Important risk factors in home-removal decisions: Social caseworker perceptions

ABSTRACT: The current study identified factors that played a significant role in decisions to separate a child from his/her primary caretakers for 51 social service caseworkers. Participants rated and ranked the importance of 35 child risk/well-being factors used in recent child separation dispositions. Results indicated that boundary setting with a perpetrator of abuse and parental motivation played a significant role in decision-making. These preliminary findings suggest the need to prioritize services aimed at the promotion of the non-maltreating parents limit setting with the perpetrator of abuse, as well as caretaker motivation/cooperation. KEY WORDS: Maltreatment; Family risk factors; Caseworker perceptions. The initial decision to remove a child from his/her home involves weighing the risks and benefits of the child remaining in the home against separation from familiar caregivers. The need to protect a child from harm must also be weighed against the disruption (e.g., changes in school, separation from peer support system) that removal will likely cause the child and family. Then, before reunifi-cation is possible, the caseworker must make the determination that the risks that precipitated removal have been addressed and ameliorated. The resolution of family problems does not occur in a