Contributors to Fidelity of Child Welfare-Related Interventions: A Review

ABSTRACT

This structured literature review of 15 studies explores how practitioner and organizational factors relate to fidelity of specific interventions that have been implemented with children, youth, parents, and/or families served by child welfare systems. The methods used in this review align with the PRISMA methodology for search strategy, data collection and management, and synthesis. The majority of studies measured fidelity at the practitioner level, with a smaller set focused on agency or community levels. Findings across studies were inconsistent regarding the relationship between nine practitioner factors and fidelity. However, at the organizational level, higher fidelity was related to supervisory practices and use of continuous quality improvement methods across multiple studies. Further development is needed to more clearly operationalize child welfare interventions and to test alternative methods for measuring fidelity in child welfare systems.

KEYWORDS:

• Fidelity
• child welfare
• implementation factors

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Leah H. Bartley

Leah Bartley, PhD, MSW, is an Implementation Specialist /with the National Implementation Research Network (NIRN) at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In her current role, she is supporting implementation science application in child welfare and early childhood initiatives. She was also 2014-2016 Doris Duke Fellow for the Promotion of Child Wellbeing through the University of Chicago Chapin Hall. Previously, she was a program manager for the Ruth Young Center for Children and Families where she provided technical assistance, data analysis, and implementation support to the replication of Family Connections, a child maltreatment prevention program. Ms. Bartley’s research and practice interests include: child maltreatment prevention, implementation science, technical assistance, fidelity, intermediary organizations, and systems change.

Charlotte Lyn Bright

Charlotte Lyn Bright, Ph.D., is an associate professor and serves as Associate Dean for Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Education at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. Her research focuses on populations and services within the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, with specific interests in gender, trauma, and implementation of best practices. Dr. Bright teaches courses on data analysis and social work practice. Her social work practice and administration experience is with youth and families involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

Diane DePanfilis

Diane DePanfilis, PhD, MSW, is Professor of Social Work at Hunter College in New York City. She has over 40 years of experience in the child welfare field as a caseworker, supervisor, director, trainer, evaluator, educator, and researcher. Her early research focused on understanding the epidemiology of child maltreatment recurrences and factors that predict foster care placement including the role of domestic violence, mental health, and substance abuse. She has also led the design, testing, and implementation of federally funded community based interventions focused on preventing child maltreatment and on supporting systems to use evidence and data to inform decision-making related to policy, program, and practice reforms. She is the developer of Family Connections, a child maltreatment preventive intervention that is replicated nationally across the United States. Much of her current work involves exploring what factors support successful implementation of interventions with strong fidelity. Dr. DePanfilis is the Immediate Past Vice President of the Society for Social Work and Research and a former President of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.