John Dunn
03-10-2004, 02:37 PM
History of Project Activities 2000-2003
Our first three years have been invested in carrying out multiple method
investigations of the everyday lives and service experiences of families
involved with child welfare and/or children's mental health. We talked to
over 150 parents and families involved with child welfare and/or children's
mental health systems.
.. 16 mothers participated in life story interviews
.. 17 families took part in family interviews
.. 6 parents and their Children's Aid worker took part in a series of
individual and joint interviews to create a story of what it was like to
work together
.. 61 parents were interviewed about their everyday lives and what it was
like to be involved with the Children's Aid Society
.. 29 parents who had a child or teenager placed in children's residential
treatment centre took part in individual interviews
.. 26 parents allowed us to contact their child welfare worker or children's
mental health worker to talk to them about their family and look in their
files
We also focused on the experiences of employees working in child welfare and
children's mental health. There were four Children's Aid Societies and three
children's mental health centres that participated in this investigation.
.. Over 400 employees in child welfare completed a questionnaire
.. Approximately 100 employees in children's mental health completed a
questionnaire
.. 16 focus groups were held with child welfare workers
We were also busy preparing eight research review papers as background
information to our investigations. Our research review papers, and results
from our phase I studies, identified some fundamental questions we had of
delivery systems design and policy frameworks in child welfare. This led to
our June 2002 international conference on 'Positive Systems of Child and
Family Welfare'. Over 300 participants from across Canada and other
countries attended workshops from international scholars and front-line
service providers. Our presenters came from Sweden, the Netherlands, France,
England, United States, Canada, New Zealand Maori, and Canadian First
Nations. Representatives from each country wrote a review paper as
background for this conference.
For the past year and a half, our focus has been on understanding and
summarizing the information we collected from parents and service providers.
We have produced nine research reports. In August 2003, the Partnerships
Project hosted 'Finding a Fit: Family Realities and Service Responses', a
conference to showcase the research findings from the first phase of data
collection. Research team members engaged over 240 participants in a series
of workshops to share our findings and discuss the research.
Current Project Activities (2003-2005)
Now in its fourth year, the Partnerships for Children and Families Project
is beginning a series of follow up studies in response to gaps in knowledge
identified in the first phase of research.
In phase one of the Partnerships Project, 16 parents involved with child
welfare services shared their life stories through interviews spanning 5-6
hours. The results of this project provided an opportunity to hear the
voices of mothers involved with child protection services and to learn how
they understand their own lives and their involvement with Children's Aid
Societies. It provided an alternative to professional and academic
statements about who these women are.
As we shared the results of the life stories research, we were asked many
times, "Where are the men's stories?" Fathers of children involved with
child welfare services seem to be overlooked in both the research literature
and the service sector. Coley (2001) refers to these men as "invisible"
because so little is known about these fathers' lives, beliefs, and how they
experience services.
The purpose of the father's stories research is similar to the phase one
research: to develop a greater understanding of the fathers that are
involved with child welfare services, as well as create an opportunity for
fathers to voice their perceptions and preferences about what is happening
in their communities and families, as well as how they experience services.
We plan to interview 16 fathers that have children involved with child
welfare services. Interviews will take place over 2-3 visits and be of 5-6
hours in total. The methods will follow the model developed in the first
phase of life story research
A priority for the Project has been to identify positive innovations in
child welfare and children's mental health. Several of our child welfare
partners have created important positive innovations in implementing their
child welfare mandate. They have requested assistance from the Partnerships
Project in improving understanding and in publicizing:
(1) the Shelldale Centre: A Village of Support in Guelph, which brings child
welfare services, multiple other human services, and neighbourhood residents
under one roof
(2) community protection and prevention services located in neighbourhoods
in Brantford
(3) school-based child welfare services in Halton
Already in its proposal development phase, we are working collaboratively to
investigate the nature and experiences of these alternative paradigms for
families and service providers. A key consideration in developing the
methodology will be to maximize comparisons across the three sites, as well
as comparisons to the profiles of 'regular' child welfare services in our
phase I research.
Our study of the lives of families with children receiving residential
mental health treatment shows dramatic patterned concerns about the
community living trajectories of these children after leaving residential
care. How are families and youth doing one year, two years, or even five
years after residential treatment? By interviewing these families and
collecting statistics about long term outcomes, we hope to solidify our
understanding of the circumstances of these families, offer suggestions for
improving helping strategies, and explore long term functioning of children
and youth into young adulthood.
Our focus in this study has been to understand the complex set of individual
and organizational characteristics that contribute to staff turnover, to
other indicators of organizational health, and to the overall quality of the
helping environment for service participants and providers. Using the
workplace survey results collected in phase I and the comments of both
survey respondents and focus group members, we looked in particular at what
might predict or be related to an employee's intention to leave their
agency, to experience high levels of burnout or emotional exhaustion, and to
be satisfied with her or his job.
In child welfare, 46% of all employees who responded to the survey indicated
high levels of overall job satisfaction, and even among direct service
workers, 42% reported high levels of overall job satisfaction. These very
positive numbers are juxtaposed with the over 12% of respondents who
indicated they intended to leave their agencies, the 40% who reported high
levels of emotional exhaustion, and the 30% of respondents who reported
having impersonal and unfeeling responses to service recipients. How can
these figures be reconciled?
In an effort to further explore the complex relationship between levels of
emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction in child welfare, we are proposing
to talk to employees who fall into one of the following three categories:
1. High level of emotional exhaustion and high level of overall job
satisfaction.
2. High level of emotional exhaustion and low level of overall job
satisfaction.
3. Low level of emotional exhaustion and high level of overall job
satisfaction.
With the assistance of our child welfare partners, we plan to administer a
follow up questionnaire to employees. This information will be used to
categorize respondents into one of the three groups. Employees will be
contacted by letter and asked to participate in an interview with
researchers. Participation will be completely voluntary and confidential. We
hope to interview 30-36 employees in total (10-12 interviews for each
group).
.. Families and employees are free to choose whether or not to take part in
our study and there are no consequences for not wanting to be involved.
.. Information is collected by researchers from Wilfrid Laurier University.
.. No family members or employees will be identified in any of our reports.
.. Families and employees can drop out of our study at any time.
.. Families received an honorarium for their spent talking to us.
.. Everyone who took part in an interview will be sent a copy of the
information they shared with us, if they wish.
See it at http://www.wlu.ca/pcfproject
Our first three years have been invested in carrying out multiple method
investigations of the everyday lives and service experiences of families
involved with child welfare and/or children's mental health. We talked to
over 150 parents and families involved with child welfare and/or children's
mental health systems.
.. 16 mothers participated in life story interviews
.. 17 families took part in family interviews
.. 6 parents and their Children's Aid worker took part in a series of
individual and joint interviews to create a story of what it was like to
work together
.. 61 parents were interviewed about their everyday lives and what it was
like to be involved with the Children's Aid Society
.. 29 parents who had a child or teenager placed in children's residential
treatment centre took part in individual interviews
.. 26 parents allowed us to contact their child welfare worker or children's
mental health worker to talk to them about their family and look in their
files
We also focused on the experiences of employees working in child welfare and
children's mental health. There were four Children's Aid Societies and three
children's mental health centres that participated in this investigation.
.. Over 400 employees in child welfare completed a questionnaire
.. Approximately 100 employees in children's mental health completed a
questionnaire
.. 16 focus groups were held with child welfare workers
We were also busy preparing eight research review papers as background
information to our investigations. Our research review papers, and results
from our phase I studies, identified some fundamental questions we had of
delivery systems design and policy frameworks in child welfare. This led to
our June 2002 international conference on 'Positive Systems of Child and
Family Welfare'. Over 300 participants from across Canada and other
countries attended workshops from international scholars and front-line
service providers. Our presenters came from Sweden, the Netherlands, France,
England, United States, Canada, New Zealand Maori, and Canadian First
Nations. Representatives from each country wrote a review paper as
background for this conference.
For the past year and a half, our focus has been on understanding and
summarizing the information we collected from parents and service providers.
We have produced nine research reports. In August 2003, the Partnerships
Project hosted 'Finding a Fit: Family Realities and Service Responses', a
conference to showcase the research findings from the first phase of data
collection. Research team members engaged over 240 participants in a series
of workshops to share our findings and discuss the research.
Current Project Activities (2003-2005)
Now in its fourth year, the Partnerships for Children and Families Project
is beginning a series of follow up studies in response to gaps in knowledge
identified in the first phase of research.
In phase one of the Partnerships Project, 16 parents involved with child
welfare services shared their life stories through interviews spanning 5-6
hours. The results of this project provided an opportunity to hear the
voices of mothers involved with child protection services and to learn how
they understand their own lives and their involvement with Children's Aid
Societies. It provided an alternative to professional and academic
statements about who these women are.
As we shared the results of the life stories research, we were asked many
times, "Where are the men's stories?" Fathers of children involved with
child welfare services seem to be overlooked in both the research literature
and the service sector. Coley (2001) refers to these men as "invisible"
because so little is known about these fathers' lives, beliefs, and how they
experience services.
The purpose of the father's stories research is similar to the phase one
research: to develop a greater understanding of the fathers that are
involved with child welfare services, as well as create an opportunity for
fathers to voice their perceptions and preferences about what is happening
in their communities and families, as well as how they experience services.
We plan to interview 16 fathers that have children involved with child
welfare services. Interviews will take place over 2-3 visits and be of 5-6
hours in total. The methods will follow the model developed in the first
phase of life story research
A priority for the Project has been to identify positive innovations in
child welfare and children's mental health. Several of our child welfare
partners have created important positive innovations in implementing their
child welfare mandate. They have requested assistance from the Partnerships
Project in improving understanding and in publicizing:
(1) the Shelldale Centre: A Village of Support in Guelph, which brings child
welfare services, multiple other human services, and neighbourhood residents
under one roof
(2) community protection and prevention services located in neighbourhoods
in Brantford
(3) school-based child welfare services in Halton
Already in its proposal development phase, we are working collaboratively to
investigate the nature and experiences of these alternative paradigms for
families and service providers. A key consideration in developing the
methodology will be to maximize comparisons across the three sites, as well
as comparisons to the profiles of 'regular' child welfare services in our
phase I research.
Our study of the lives of families with children receiving residential
mental health treatment shows dramatic patterned concerns about the
community living trajectories of these children after leaving residential
care. How are families and youth doing one year, two years, or even five
years after residential treatment? By interviewing these families and
collecting statistics about long term outcomes, we hope to solidify our
understanding of the circumstances of these families, offer suggestions for
improving helping strategies, and explore long term functioning of children
and youth into young adulthood.
Our focus in this study has been to understand the complex set of individual
and organizational characteristics that contribute to staff turnover, to
other indicators of organizational health, and to the overall quality of the
helping environment for service participants and providers. Using the
workplace survey results collected in phase I and the comments of both
survey respondents and focus group members, we looked in particular at what
might predict or be related to an employee's intention to leave their
agency, to experience high levels of burnout or emotional exhaustion, and to
be satisfied with her or his job.
In child welfare, 46% of all employees who responded to the survey indicated
high levels of overall job satisfaction, and even among direct service
workers, 42% reported high levels of overall job satisfaction. These very
positive numbers are juxtaposed with the over 12% of respondents who
indicated they intended to leave their agencies, the 40% who reported high
levels of emotional exhaustion, and the 30% of respondents who reported
having impersonal and unfeeling responses to service recipients. How can
these figures be reconciled?
In an effort to further explore the complex relationship between levels of
emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction in child welfare, we are proposing
to talk to employees who fall into one of the following three categories:
1. High level of emotional exhaustion and high level of overall job
satisfaction.
2. High level of emotional exhaustion and low level of overall job
satisfaction.
3. Low level of emotional exhaustion and high level of overall job
satisfaction.
With the assistance of our child welfare partners, we plan to administer a
follow up questionnaire to employees. This information will be used to
categorize respondents into one of the three groups. Employees will be
contacted by letter and asked to participate in an interview with
researchers. Participation will be completely voluntary and confidential. We
hope to interview 30-36 employees in total (10-12 interviews for each
group).
.. Families and employees are free to choose whether or not to take part in
our study and there are no consequences for not wanting to be involved.
.. Information is collected by researchers from Wilfrid Laurier University.
.. No family members or employees will be identified in any of our reports.
.. Families and employees can drop out of our study at any time.
.. Families received an honorarium for their spent talking to us.
.. Everyone who took part in an interview will be sent a copy of the
information they shared with us, if they wish.
See it at http://www.wlu.ca/pcfproject
