All social work is about assessment and all assessment is about relationship. A recurring
theme in this book is that social work, and particularly assessment, is about human …

Assessing and responding to risks to children's safety is a primary concern of the child
protection system (CPS), and decision-support tools have been developed to assist child …

Decisions to screen child maltreatment reports are often inaccurate and inconsistent, which
has prompted jurisdictions to develop algorithmic decision-making tools to supplement …

Data-driven decision-making is a common approach for identifying child maltreatment.
However, such strategies must be guided by ethical, equitable, and evaluative frameworks …

Courts frequently rely on parenting capacity assessments to make decisions about visitation
and case progress in child protection court. Although these evaluations can provide …

The concept of parenting capacity is used in Australian legislation without definition, making
it difficult to assess in individual cases. Parenting capacity is a broad construct that can …

Research in child and family social work is orientated towards change, though the form and
nature of change goals vary. In this chapter, we identify key types of empirical research in …

The role of those who work in child protective services (CPS) is to ensure children's safety
and well-being. This study explored eight CPS professionals' perceptions of risk assessment …

Childhood maltreatment is any form of abuse or neglect of children under age 18. This
includes physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, or the exploitation of a …

Child welfare services receive a large proportion of referrals due to concerns about child
exposure to intimate partner violence (CEIPV). Fathers, cohabitating and non-cohabitating …