Decision-Making and Judgment in Child Welfare and Protection: Theory, Research, and Practice

Professionals in child welfare and protection are often required to make decisions--fraught with many difficulties and shortcomings--that have crucial implications for children and families. There are many indications that these decisions are frequently unreliable and involve unavoidable errors in judgement due to the uncertainties. Despite the central role of judgements in the field, child welfare and protection training and research programs pay limited attention to leveraging the human factors aspect of practice. Although extensive research exists in relevant areas--such as medicine, psychology, business administration, and economics--little has been done to help develop, transfer, and translate scientific knowledge to the child welfare arena. Decision-Making and Judgment in Child Welfare and Protection pulls together the best internationally sourced expertise and makes it accessibly available and applicable to scholars, educators, practitioners, students, and policymakers--the key stakeholders in child protective services and child welfare.

About the Author :
John D. Fluke, PhD, is Professor and Associate Director for Systems Research and Evaluation at the Kempe Center in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. M�nica L�pez L�pez, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Rami Benbenishty, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at the School of Social Work and Social Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Erik J. Knorth, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. Donald J. Baumann, PhD, is an instructor at St. Edwards University. He retired from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services where he was head of the Evaluation Section of Child Protective Services.

Review :
"This is a must have text for anyone contributing to child welfare policy, conducting child welfare research, administering a child welfare program, or serving vulnerable families caught in the child welfare system. All of the work presented is based on sound theory and empirical research methods and moves the area of child welfare decision-making to the next level." -Anita P. Barbee, PhD, MSSW, Kent School of Social Work, Center for Family and Community Well-Being, University of Louisville "The decision to intervene with families has enormous implications and yet, Fluke, L�pez L�pez, Benbenishty, Knorth, and Baumann bring the conversation about decision making and judgment in child welfare to new, heightened levels of analysis which have been missing from the professional literature. Using cutting-edge research on child welfare from a wide range of disciplines, this book delves into a dialogue about what constitutes best practices, while providing a context with current research studies and methodological frameworks in child welfare decision making. This is a volume that should be required reading for policy makers, child welfare professionals and scholars." -Gerald P. Mallon, DSW, LCSW, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, City University of New York "Child welfare and protection professionals make a myriad of decisions that have long-lasting and sometimes life-altering impacts on child, family and community well-being. Decision-Making and Judgment in Child Welfare and Protection is a must-read for those who make these critical decisions on a daily basis, and for those who educate the child welfare and protection workforce. By translating the science behind decision making in child welfare, this book creates an opportunity to advance the child welfare field and challenges professionals on how they partner with the family group as decision makers." -Lisa Merkel-Holguin, MSW, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and National Center on Family Group Decision Making "This volume provides an overview of the latest scientific knowledge on decision-making and judgment in child welfare and protection by an international group of highly respected experts. The focus on transdisciplinary research, the integration of different theoretical frameworks, and the translation of key findings into guidelines for practice make it to an essential reading for academics, policymakers and practitioners all around the globe and a reference work for students and teachers." -Hans Grietens, Centre for Parenting and Special Needs Education, KU Leuven and European Scientific Association on Residential and Family Care