Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

Purpose: North American child protection systems have been experiencing an era of sweeping child welfare reform over the last decade (Edlesohn, 2004). Instituting risk assessment models, implementing family preservation initiatives, strengthening principles of “the best interest of the child”, redesigning permanency planning, and implementing differential response models are some of the changes reflected in these reforms. Despite the breadth of these changes, legislative and policy impacts are rarely evaluated to ascertain whether changes are resulting in the outcomes they were designed to achieve (Jaffe, Crooks & Wolfe, 2003). In a recently completed study, we sought to determine the impact of child welfare legislation aimed at investigating children exposed to domestic violence on disclosure of woman abuse, help seeking actions of women for themselves and their children and, on service delivery.

Method: Using a participatory action framework, 70 participants from various service sectors and child welfare service recipients from a large urban centre, were interviewed individually and in focus groups about legislation impact in cases of children exposed to domestic violence (DV). Establishing trustworthiness and authenticity of the data occurred through maintaining detailed researchers notes, audio-tapes and transcriptions of the interviews, memos, and an audit trail. Analysis of data occurred with multiple coders to maximize consistency and breadth of themes and to reduce bias. Intensive content analyses supported by the use of N*Vivo soft-ware were conducted. Emerging results were regularly reviewed by an Advisory Committee comprised of stakeholders as a form of member-checking. Through this policy evaluation the study data revealed intended and unintended consequences suggesting both negative and positive outcomes on professional practice and for families affected by DV.

Results: Reluctance of abused women to disclose or seek services for their families, isolation between helping professionals from different sectors, mechanisms to address this isolation, increased demand for services, increased surveillance of mothers, and decreased accountability of perpetrators were predominant themes identified. While most study participants, including both clients and service providers, noted the ‘spirit of the Act' to be well-meaning and based on a credible body of child research, there were also problems cited with the implementation and impact of policies that flowed from this piece of child welfare legislation. Penalizing mothers and taxing already stressed systems are among the two most serious consequences.

Implications for Policy and Practice: The urgency and necessity of assessing impacts and on-going evaluation of child welfare policies are discussed. Trends suggest that viewing exposure to domestic violence as a form of child maltreatment continue to advance. These data strongly suggest that response models be tested as pilot studies, rigorously evaluated and fully implemented only when there are assurances that appropriate and adequate services are available to meet the complex needs of the communities they are designed to serve.