with child welfare demonstrate positive outcomes and that there is a relationship between stage of change and child welfare client counselling outcomes. Practice implications will be discussed.