Parents and Court-Ordered Services: A Descriptive Study of Service Use in Child Welfare Reunification

Abstract

Child welfare-involved parents use court-ordered services to resolve their problems and reunify with children removed from their care. Often this requires the use of multiple service types, service providers, and service locations. Very little research takes this diversity into account: Most studies of service use examine only a single service area. As a result, the field lacks information to guide the development of interventions to increase reunification service use. This descriptive study examines service use across the array of services ordered for a sample of 223 parents attempting to reunify with their children. Most parents had a mixed pattern of service use, with different patterns emerging by parent age, ethnicity, gender, and custodial status. These findings suggest that targeted interventions or service adjustments may be needed.