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The Keep Children and Families Safe Act amendment to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 2003 mandated children under age three who are involved with Child Welfare (CW) to receive a referral to the system for early intervention (EI). While there is strong rationale for providing developmental services to young children and families impacted by maltreatment, the early implementation of this policy brought about many challenges related to interagency coordination and readiness of providers to provide cross-systems care. Currently, as the system and providers within the system recover from the effects of Covid-19, a predicted increase in need of services may exacerbate historical gaps in the provision of services to families involved with CW. This policy-focused paper explores issues impacting CW and EI providers who coordinate care between CW and EI services. This paper provides a historical examination of these challenges and proposes an approach for improving developmental services for families referred from CW, specifically through the lens of addressing resources and supports available to providers. The proposed approach includes an increase and reprioritization of resources to support provider readiness and well-being. By focusing on support for providers, the authors propose a reduction of stress and improvement of services at each level of the "well-being" system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Research shows that neglect in early life can affect biobehavioral development. • Children who have experienced neglect show distinct cortisol production patterns. • Early interventions have been shown to produce more typical cortisol patterns. • Future research should consider additional biomarkers and policy implications. Research on the effects of early life adversity, and in particular on the absence of responsive caregiving, has shown long-term impacts on well-being and development. These investigations have been conducted both in human populations and in animal models. The work has demonstrated that neglect experienced in the early years can affect not only behavior but also neurobiological functioning. In particular, studies of children in the foster care system show convergence with research on children adopted following institutional rearing in terms of dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which produces the neuroendocrine hormone cortisol. The characteristic pattern that has been most commonly observed involves diminished diurnal cortisol production, particularly in terms of low levels of cortisol upon awakening. Notably, however, a number of evidence-based interventions for infant, toddler, and preschool-aged foster children have been shown to produce more typical patterns of cortisol production, in combination with improved behavioral, socioemotional, and foster care placement outcomes. In this paper, we review the literature on the effects of early disruptions in care on biobehavioral development, and summarize the results of the interventions for young foster children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Child neglect is the most prevalent type of child maltreatment. Research has shown that its sequelae can be more harmful than physical or sexual abuse, particularly at early ages, supporting the importance of preventive and early interventions. This paper presents the results of the first pilot implementation in Spain of SafeCare, a home visiting evidence-based programme for the prevention and treatment of child neglect in families with children aged 0-5 years old. Method: Between 2014 and 2017, 89 families were referred from Child Protection Services of Gipuzkoa and San Sebastian to SafeCare. Of these, 46 finished the programme. Parenting skills, depressive symptomatology, child abuse potential, parental stress, and child behavioural problems were measured at baseline and after treatment. Parental satisfaction with the programme was evaluated after treatment. Results: High levels of pa rental sat isfact ion, significant improvements in parenting skills, and significant decreases in child abuse potential, parental stress, and perception of child behavioural problems were found after treatment. Conclusions: Findings suggested that SafeCare can be useful for families with early signs of child neglect. The study also confi rmed the feasibi l ity of implementing such an evidence based programme in Child Protective Services in Spain. More studies with larger samples and experimental designs are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-system collaborations are central to the provision of services for young children with disabilities who have experienced abuse. While multiple position papers and policy briefs emphasize and encourage these cross-system collaborations between the Early Intervention and Child Welfare systems, very limited empirical research has examined these collaborations. This intrinsic case study examines Jocelin, a young child who experienced abuse, her family, and the EI and CW professionals who support her and her family. We share three case study 'patches' to examine the approach to, as well as the quality and quantity of EI and CW services provided to Jocelin and her family. Implications for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The White Paper on Vulnerable Children before the Aotearoa/New Zealand parliament proposes changes that will significantly reconstruct the child welfare systems in this country, including the use of a predictive risk model (PRM). This article explores the ethics of this strategy in a child welfare context. Tensions exist, including significant ethical problems such as use of information without consent, breaches of privacy and stigmatisation, without clear evidence of the benefits outweighing these costs. Broader implicit assumptions about the causes of child abuse and risk and their intersections with wider discursive, political and systems design contexts are discussed. Drawing on Houston et al. (2010) this paper highlights the potential for a PRM to contribute to a neo-liberal agenda that individualises social problems, reifies risk and abuse, and narrowly prescribes service provision. However, with reference to child welfare and child protection orientations, the paper suggests more ethical ways of using the model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The importance of safeguarding children from violence is internationally recognised. However, detecting, intervening and protecting children from abuse both within the family and in institutions is complex. This paper specifically focuses on safeguarding in England and how workforce reform in the early years offers the opportunity to forge new partnerships with families and professionals. These relationships have the potential to support more positive outcomes for babies, young children and families who are ‘in need’ or where the children are at risk of significant harm or abuse has occurred. The paper draws on the findings from research exploring the impact of workforce reform in the early years and how the changes impact upon the wider safeguarding agenda. It will argue that the introduction of an inter-disciplinary graduate professional in the early years has afforded an opportunity to forge new partnerships that have the potential to significantly impact on child maltreatment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]