Practice-Informed Definitions of Well-Being: The Last (but not least) Principle of Child Welfare

Background and Purpose: There are over 428,000 children in the child welfare system at any given time in the U.S. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). This system acts as guardian for involved children, and services maintain three central tenets: safety (i.e., freedom from real or threatened injury or harm), permanency (i.e., long-term residency arrangements), and well-being. The last of these aims is the broadest, yet is least understood by practitioners, scholars or policy-makers (Wilson, 2014). While some research has described correlations between various individual and familial variables and youth outcomes loosely associated with well-being (e.g. Drapeau, 2007; Andersson, 2005), there is limited research examining the definition, parameters, or meaning of well-being. This lack of clarity makes well-being difficult to assess, improve, promote, or protect.

This study was conducted to gather insights into well-being from the critical perspective of child welfare professionals. This paper seeks to address the abovementioned gap of understanding and help establish a base of knowledge related to the meaning and definition of well-being.

Methods: We conducted in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 28 child welfare professionals employed through various child welfare agencies in a large Midwestern city. Interviews (75-90 minutes) took place at the worker’s place of employment (n=25) or by phone (n=3). Participants had social work degrees (n=19) or professionally identify with counseling or psychology (n=9), and had an average of 15 years of child welfare practice experience. Interviews centered on workers’ conceptualizations of well-being, and experiences of barriers and facilitators to well-being.

After transcription, the research team compiled a code book, editing until consensus was reached on the scope, meaning, and depth of the codes. The team returned to the data using NVIVO qualitative software and coded for themes, first within and then across interviews. Using an interpretivist perspective to data analysis (Patton, 2014), a diverse set of themes emerged focused on working definitions of well-being.

Results: Analysis reveals that child welfare professionals have individually developed working definitions of well-being. The data suggests that well-being starts with basic human needs (e.g., access to health care and appropriate education). Study participants express frustrations in their efforts to address other critical components of well-being, such as conditions of service provision necessary for child well-being (e.g., professionals working together, continuity of care), and the children’s subjective experiences (e.g., sense of belonging in foster homes, foster parents treating all children alike, etc.). Findings also indicate that well-being incorporates the quality of relationships between multiple actors: children, foster parents, biological parents, caseworkers, and other service providers.  Finally, results emphasize notable descriptions of what well-being is not (e.g., over-medicating children; undervaluing trauma experiences).

Conclusion and Implications: Findings accentuate practice-informed understandings of the meaning of well-being for children and families in this system. Insights from child welfare professionals provide guidance for practitioners, scholars and policy-makers. With an understanding that is more clear and practice-informed, well-being can be promoted through policy decisions. Social work practitioners can also be better supported to assess and intervene to improve the well-being of clients they serve.