A pathway to community supports: Infants and the provision of ongoing child welfare services

Objectives: The main objectives of this presentation are to: (1) enhance understanding of infants and their families investigated by the child welfare system; and, (2) determine the most influential factors associated with the... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives: The main objectives of this presentation are to: (1) enhance understanding of infants and their families investigated by the child welfare system; and, (2) determine the most influential factors associated with the decision to provide post-investigation child welfare services.

Method: A secondary analysis of the fifth cycle of the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (OIS) for 2013 was conducted. The OIS is a cross-sectional child welfare study that is conducted every five years. The most influential clinical and case factors that predicted the decision to transfer a case to ongoing services were explored through a multivariate tree-classification technique, chi-square automatic interaction detection (CHAID).

Results: There was an estimated 7,915 maltreatment-related investigations involving infants in 2013. Of those investigations, approximately 40% were transferred to ongoing services. Many investigations (44%) had at least one previous case opening. At least one caregiver risk factor was identified in approximately three-quarters (74%) of investigations involving infants. In the majority of investigations (57%), at least one referral for specialized services was provided. Primary caregiver with few social supports was the most highly significant predictor of the decision to provide ongoing child welfare services. Primary caregiver risk factors were predominant in this model. The analysis identified subgroups of investigations involving infants for which the likelihood of being transferred to ongoing services ranged from approximately 11% to 97%.

Conclusion: Caregivers of infants are struggling with numerous challenges that can adversely compromise their ability to meet the unique developmental needs of their infant. The findings underscore the importance of community and social supports in decision-making. Understanding how the child welfare system responds to the unique needs of infants and caregivers is critical to developing appropriate practice and policy responses within the child welfare sector and across other allied sectors.