Making Placement Decisions in Child Welfare | Research Briefs

Описание: This research brief describes two studies from a body of research Brian Chor, Ph.d., has undertaken to study the reliability and validity of placement decision models based on the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS). Initiated as part of his dissertation, this work is based on studying placement decisions made after a Child and Family Team approach called (CAYIT) initiated in Illinois's child welfare system.

A CANS reviewer would put together an initial draft of the CANS and present it to the child and family team for confirmation and discussion. Once finalized, the decision model was run and a recommendation was made based on the CANS. The CAYIT was not bound by this recommendation and would make their determination of the post-CAYIT placement.

This decision support approach created a natural experiment allowing Brian and his colleagues to compare decisions that followed the recommendation versus those that were higher or lower levels of placement relative to the recommendations from the CANS. This research provides clear evidence of the effectiveness of the CANS as a decision support tool in a child welfare environment.

IPH Center website: https://iph.uky.edu/
Praed Foundation website: https://praedfoundation.org/