Mental health clinicians’ reflections on working with child welfare cases: challenges and suggestions

Abstract

ABSTRACT While mental health clinicians have played an important role in helping families involved with child protective services (CPS) in various ways, their voices continue to be underrepresented in the child welfare literature. To fill this gap and expand the current knowledge base, this study explored clinicians’ reflections on working with CPS-involved families. Thematic analysis revealed their experience of challenges in providing counseling/therapy and collaborating with CPS and legal systems, as well as suggestions that could help resolve those challenges. The findings suggest that there may be an underlying issue regarding workflow and role expectations across the CPS and mental health disciplines, and problem resolution should thus involve systemic changes.