Doctoral Dissertation Research: Interagency Collaboration and Maternal and Child Wellbeing

美国儿童保护服务机构收到的虐待儿童报告大多来自教师、医疗保健提供者和社会工作者等专业人士。因此，儿童福利系统和其他机构之间的数据共享便利了对虐待儿童案件的调查和干预。然而，这种合作的一个后果是，家庭可能由于害怕与儿童福利系统接触而避开提供必要资源的机构。该项目分析了在什么情况下机构参与与儿童保护服务参与的可能性更大，以及如何儿童保护服务的参与与未来的机构参与。探讨如何与儿童福利制度的相互作用，限制家庭愿意获得所需的服务揭示了一个未充分研究的机制，在社会分层的复制。该项目的研究结果将产生政策和政策执行战略，以鼓励适当的社会服务吸收和社会服务工作者与客户之间更好的合作。该项目的定量部分将分析脆弱家庭和儿童福祉研究（FFCWS）的数据。目前可用的FFCWS数据跟踪了近5000名儿童及其家庭，从重点儿童出生到15岁，对未婚母亲所生的儿童进行了过度抽样。统计技术，如广义线性模型将被用来估计儿童福利系统的参与和服务利用之间的关联。此外，该项目还涉及与40名社会服务雇员进行深入的半结构化访谈。访谈主题将包括受访者如何以及何时决定报告虐待儿童，他们使用什么证据，以及专业规范如何塑造这些决策过程。该项目将提供有关低收入家庭社会服务使用情况的证据，并对有关分层、家庭和儿童结果以及母亲与儿童福利系统接触的社会学理论产生影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The majority of child maltreatment reports received by child protective service agencies in the United States come from professionals such as teachers, healthcare providers, and social workers. Data sharing between the child welfare system and other institutions thus facilitates the investigation of and intervention in cases of child maltreatment. One consequence of this collaboration, however, is that families may avoid institutions that provide necessary resources out of fear of coming into contact with the child welfare system. This project analyzes under what circumstances institutional engagement is associated with a greater likelihood of child protective services involvement, as well as how child protective services involvement is related to future institutional engagement. Exploring how interactions with the child welfare system constrain family willingness to access needed services sheds light on one understudied mechanism in the reproduction of social stratification. Findings from this project will generate policy and policy implementation strategies for encouraging appropriate social service uptake and better collaboration between social service workers and clients.This project utilizes both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative portion of project will analyze data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study (FFCWS). Currently available FFCWS data follow nearly five thousand children and their families from the focal child's birth to age fifteen, with an oversampling of children born to unmarried mothers. Statistical techniques such as generalized linear models will be used to estimate associations between child welfare system involvement and service utilization. In addition, the project involves in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 40 social service employees. Interview topics will include how and when respondents decide to report child maltreatment, what evidence they use, and how professional norms shape these decision-making processes. This project will provide evidence regarding social service usage among low-income families, with implications for sociological theories regarding stratification, family and child outcomes, and maternal contact with the child welfare system.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.