Family Assessment in Child Welfare - Center for Social Services ...

of administration, in terms of time, instructions, scoring, and clarity of interpretation; (6) otheradvantages and disadvantages related to use in the child welfare setting, such as the reading levelrequired of clients or prior use by caseworkers; and (7) psychometric properties. Thepsychometric properties of the instruments were rated on a four point scale, from those havingthe least psychometric information available to those having psychometric information availablefor all of the stages of assessment that the instrument addressed.A ten percent sample of the instrument evaluations was reviewed by an independentreviewer to establish the inter-rater reliability of the evaluation process. Two discrepancies werefound with regard to the comprehensiveness of the family assessment domains that an instrumentaddressed and in one case, with regard to the stage of assessment that the instrument addressed.These differences were reconciled with the introduction of additional sub-criteria for evaluation.Major FindingsOverviewEighty five (n=85) instruments pertaining to family assessment were evaluated (seeAppendix C). Of these, the majority typically addressed one to two domains of familyassessment, such as patterns of social interaction and parenting practices. The majority of theinstruments relied on self-report methods and/or observational rating scales (80%). A smallernumber of instruments included structured interviews (15%) and methods relying on structuredtasks such as games (4%).Figure 2. Instruments/Models Addressing Family Assessment Domains (n=85) 2Family Assessment DomainsPatterns of Social Interaction (the nature of contact and involvement withothers, the presence or absence of social support networks andrelationships)Parenting Practices (methods of discipline, patterns of supervision,understanding of child development and/or of emotional needs ofchildren)Background and History of Caregivers (including the history of abuseand neglect)Problems in Access to Basic Necessities (such as income, employment,adequate housing, child care, transportation and needed services andsupports)Other Behaviors and Conditions (domestic violence, mental illness,physical health, physical, intellectual, and cognitive disabilities, alcoholand drug use)Number of InstrumentsAddressing Domain58432023188