The more we change the more we stay the same: Canadian child welfare systems' response to child well-being

Abstract

Background: Child welfare services in Canada are guided by a dual mandate: to protect children from imminent harm and to promote their optimal development and well-being. To understand how child welfare systems respond to this dual mandate, Trocmé et al. (2014) developed a taxonomy to classify child welfare investigations as either being related to urgent protection or chronic needs.

Objective: To extend Trocmé et al.'s (2014) analysis using data from the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2019 (CIS-2019).

Participants and setting: The CIS-2019 employs a file review methodology to collect information on child maltreatment-related investigations conducted in Canada in 2019. The study's unweighted sample included 41,948 investigations involving children aged 0-15 years.

Methods: Secondary analyses of the CIS-2019 were conducted including frequency counts and bivariate analyses.

Results: Ninety percent of investigations conducted in Canada in 2019 were focused on concerns related to chronic needs. Most investigations (90.9 % of urgent protection investigations and 98.3 % of chronic needs investigations) did not involve physical harm to the child. Urgent protection investigations were less likely to have been previously investigated and more likely to be substantiated, involve a child welfare court application, or involve a placement in out-of-home care.

Conclusions: Most child welfare investigations in Canada continue to be focused on chronic needs. Yet, the investigation response seems designed to respond to urgent protection concerns. A truly differential model is needed to appropriately respond to the dual mandate of Canadian child welfare services and better serve children and families.

Keywords: Child welfare; Differential response; Policy; Risk assessment.