“Knock me down a little bit more”: Support networks of parents impacted by the child welfare system, a mixed methods study

Abstract

Background

Families impacted by the child welfare system (CWS) face increased risks of poverty, family dysfunction, and poor child outcomes. Strong support networks, comprised of formal support from government programs or service providers and informal support from family and friends, are an under-researched potential mechanism to facilitate family engagement and protect against child maltreatment.

Objective

This study's objective was to describe formal and informal supports among parents with substantiated maltreatment who recently entered the CWS to understand parents' situations and conditions.

Participants and setting

The study used quantitative survey and qualitative interview data from The Power of Parents in Child Protection Study, an ongoing 18-month, statewide longitudinal study of parents with substantiated cases of maltreatment entering the CWS (N = 133). The quantitative sample was 78 % mothers and 22 % fathers.

Methods

Through latent profile analysis and content analysis, this study describes parents' formal and informal support systems including informal support networks, public benefit receipt, and CWS system navigation.

Results

Latent profile analyses revealed three profiles characterized as “detrimentally low support” (n = 40, 31 %), “low support” (n = 59, 45 %), and “supported” (n = 32). Even among “supported” parents, parents had unreliable and limited informal networks and unstable, insufficient formal supports. Additionally, those with the least amount of informal support (“detrimentally low”) were the least equipped to navigate support from the CWS system.

Conclusions

Strengthening formal and informal support networks among CWS-impacted parents, particularly those with the least informal support, could help to address families' high levels of need.