Beliefs and Opinions about the State Child Welfare System in a Community Sample of Parents and Primary Caregivers

Background and Purpose. The child welfare system (CWS) is designed to protect children from harm; however, parents tend to experience child welfare interventions in predominantly negative ways. Beliefs and opinions about CWS may influence parental decisions to engage in services, especially when these services are offered on a voluntary basis. The majority of studies on parental perceptions of CWS have focused on families with active child welfare involvement - scant information is available about parents with no system involvement. A better understanding of how these parents may view CWS is instrumental for designing relevant and relatable prevention services.The goals of the present study were to: (a) examine the beliefs and opinions about CWS in a community sample of parents with no child welfare involvement; and (b) identify parental characteristics that may relate to favorable or unfavorable opinions about CWS.

Methods. This study was based on a community sample of parents with children under the age of 18 residing in one state. Data collection was conducted from March to July 2024, through a web-based survey targeting the residents of all the state’s counties. The final sample for the current analysis consisted of 323 participants who did not report past or present CWS involvement for any of their children. About two-thirds were women and Black or Hispanic, in accordance with pre-determined quotas oversampling these groups. Participants reported on a range of individual characteristics, and completed a 12-item scale about their perceptions and opinions about CWS (α=.85). A lower total score on the scale was indicative of more negative perceptions of the system.

Results. Negative perceptions of CWS were relatively common in the present sample. For instance, over 30% of participants agreed that the main goal of CWS was to “police families”, and that CWS workers were “biased” against parents of color and those who were living in poverty. At the same time, a significant number of parents reported positive perceptions – e.g., over 60% agreed that CWS workers “try to help parents take better care of their children” and “provide useful services and supports to families”. Bivariate analyses revealed that parents who were younger; those who were single, divorced or widowed; those with an associate’s degree or below; and those with an annual household income of $50,000 or below reported more negative perceptions of CWS. Additionally, parents who disclosed a history of substance misuse tended to hold more negative views of the system. In multivariate analysis, only parent’s younger age and lower income remained significantly associated with more negative perceptions of CWS.

Conclusion and Implications. Current findings suggest that negative perceptions of CWS are fairly common among parents with no active system involvement, especially those who are younger and come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. These perceptions may impact parental responsiveness when services are offered on a voluntary basis, for instance, in-home services designed to prevent a child’s out-of-home placement. Additional research is needed to develop effective strategies for improving parental perceptions of CWS.