Caregiver engagement in the behavioral health screening and assessment for child welfare-involved children: child welfare and behavioral health workers’ perspectives

ABSTRACT

Caregivers are frequent sources of information of their children’s behavioral health and other service needs. It is particularly challenging to engage child welfare-involved caregivers who risk losing custody of their children. This case study explores how caregivers who were about to lose custody of their children engage in their children’s behavioral health screening and assessment from the perspective of child welfare and behavioral health workers. Using qualitative data collected via focus groups from child welfare and behavioral health workers, themes were identified related to the process of engaging caregivers in child behavioral health screening and assessment, determinants (both internal and external) for the caregiver engagement process, and how this process affected screening and assessment outcomes. Findings have implications for screening and assessing behavioral health needs of children involved with the child welfare system and recommended strategies to better engage caregivers in the process.

KEYWORDS:

• Child welfare
• caregiver engagement
• child behavioral health

Acknowledgments

The findings and discussion do not represent the official view of Children’s Bureau. The authors wish to thank their child welfare agency partners, and the case workers who shared their experiences and ideas. An earlier version of this manuscript was presented at Society for Social Work and Research 21^st Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA, USA.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children, Youth and Families, Children’s Bureau [Grant #90CO1104].

Notes on contributors

Yiwen Cao

Yiwen Cao PhD, MA/MSW, is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine, at the University of California, San Diego. Her research examines neighborhood and family context for influencing child behavioral health and adolescent substance use, as well as behavioral health service access to children and families.

Alicia C. Bunger

Alicia C. Bunger PhD, MSW, is an Associate Professor at the College of Social Work at the Ohio State University. Her research examines organizational and system-level strategies for improving behavioral health service access including the role of interorganizational relationships, knowledge sharing, and front-line practices.

Jill Hoffman

Jill Hoffman is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Portland State University. Her research examines the systems (e.g., early childhood education, healthcare, social services) designed to support the well-being of young children and their families.