Client engagement and intervention outcomes: Yes, there is a relationship and here's what it looks like

Although client engagement is considered to be a critical aspect of almost all helping processes, there is still little known about the interactive characteristics of "engagement" and its relationship to intervention outcomes.... [ view full abstract ]

Although client engagement is considered to be a critical aspect of almost all helping processes, there is still little known about the interactive characteristics of "engagement" and its relationship to intervention outcomes. We gathered data from 131 randomly sampled dyads composed of adult parent clients and their child welfare workers affiliated with 11 child welfare agencies in Ontario. Included in our initial findings was a statistically significant relationship between engagement and positive case outcomes (parents who were more engaged were significantly more likely to feel that their child was safer, to report positive changes in their parenting, greater satisfaction with their worker, and increased likelihood of contacting their worker in the future if needed). Other initial findings included significant relationships between the use of particular casework skills and parent engagement, casework skills and positive outcomes, parent engagement and worker engagement, and worker stress and worker engagement. The objective of this paper is to present a structural equation model which we are now developing in order to identify the path between engagement and outcome and determine the key conditions related to parent engagement and positive case outcomes. We will report on how the variables interact together to create a model of engagement. We will also discuss the implications that this model has for best practice and the "judicious" delivery of service to families.