Publication year: 2011
Source: Children and Youth Services Review, In Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available online 17 August 2011
C. Nicole, Lawrence , Katie D., Rosanbalm , Kenneth A., Dodge
Systemic challenges within child welfare have prompted many states to explore new strategies aimed at protecting children while meeting the needs of families, but doing so within the confines of shrinking budgets. Differential Response has emerged as a promising practice for low or moderate risk cases of child maltreatment. This mixed methods evaluation explored various aspects of North Carolina’s differential response system, known as the Multiple Response System (MRS), including: child safety, timeliness of response and case decision, frontloading of services, case distribution, implementation of Child and Family Teams, collaboration with community-based service providers and Shared Parenting. Utilizing Child Protective…
Highlights: ► We compared child welfare outcomes in pilot counties implementing the Multiple Response System to a group of control counties. ► Positive impacts on child safety through decreased rates of substantiation and re-assessments. ► Temporary disruption in timeliness of response with no effect on time to case decision. ► Increased number of upfront services provided to families. ► Improved rapport and family engagement.