Filippelli Joanne, Fallon Barbara, Trocmé Nico, Fuller-Thomson Esme, Black Tara
Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, 246 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M6S 3W6 Canada.
McGill University, 3506 University Street, Room#301, Montreal, QC H3A 2A7 Canada.
Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2017 May 1;11:24. doi: 10.1186/s13034-017-0162-7. eCollection 2017.
Infants are the most likely recipients of child welfare services; however, little is known about infants and families who come into contact with the child welfare system and factors that are associated with service provision. Investigations involving infants and their families present an unparalleled opportunity for the child welfare sector to enhance infants' safety and well-being through early identification, referral and intervention. 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. This study examines maltreatment-related investigations in Ontario involving children under the age of one to identify which factors are most influential to predicting service provision at the conclusion of a child welfare investigation.
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 5 years. The most influential factors that were associated with the decision to transfer a case to ongoing services were explored through a multivariate tree-classification technique, Chi square automatic interaction detection.
There were an estimated 7915 maltreatment-related investigations involving infants in 2013. 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 11-97%.
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.
婴儿是儿童福利服务最主要的接受对象；然而，对于接触儿童福利系统的婴儿及其家庭，以及与服务提供相关的因素，我们却知之甚少。涉及婴儿及其家庭的调查为儿童福利部门提供了一个绝佳机会，可通过早期识别、转介和干预来提高婴儿的安全与福祉。了解儿童福利系统如何应对婴儿及其照料者的独特需求，对于在儿童福利部门以及其他相关部门制定适当的实践方法和政策回应至关重要。本研究调查了安大略省针对一岁以下儿童的虐待相关调查，以确定哪些因素对预测儿童福利调查结束时的服务提供最具影响力。
对2013年安大略省儿童虐待和忽视事件发生率研究（OIS）的第五轮数据进行了二次分析。OIS是一项每5年进行一次的横断面儿童福利研究。通过多元树分类技术——卡方自动交互检测，探索了与将案件转至持续服务决定相关的最具影响力因素。
2013年估计有7915起涉及婴儿的虐待相关调查。在约四分之三（74%）涉及婴儿的调查中，至少发现了一项照料者风险因素。在大多数调查（57%）中，至少提供了一项转介至专门服务机构的建议。社会支持较少的主要照料者是决定提供持续儿童福利服务的最显著预测因素。主要照料者风险因素在该模型中占主导地位。分析确定了涉及婴儿的调查子组，其被转至持续服务的可能性在约11%至97%之间。
婴儿的照料者面临着诸多挑战，这些挑战可能会对他们满足婴儿独特发育需求的能力产生不利影响。研究结果强调了社区和社会支持在决策过程中的重要性。
