Child Neglect and Service Integration in a Child Welfare System: a Comprehensive Examination of Family Needs, Services and Outcomes

Current research suggests that families who experience neglect have multiple economic and clinical needs. However little is known about the interrelationship between these diverse needs and what kinds of services best alleviate their impact. Service Integration is one promising approach but evidence of effective applications are sparse. This book presents how one agency combined child welfare and economic assistance services; and how family needs, services, and family outcomes were addressed in child neglect cases. The findings demonstrate that service integration could be implemented within large bureaucratic systems. It also identifies subgroups in child neglect cases which can be used for the development of specific programs and provide more effective interventions for this particular population. These findings should be beneficial for human service personnel, community organizations and others, in providing services to these families. Furthermore, this analysis provides specific information on how to identity what types of polices need to be in place, what kinds of programs should be created and what type of evaluation is required for service integration.