RE: Intensity and Duration of Child Protection/Child Welfare Services.

[Greg Tooman <GTooman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

You might want to take a look at:

Fluke, J.D, Edwards, M., Kutzler, P., Kuna, J., & Tooman, G.D. (2000).
Safety, Permanency, and In Home Services: An Application of Administrative
Data. Child Welfare, 84, 573-598.

The article is focused on the use of administrative data to provide outcomes
information as part of the City of Philadelphia Outcomes Measures Project.
We report service intensity data for in-home services, and have looked at
service duration as part of the project's outcomes goals, but I should
caution against using duration and service intensity as outcomes measures in
and of themselves.  

In our data, higher intensity services were associated with higher incidence
of recurrence of maltreatment and with longer duration in service.  A
somewhat shortsighted view of these results might be that the
higher-intensity treatment did not "work," since services lasted longer and
produced poorer results than lower-intensity treatment.  However, one might
just as easily say that these results show that the family was correctly
"diagnosed" -- in other words, high intensity services are appropriate when
families are at highest risk, and therefore more likely to require longer
duration in service and more likely to experience recurrence.  

Bottom line: beware of the tail wagging the dog.

Also be aware of other variables, such as number of children in the family,
that can influence service duration.  And keep in mind that service duration
often is influenced by policy mandates and other systemic variables.


Gregory Tooman
Research Associate
Children's Services
American Humane Association
63 Inverness Dr. East
Englewood CO 80112-5117
(303) 792-9900 fax: (303) 792-5333
greg@americanhumane.org
http://www.americanhumane.org/


-----Original Message-----
From: Lyle, Gene [mailto:Gene.Lyle@Co.Ramsey.MN.US]
Sent: Tuesday, December 19, 2000 8:20 AM
To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
Subject: RE: Intensity and Duration of Child Protection/Child Welfare
Serv ices.



I am looking for any references in the literature to research which
demonstrates the impact of service intensity and/or duration on outcomes for
children and families that receive Child Protection or Child Welfare
services. Although we'll be doing a lit search on this end, I've found that
it's sometimes easy to overlook or miss important work. Any and all
references will be welcomed. References with up-to-date and thorough
bibliographies receive a 10 point bonus!

Thanks in advance.

Gene Lyle
Office of Performance Measurement & Evaluation
Ramsey County Community Human Services Dept.
St. Paul, MN