Decision Making And Judgment In Child Welfare And Protection

"Professionals working in child welfare and child protection are making decisions with crucial implications for children and families on a daily basis. The types of judgements and decisions they make vary and include decisions such as whether to substantiate a child abuse allegation, whether a child is at risk of significant harm by parents, and whether to remove a child from home or to reunify a child with parents after some time in care. These decisions are intended to help achieve the best interests of the child. Unfortunately, they can sometimes also doom children and families unnecessarily to many years of pain and suffering. Judgments and decisions in child welfare and protection are based to a large extent on the formidable knowledge base on child abuse and neglect created over the years to support this professional task chore. Nevertheless, making decisions in complex and uncertain environments is fraught with many difficulties and shortcomings. There are in fact many indications that decisions in this area are not reliable and there are many errors in judgment that could be avoided, had the decision makers relied on existing knowledge on decision making under uncertainty and followed appropriate procedures. Much needs to be improved on how these decisions are made by individual professionals and child welfare agencies"--