Urgent Protection versus Chronic Need - Clarifying the Dual Mandate of Child Welfare Services in Ontario: Urgent Protection or Chronic Need?

Objectives: Over the past 25 years, the Ontario children welfare system has experienced legislative amendments, the introduction of standard decision-making tools and the implementation of a differential investigation model.... [ view full abstract ]

Objectives: Over the past 25 years, the Ontario children welfare system has experienced legislative amendments, the introduction of standard decision-making tools and the implementation of a differential investigation model. Based on the conceptual model developed by Trocmé and colleagues, this presentation examines how 1) these system changes have influenced the identification of children and families with urgent protection versus chronic need concerns and 2) whether the rate of recurrence differs depending on the type of investigation.

Methods: Using data from 5 cycles of the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect, a cross-sectional study collecting information about children and families identified to the Ontario child welfare system, child maltreatment-related concerns were classified based on form of maltreatment, the child’s age and the presence of a severe injury, as either urgent protection investigations or other maltreatment-related investigations/assessments. Urgent protection investigations were designated as children under 4 investigated for neglect or physical abuse, all sexual abuse investigations and severe physical harm. All other investigations were classified as chronic need.

Results: The overall rate of investigations has increased from 27 per 1,000 children in 1993 to 53 per 1,000 children in 2013. The proportion of urgent cases was approximately half the investigations conducted in 1993; by 2013, only one in 10 investigations involved an urgent protection concern. Investigations involving urgent protection are much less likely to be recur within 12 months than investigations assessed for chronic need.

Conclusion: The definition of maltreatment has broadened and the mandate of child welfare services in Ontario has grown to include, not just the protection of children, but the promotion of their overall well-being. Although there has been a substantial increase in the proportion of chronic needs cases, the system continues to have a response rooted in meeting urgent protection concerns through forensic investigations.