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Child maltreatment is a pervasive public health problem with well-documented impacts on a child's well-being. The connection between social determinants of health and child maltreatment is well established, particularly economic [...]

Assessing and responding to risks to children's safety is a primary concern of the child protection system (CPS), and decision-support tools have been developed to assist child welfare workers (CWW). Yet, a limited understanding of CWWs' decision-making experiences impedes our efforts to effectively support them. This qualitative study examines the unique characteristics of decision-making in CPS through focus groups involving CWWs from an agency in California. Five themes emerged: CWWs' responsibilities, decision-making characteristics, domain-specific complexities, and CWWs' perspectives on fairness in decision-making. The findings highlight the need to incorporate CWWs' experiences and insights in developing future decision-support tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Prevention Initiative Demonstration Project, funded by the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), is a community-specific strategy delivered through eight regional networks designed to address the full spectrum of community-based prevention. This article summarizes a strong and meaningful pattern of improvements found in the second year evaluation for three groups of families--those living in high-risk communities but not involved with DCFS, those being investigated by DCFS for possible child maltreatment, and those with open DCFS cases. (Contains 5 footnotes.)

This paper describes an innovative service delivery model to reduce the number of children entering the child welfare system. Point of Engagement (POE) is a collaborative family- and community-centered approach initiated in Compton, a regional office in Los Angeles County that serves south Los Angeles, a predominantly African American and Hispanic/Latino area. Over the past two years, the POE has been implemented in the Compton area by providing more thorough investigations, engaging families, and delivering needed services to children and families within their homes and communities. POE has demonstrated a reduction in the number of children removed from their families, an increase in the number of children returned to their families within one year, and an increase in the number of children finding legal permanency. (Contains 2 footnotes.)

This article presents a case study on the use of social indicators to guide community action and influence policy decisions around children and families in Los Angeles County California. Since the early 1990s, the Children's Planning Council has incorporated strategic use of data in all of its planning and community organizing. The Council has developed a unique set of strategies for using social indicators, in combination with large-scale organizing, to convene stakeholders, change perceptions and influence decision-making. The article describes the Council, the theoretical framework that guides its approach to data, key issues that have guided its information strategies, and the challenges that still lie ahead.

Understanding how money is spent to educate children and support families in local communities can help improve community decision making about public resources. This article reports on a process used in Los Angeles to derive estimates of total public expenditures on services for children and families in the community around the University of Southern California campus. Findings reveal the substantial amount of public resources spent by schools and other public agencies in one inner-city community. They also show that only one-half of the resources available for children in this inner-city neighborhood are controlled by the school district. Because each institution is responsible for its own budget, an overview of combined resources is generally not available to inform policy makers and help community groups take local action. The authors suggest steps that could be used to better understand resource allocation patterns in other communities.

Discusses the development of the Family Assessment Form for use in in-home family support services at the Children's Bureau of Los Angeles, California. Focuses on details of the form, its reliability and validity, and refinements in its use. (BB)

Linked administrative records were leveraged to characterize the demographics, prevalence and timing of child protection system (CPS) involvement of families receiving services from a homeless services agency in Los Angeles County, California between 2013 and 2016. Results revealed that nearly two-thirds of families seeking homeless services between 2013 and 2016 had concurrent or historical CPS involvement. Given that CPS involvement most often preceded the families' first homeless service encounter, the results not only underscore the value of cross-system coordination in the provision of family supports, but also highlight opportunities for prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the role of industrial social workers in employer supported child care services. Discusses current employer supported child care efforts, their relationship to industrial social work (i.e., through Employer Assistance Programs), possible problems related to this trend, and the immediate challenges for social workers in developing conceptual frameworks. (Author/CB)

Summarizes the strategy used by the Los Angeles Roundtable for Children during its two-year study of child welfare funding and expenditures in Los Angeles County. Looks at: (1) the profile of the county's children; (2) public expenditures in behalf of these children; and (3) publicly funded services targeted for at-risk children. (RWB)

Changes in the structure and needs of the American family are requiring changes in government and workplace policies. Discusses current policies related to day care, parental leave, work schedules, income support, and child support enforcement. Psychological research is needed to develop effective family policies. (Author/BJV)

Describes a process and instrument developed by the Children's Bureau of Los Angeles to evaluate its in-home family support program. The agency has combined case assessment, reporting and recording, evaluation structure, and research data collection in one instrument and one case-long process. (RJC)