NCJ Number
73114
Date Published
1977
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This report briefly summarizes the findings from a 3-year evaluation of 11 child abuse and neglect demonstration service projects funded by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1974-77.
Abstract
The overall project goal was to develop and test alternative strategies for treating abusive and neglectful parents and their children and alternative models for coordination of communitywide child abuse and neglect treatment systems. The projects were located throughout the U.S. and in Puerto Rico. They differed in size, the types of agencies in which they were housed, the kinds of staff employed, and the variety of services offered. The evaluation study included both formative and summative evaluation approaches, documented the content of the different service interventions used, and determined the relative effectiveness in terms of costs and other factors of these strategies. Data were collected through site visits and information systems maintained by the projects for the evaluators. Structured, supportive program leadership was found to be the most influential management factor with respect to preventing worker burnout. Factors most highly associated with high quality intakes included use of a multidisciplinary review team, minimal time between the report and the first client contact, use of outside consultation, and use of the same case manager for conducting the intake process and managing ongoing treatment. Factors associated with high overall quality case management included minimal time between the report and the first client contact, use of outside consultants, frequent contact with the client, and a longer time in process. Smaller caseload size and longer time in process were the case management processes directly related to clinician-reported client outcome. It was concluded that the most successful programs were closely linked with public protective services agencies, cooperated with other community agencies, had strong leadership, used experienced workers as case managers, emphasized the use of lay services and self-help services as part of treatment, and provided careful supervision to lay workers. Brief project profiles, comparisons of case handling, evaluations of the treatment of both parents and children, and an annotated bibliography listing 11 references are provided. For other volumes of this report, see NCJ 73115-23 and 73090.