Assessing the level of risk of families supported by Child and Family Protection Services: Practitioners and mothers as informants

Abstract

Summary The evaluation of the specific level of family risk is a central topic to better understand the diversity of families assisted by Child and Family Protection Services, and also to design and address effective social interventions. Professionals of these services tend to have a great amount of knowledge and experience that has been rarely taken into account in research about at-risk families. In this study the level of family risk, according to data reported both by practitioners and mothers receiving family preservation intervention, is analyzed in a sample of 106 mothers assisted by state Child and Family Protection Services in Huelva, Spain. Findings A frequent profile of poor and multi-assisted families was found, but there was also an important level of heterogeneity in the level of risk, suggesting that these families are not a homogeneous group. The global valuation of family risk informed by professionals was significantly related to data reported by mothers using a standardized tool of family risk factors. Analyses presented also show significant relations with both the family socio-demographic profile and data of the case history involving protection services: higher levels of family risk were mainly associated with higher levels of economic, educational, and labor precariousness, and with more complex and complicated case indicators. Applications Implications of these results concerning both the importance of incorporating systematic evaluations of family risk by means standardized tools to practice and considering practitioners as a relevant source of information in family research are discussed.