What factors predict social workers’ decision-making in child welfare?
Project Summary
Social workers in child welfare agencies play a vital role in investigating reports of alleged child abuse and neglect, and their decisions have widespread consequences on the communities they serve. We analyzed data from child maltreatment investigations to trace the disproportionate representation of Black and Hispanic families in the system and to understand how social workers’ on-the-job experience shapes their decision making. We find that social workers’ decisions ameliorate the disproportionate representation of Black and Hispanic families, are stable in the face of workplace stressors, and move away from placing children in foster care as they gain experience.
Why is this issue important?
Child maltreatment investigators, like many public sector workers, have significant discretion over both punitive decisions and access to assistance. As such, their decisions can also ameliorate or perpetuate existing racial and ethnic disparities that feed into the child welfare system. Social workers must also manage large workloads, unsafe environments, and contentious decisions with incredible fortitude. Understanding the different factors that influence social worker decision making can help inform strategies aimed at supporting them and ensuring equity and fairness for the families they serve.
What are we doing?
We analyzed data from ten years of child maltreatment investigations in a mid-sized city. We measured the racial and ethnic composition of caseloads at each step of the investigation process. We then examined how child and investigator characteristics relate to investigation outcomes and investigators’ use of decision tools and interventions.
What have we learned?
We find that the racial disparities in the child welfare system largely originates from the composition of referrals that the system receives from the public. In our context, social workers’ investigatory decisions helped to correct the overrepresentation of Black and Hispanic families referred to the system. We also show that social worker decision making is remarkably stable in the face of workplace stressors, such as exposure to bad outcomes or workload. Finally, we document that more experienced social workers are more likely to find evidence of child maltreatment, but no more likely to immediately intervene. In fact, more experienced social workers demonstrate a higher propensity to override the agency’s structured decision tools in favor of less intervention.
What comes next?
While this study is complete, the findings can be used to inform future research on social worker decision making, as well as the design of workplace policies and strategies for supporting social workers on the job.