Evidence Based Practice

Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk 2018:54(4)

Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk Vol 54 No 4; Issue

23http://socialwork.journals.ac.za/pub doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.15270/54-4-669

EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE IN CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES: DO WE HAVE TIME FOR THIS?

Ulene Shiller, Marianna Strydom

South Africa is experiencing a high incidence of child abuse and neglect. The care and protection of children require of social workers to deliver child protection services including compiling reports for Children’s Court hearings. This paper focuses on how the Family Assessment for Least Developed Countries (FA-LDC) instrument can be used as evidenced-based practice to assist social workers in statutory investigations. Findings indicate that this instrument directed information gathering more effectively for the finalisation of investigations. The paper concludes by indicating how the utilisation of assessment instruments can assist social workers in dealing with high caseloads.

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EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE IN CHILD PROTECTION SERVICES: DO WE HAVE

TIME FOR THIS?

Ulene Shiller, Marianna Strydom

INTRODUCTION

South African child protection services are overwhelmed with the number of investigations of children

who are in need of care and protection (Ndonga, 2016; Schiller, 2017; Van Huyssteen & Strydom,

2016). These needs have escalated owing to the high poverty rate and HIV/AIDS-related deaths that

leave children orphaned. Contributing to the need for child protection services is the high incidence of

substance misuse resulting in child abuse and neglect. Although children are often cared for by the

extended family or communities they live in, the levels of poverty and unemployment mean that

families often need extra assistance to provide for the material needs of these children. One of the

poverty alleviation strategies in South Africa is the child support grant. Families are assessed by the

South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and may then apply for such a grant. This grant is

currently valued at R380-00 and often does not contribute much to alleviate the financial needs of a

family (SASSA, 2017). An extended family has another option, which is to apply for a foster care

grant which is higher in monetary value (R920-00). However, a family cannot simply apply for this

grant, as it requires a full statutory investigation by a registered social worker from a child protection

organisation or the government. Because of the ever-escalating social needs as mentioned, social

workers are often overwhelmed by such requests. The researchers also observed in practice that social

workers have high caseloads (DSD, 2015b, Schiller, 2017) and are inundated with investigations they

have to conduct. This results in investigations that are rushed with scant attention to detail, with the

consequence that important information about the safety as well as the development of children is often

not considered or is overlooked.

The National Family Preservation Network (NFPN) is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based

in the United States of America. They developed the Family Assessment for Least Developed

Countries (FA-LDC) tool specifically for least developed countries and in fact it has been field tested in

Nepal and Ethiopia (NFPN, 2012). Although South Africa is not considered a least developed country

(Fialho & Van Bergeijk, 2017), the researchers in this study explored different assessment instruments

and found that this specific instrument could be of value in the South African context, and therefore did

some empirical research to determine its value. This paper will focus on how the FA-LDC instrument

could add value when rendering evidenced-based services to such families.

EVIDENCED-BASED PRACTICE

Evidenced-based practice refers to the use of scientific evidence in conjunction with practice

knowledge and client values as the basis for decision-making rather than relying on the opinions of

others (Gambrill, 1999, as cited in Lawson & Berrick, 2013). There is a belief that “in social work, as

in many other disciplines that deal with human outcomes, there has been a change in recent years

toward the use of evidenced-based practice (EBP) in selecting interventions and making practice

decisions” (Lawson & Berrick, 2013: 323). This is supported by Ahn, Osteen, O’Connor and Shaw

(2014), who report that as early as in 2008 there was a notable increase in child welfare organisations

embracing evidenced-based practice. Additionally, Wells and Correia (2012) argue that evidenced-

based practice interventions successfully minimise specific safety dangers and risks to families, and

this should be taken into account by the child welfare agencies. Similarly, according to Ahn et al.

(2014), efforts to embrace and efficiently apply evidenced-based practice have increasingly been made

by child welfare organisations to improve outcomes for children and families. This improvement may

generally be aimed at the prevention or reoccurrence of maltreatment of the children after they have

been reunited with their families.

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In this manner evidenced-based practice could help to determine what form of intervention may be

relevant for child protection. Many authors argue that it is difficult to develop intervention strategies

where an understanding of what might drive problematic behaviour is lacking (Rittner, Affronti,

Crofford, Coombe & Schwam-Harris, 2011). The reliance on evidenced-based interventions should be

accompanied by proof of effectiveness involving accurate external evidence (Lawson & Berrick, 2013).

It has been pointed out that the failure of evidenced-based interventions can be traced to an inability to

fundamentally change social work practice owing to its firmly “manualised” interventions not being a

useful approach to service delivery (Barth et al., 2011, as cited in Forrester, 2013: 94).

The use of assessment instruments as evidenced-based practice

Agencies that provide safety to children have increasingly accepted assessment instruments to improve

decision-making in child protection cases (Pecora, Chahine & Graham, 2013). However, Pecora et al.

(2013) recommend that, irrespective of the ultimate usefulness of the safety and risk tools in child

protection, effective decision making and competent assessment depend on sound professional

judgement and a comprehensive systemic approach that goes beyond the use of a specific instrument.

They claim that the effectiveness of risk and safety assessment in the protection of children depends on

the utilisation of intuition together with rational decision making (Pecora, et al., 2013). However,

research shows that whereas intuitive decisions by experts can be accurate, too exclusive a reliance on

intuition can be dangerous (Khaneman, 2011). Hence, the use of assessment instruments is relevant to

assist with decision making in child protection. Assessment of risk and safety is essential in decision

making relating to what actions need to be taken to protect children from ill-treatment (White & Walsh,

2006). Additionally, assessment instruments could also be used to determine the specific needs of a

child (Pecora et al., 2013). However, the broader systemic context should also be taken into account, as

child protection service decision making not only takes place in the context of the child and family, but

also within organisational contexts, such as the welfare organisation, the judicial system, and

educational and health contexts (Baumann, Fluke, Dalgleish & Kern, 2014).

Contrary to the assumed benefits of assessment instruments, a study revealed that a number of assessment

instruments designed to help with the decision making of practitioners in child protection in the United

States did not promote consistency in decision making, but were rather seen as an administrative burden

(Gillingham & Humphreys, 2010). In fact, service providers have to do more: they need to go beyond risk

assessment instruments, given that their focus is on effective practice and making good decisions

(Broadhurst, Hall, Wastell, White & Pithouse, 2010). Of great assistance here would be to involve parents

in identifying the risk. Moreover, assessment instruments which pose no threat are well suited to the child

welfare setting and would allow parents, who are usually receiving services involuntarily, to share the

frequently important power differential with the service provider (Williamson & Gray, 2011). Wells and

Correia (2012) claimed that child welfare organisations could use assessment instruments to connect

families with services.

It is evident that assessment tools could be used in a number of ways. The argument, however, is that

assessments alone will not keep a child safe (Pecora et al., 2013). In this regard, assessment instruments

should be used in line with professional judgement and with connecting families with other relevant

services.

Assessment instruments should furthermore be in line with the needs of a specific population. This means

that the assessment instruments need to be tested with the intended group to create a higher predictive

validity rate (Singh, Grann & Fazel, 2011). For true prediction by the instrument, high-quality and usable

information should be produced; in this regard, the predictive validity becomes important.

The literature shows that the use of assessment instruments addresses gaps in service delivery

(McLendon, McLendon & Hatch, 2012). However, there is an argument around paradigms rooted in

the debate on objectivity and subjectivity. The claim is that the objectivist position is preoccupied with

prediction and control, whereas proponents of the subjectivist position aim to re-establish the role of

intra-personal and inter-personal perspectives in assessment (Stroud & Warren-Adamson, 2013: 38).

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The use of assessment instruments revolves around social indicators, as social indicators provide a

chance to understand people’s circumstances (King, Reno & Novo, 2014). However, caution is needed

when using social indicators as, for instance, a person may be wealthy, yet feel dissatisfied with life

(King et al., 2014). Therefore, it is important to use these indicators in an attempt to understand

people’s circumstances, but attention should also be given to meanings that people attach to such

indicators in order to understand their circumstances as they view them.

The FA-LDC instrument

The instrument for Family Assessment for Least Developed Countries was developed in North Carolina

under the auspices of the National Family Preservation Network (NFPN, 2012). The FA-LDC tool focuses

on the income of the family, their health, education, employment, safety environment and a summary of

family vulnerability. These domains can provide a sense of the wellbeing of the family, and serve as

indicators for decision making in child protection services. Noting the aspects that the FA-LDC instrument

encompassed, they were found to be in line with the information that social workers in South Africa require

for their statutory investigations. The tool gives some important guidelines for the social worker to

concentrate on that could assist with their professional evaluation. Because of the copyright protection of

the FA-LDC tool the exact information cannot be published in this article.

The purposes of this tool include allowing social workers to identify and prioritise a family’s needs and

services in the helping process, and aid in assessing the family’s general wellbeing (NFPN, 2012). The

instrument was developed with the assistance of five international organisations, notably from Ethiopia

and Nepal, participating in field testing of the tool. The instrument helps to capture the family’s needs,

and so can help in addressing those needs. The delineation of this instrument seemed to be appropriate

for the South African context, but its applicability and relevance had to be tested.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTAL WELFARE APPROACH AS THEORETICAL

FRAMEWORK

Welfare services in South Africa should be delivered within a social developmental paradigm (Patel,

2015). The social development perspective emphasises the social development of people while seeking

to improve the environment in which they function. The fundamental goal is to improve the wellbeing

of the people (Cox & Pawar, 2013). This approach includes the change from a treatment model to a

developmental service delivery model (Patel, 2005).

As proposed by Cox and Pawar (2013), the social developmental welfare approach proposes planned

social change designed to promote the wellbeing of the population as a whole in conjunction with a

dynamic process of economic development. The key ideology of the social developmental welfare

approach, therefore, can be linked to the general enhancement of society. Also fundamental to this

approach is the management of social developmental shortcomings (Cox & Pawar, 2013).

A counter-argument is that social ills will not be effectively addressed by the use of the remedial

approach to social welfare; rather these ills demand a developmental approach (Hochfeld, 2010; Patel,

2005;). However, in practice the shift from the remedial to the developmental social welfare approach

does not exclude the use of the remedial approach (Holscher, 2008; Midgley, 2010, as cited in Lombard

& Twikirize, 2014). A further common factor is that developmental welfare suggests a focus on

poverty, that it is rights-based and people-centred (Gray & Lombard, 2008). The focus on poverty and

human rights is a typical indication that the element of assisting people is still part of the developmental

social welfare approach. The focus of this approach is on the government’s legal responsibility to deal

with any imbalance and discrimination in meeting the basic needs of people, which makes the approach

redistributive and inclusive (Patel, 2015).

Patel (2015 : 58) argues that themes that emerge in adopting the developmental social welfare approach

in the South African context include: its being rights-based; democracy and participation in

development; the interrelations between social and economic development; social welfare pluralism in

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development; and reconciling the micro-macro divide in developmental social welfare theory and

practice.

However, most relevant to this study is the aspect which refers to developmental welfare being rights-based

and people-centred, envisaging social justice and dedication to meeting the needs of all South Africans,

requiring the state to meet the needs and protect the rights of all children. Another aspect of the study

concerns the micro-macro divide, with Patel (2015) claiming that developmental welfare attempts to

harmonise micro, mezzo and macro interventions. She argues that in this approach intervention should not

present as casework only; the methods should rather be expanded to include group, organisational, and

research and policy interventions. The reality is that child protection services are still predominantly

casework-based because of the high demand for investigations into child abuse and neglect, and the lack of

resources to address issues on the early intervention and preventative levels.

The use of the instrument creates an opportunity for continuous development in service provision,

specifically regarding child protection services. It therefore provides the foundation for dealing with

social problems and empowers practitioners and families, and also addresses human rights for the

purpose of development.

The utilisation of assessment tools generates an opportunity for participation by both service providers

and service users, and a chance for constant development in service delivery, specifically regarding

child protection services. Moreover, it includes the family in the process of child protection. This

resonates with the key ideology of the developmental approach and can therefore be linked to the

changing of society for the better.

Briefly, using the social developmental welfare approach in this study entailed the application of the

fundamental aspects of the theory, such as human rights, participation in development, the promotion

of wellbeing, and the response to developmental shortcomings. The process to determine the relevance

and application of the FA-LDC instrument was guided by applying intervention research.

INTERVENTION RESEARCH AS RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The researchers adopted the process of intervention research as outlined by Rothman and Thomas

(1994). The FA-LDC instrument was introduced to social workers in practice, after which further

development of the instrument took place to ensure its relevance for social workers in South African.

The steps of intervention research will be set out below, followed by discussions of the research design,

sampling, data collection and analysis.

The study was guided by the following research question: How could evidence-based practice assist

social workers in delivering child protection services?

The study proceeded along the steps outlined below.

 Problem analysis and project planning

The researchers, along with the directors and managers of three NGOs in the Eastern Cape, identified

the high caseloads borne by the social workers. The FA-LDC instrument was identified as an

assessment tool that could possibly assist social workers when doing family assessments as part of their

statutory investigations. It was decided that, along with the identified NGOs, the social workers would

utilise the FA-LDC instrument for three months, after they received training on how to apply it as part

of their statutory investigations to determine the relevance and applicability of this assessment

instrument. The social workers would then be convened in a focus group to present comments and

suggestions on the application of this assessment instrument.

 Information gathering and synthesis

Information and comments from the participants (social workers) were collected the after the three-

month period of implementation of the FA-LDC instrument. All participants gave feedback in focus

group discussions as to which aspects of the instrument were helpful to them and which were not.

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 Design

This led to the next phase during which the researchers added these revised aspects to the “adapted”

FA-LDC instrument to ensure that it was more appropriate to the South African context. The field tests

expanded to the Western Cape for the subsequent phase of the study.

 Early development and pilot testing

Following the design phase, the assessment instrument – adapted to fit the South African context – was

further developed and piloted for another period of three months. An additional 20 participants (social

workers) who deal with family assessments in a different province participated in the study.

 Evaluation and advanced development

After the pilot-testing phase in the Western Cape, the “adapted” FA-LDC instrument was re-evaluated.

The researchers took into account the final comments of the participants and made final adaptations to

the instrument.

 Dissemination

Finally, the primary developers of this instrument, the National Family Preservation Network (NFPN

012), will collaboratively decide on how this instrument could be disseminated in South Africa.

Research Approach

A qualitative research approach (Maree, 2016) was used to gain a holistic understanding of how social

workers incorporated the FA-LDC instrument into their investigations. This kind of research approach

was suitable as it “opened up new understandings” (Babbie, 2007; Maree, 2016) that could contribute

to addressing the specific problem in practice. This approach was selected to encapsulate the “lived

challenges” that social workers had to deal with during their practice.

Data-collection method

Six focus group discussions were held with four different NGOs (three in the Eastern Cape and one in

the Western Cape) that participated in the study. In the Eastern Cape the workshops were held to train

the social workers how to use the FA-LDC instrument in their assessments. Formal focus group

discussions took place after these training workshops.

The first phase of the research was done with 30 participants in the Eastern Cape. This phase consisted

of three focus group discussions with three different NGOs. Participants were required to implement

the instrument in their daily practice when rendering child protection services. This process lasted for

three months, after which the focus group discussions were held and adjustments were made to the

instrument.

The second phase was done in the Western Cape, where the adapted instrument was also introduced to

20 participants. These 20 participants utilised the instrument for another period of three months and

feedback was discussed in two focus groups. In the first focus group the feedback was obtained about

further adjustments to the instrument. In the second focus group the utilisation of the instrument was

discussed. This whole process entailed 18 months of field testing.

In both phases the feedback by the participants was discussed in detail to develop a more relevant

assessment tool for the South African context.

It was evident that data saturation was reached when no significant new information was forthcoming

from the focus group discussions (Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2011; Maree, 2016).

Sampling

Participants in the study were purposively selected to form part of the study (Hesse-Biber & Leavy,

2011). The researchers contacted the directors of NGOs that predominantly deliver statutory services

in the two provinces and were willing to take part in the study. All the participants were social workers

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dealing with child protection and family assessments in child welfare service delivery. To preserve all

ethical mandates of research, the directors of these organisations first gave permission for the study.

Participants signed an informed consent form listing their rights and what was expected of them during

the research. The Universities’ Research and Ethics Committees at the University of Fort Hare

provided ethical clearance for the research.

Trustworthiness as described by De Vos, Strydom, Fouche and Delport (2011) was promoted by

ensuring transferability with the triangulation of multiple focus group discussions. Dependability

(reliability) was ensured, a logical research process was followed and a steady audit trail was kept

throughout the research process (De Vos et al., 2011, 122-124).

Data analysis

The focus group discussions were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were analysed using qualitative

data analysis techniques as described by De Vos et al. (2011). Thematic analysis was done as advised

by Ryan and Bernard (2003 in Bryman, 2011), where the categories were identified. Codes were also

used in transcripts, which enabled thematic clustering of the data. The researchers clustered together

the themes indicating how the participants experienced the use of the FA-LDC instrument before and

after it had been adapted to the South African context.

PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS

The motivation for the selection of this specific assessment instrument was to assist social workers

doing family assessments. It was also supported by the social developmental welfare approach, which

is to enhance society by managing social developmental shortcomings (Cox & Pawar, 2013), in this

case service delivery to vulnerable families in child protection services.

All participants were child welfare social workers mainly responsible for family assessments and practising

in the field of child protection; they were involved in making decisions about the care and protection of

children. It should be noted that all the social workers who participated in this study indicated that they

were all confronted with high caseloads, with some 100-150 families in every caseload.

Thirty social workers who participated in the first phase of the research were from the Eastern Cape

and twenty social workers were from the Western Cape.

The majority of the social workers had a BSW degree and a few had a postgraduate degree such as a

Master’s degree in Social Work.

The following themes emerged from the discussions – held with the participants both in the first and

second phase of the research – on how the FA-LDC tool could assist them in child protection services.

TABLE 1

EXPERIENCE OF PARTICIPANTS ON THE UTILISATION OF THE FA-LDC INSTRUMENT

THEMES SUB-THEMES

1. Relevant information

obtained

1.1 Comprehensive household information gathered

1.2 Instrument needs to be adapted to SA context

2. Assessment instrument

should not inhibit

professional judgement

2.1 More provision for one’s own professional judgement

2.2 Critical thinking and analytical skills are still required

3. Heavy workloads

experienced in child

protection

3.1 Assessment instrument is too time-consuming

3.2 Administrative burden during statutory investigations

3.3 High caseloads inhibit social work innovation

Theme 1: Relevant information obtained

From the analysis it was suggested that the information that was obtained with the use of the

assessment instrument was comprehensive, but that it needed to be adapted to the South African

context. A number of sub-themes emerged.

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Sub-theme 1.1: Comprehensive household information gathered

In this study the FA-LDC tool was found to be useful in collecting household information. One of the

participants in the focus group discussions suggested that the FA-LDC tool would allow one to get a

more comprehensive view of the household. The participant claimed that:

“I would use this tool because then it will give me a broader view of what is going on in …”

Another participant added:

“This form assisted me in asking things I have never thought of; this allowed me to complete

my investigation quicker, as I did not have to come back for the clients to follow up

information.”

Since the first phase of the study revealed that the FA-LDC tool could be relevant to child protection in

the South African context, it was adjusted to cover additional information needed for child protection.

Sub-theme 1.2: Instrument needs to be adapted to the South African context

Initially participants mentioned that the FA-LDC tool does not yield all the information required for

child protection investigations in the context of South African families, such as making important

observations on family composition and family dynamics. One of the participants mentioned during

the first phase of the study, and was supported by the group, that:

“I realised the information that we have to collect makes up a small portion of the report.”

Another participant observed:

“If the assessment form was more in line with our format that we need for our statutory

investigation, we were going to use it more…”

An additional view was that:

“…it is difficult to indicate all the important aspects on the assessment form as needed by the

children’s court investigation. A good idea will be to add maybe a genogram to the

assessment tool.”

They added that conditions where they had to render services often require of them to investigate more

than one family living on the same property. This participant mentioned:

“… it means you will have three forms or four forms alone for that one house, one yard

because sometimes the gullies or shacks have families in there and there are two families

living in the house.”

Before the second phase of the study commenced, the instrument was adapted to include a section

where the social workers could make use of a genogram and eco-map, as well as providing enough

additional space for comments.

The second group all indicated that they had utilised the eco-map and the genogram that formed part of

the “adapted” FA-LDC. This contributed to getting a better visual understanding of the family

composition, as well as the family dynamics and available resources. Participants highlighted the

advantages of completing the genogram and the eco-map.

“I find that when I first meet the family it sorts of gives me a picture … this one has a child with

that one and that child is not living … and you know it makes more sense when you draw it.”

“…that it is important to draw the genogram when there are a lot of people living there, where

some people are not related to the family that you are working with, sometimes it is confusing …

some children talk about my sister or my brother, but they are not really related.”

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Participants confirmed that comprehensive information was obtained through the instrument and were

of the opinion that the assessment tool had the potential to elicit the necessary information for them to

conduct their child protection investigations:

“… after using the tool I had more than enough information to support my investigation.”

The participants also mentioned that the adapted instrument helped them to compile a Children’s court

report.

“…it is comprehensive info and it is usable.”

“Yes, you could use the information to compile your report.”

Although participants observed that the tool would assist them to complete Form 38 of the Children’s

Court report, the tool was not aligned with the format of Form 38.

Theme 2: Assessment instrument should not inhibit professional judgement

The second theme that arose was that the utilisation of the instrument should not inhibit the

professional judgement of social workers and ensure that the social workers still have to use their own

analytical skills during assessments and investigations. Two sub-themes were identified.

Sub-theme 2.1: More provision for one’s own professional opinion

A theme that clearly emanated from the focus group discussions was the fact that participants realised the

necessity to apply their own professional judgement to cases and not to be steered only by an assessment

instrument. This view is supported by one of the participants who expressed the following view:

“It is important that the social worker has a space on the form to indicate their own

professional observations.”

Participants further indicated that an assessment instrument could inhibit your listening and observation

skills:

“I think it will be difficult if I have the form and even when you do an interview then you tick

because you… kind of like to be relaxed and listen to the person more than filling in the form.”

Another participant mentioned:

“When I was filling this part I didn’t even ask certain things from them. I was just

observing.”

The opinion expressed above seems to correspond with views such as those of Barkley (2013), who

suggested that assessment instruments for family assessment should be able to record what is also

observable in the family home. The FA-LDC tool poses certain questions in the family environment

section that require the social workers to make observations.

Sub-theme 2.2: Critical thinking and analytical skills are still required

The study further indicates that it is important that an assessment instrument not be merely applied as a

checklist as this will affect the quality of service delivery. This is supported by the following remarks:

“…critical thinking, analytical skills, assessment skills will be nothing than to tick boxes on a

form…”

“You can say in all of those boxes, for a lot of city clients, they have access to running

water…They’ve got access to toilet facilities, electricity, but the reality is it is more disgusting

than if they didn’t.”

The above view appears to suggest that the “boxes” cannot replace what the participant may observe

during the assessment of the family. Assessment tools are not able to keep a child safe simply by being

used as a rating or a checklist; rather their use should be accompanied by strong practices (Pecora et al.,

2013). It has been said that an assessment tool should not replace professional decision making

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(Gillingham, 2011). The results produced by an assessment tool should be reviewed in a professional

manner (Pecora et al., 2013).

It is also emphasised that, irrespective of the ultimate usefulness of the safety and risk tools in child

protection, decision making and competent assessment should tie in with sound professional judgement

(Pecora et al., 2013:143). There is a strong conviction that assessment tools alone are not capable of

ensuring child safety.

In the second phase these points of emphasis by the participants were confirmed in the focus group.

Participants felt strongly that while utilising the instrument, the focus should still be on building a

relationship with the family and on getting to know them.

“I sometimes feel that by ticking boxes, you are lowering your professional opinion and the

way that you conduct the interview is also influenced.”

“…the form could be like a wall between you and your client.”

“…the instrument is good, but I would rather ask my clients to tell me more about themselves,

about their daily routines.”

The importance that the participants place on their own professional judgement is noteworthy, but at

times in statutory investigations professional judgements need to be supported by evidenced-based

practice; this could contribute to sound professional practice that would be more difficult to be

challenged by practitioners of law. This would also be better understood and accepted if explained to

families who are resistant to social service delivery.

Theme 3: Heavy workloads experienced in child protection

The third theme identified was that the participants have to deal with heavy workloads in child

protection. Social workers are often hesitant to try out new ways of delivering services because of the

administrative burdens that are placed on them to finalise a statutory investigation. The following sub-

themes emerged during the discussions on this topic.

Sub-theme 3.1: Assessment instrument is too time consuming

The participants mentioned that they are so overwhelmed by conducting investigations that they have

huge backlogs and are hesitant to try new assessment instruments with which they are not familiar. This

is revealed in the following statements:

“There is a whole lot of other stuff and we are already behind just doing the bare minimum

job.”

“The first thing I can say, it was time-consuming….”

“I mean at … there is one social worker servicing the township. What is the person supposed

to do with the caseload?”

“We [social workers] are also under-resourced.”

Another participant observed:

“There is complete lack of resources. There is this massive amount that needs to change all

at once and which needs to be sustainable and we are one social worker servicing an

entire…”

Sub-theme 3.2: Administrative burden during statutory investigations

In the first phase of the study a few participants mentioned that they have to complete various forms to

prepare a Children’s Court report:

“…we haven’t got time for a lot of forms and I think just to minimise it, it might be easier,

otherwise it is not going to be used.”

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“…When I went through the form … it is a very long form if you take into consideration the

forms that you have to complete.”

In the second phase participants felt strongly about the administrative burden placed on them because

of the number of forms that need to be completed; they added that this affects service delivery

negatively. Participants said:

“We are sitting with prescribed forms from DSD. Then you have to complete Form 22 with

your safety assessment and Form 23 with your risk assessment… and then also the consensus-

based assessment…”

“…our work is becoming administrative… we have got so many forms to complete, that in the

end we do not have time to deliver services…”

Participants felt strongly that new instruments should add to the information already gathered in

existing forms.

“Any new instrument should add on to existing forms … and not just to obtain more

information. Forms should be consolidated…”

“If this instrument could have been more in line with the consensus-based form…”

Concerns were raised about the effect that this emphasis on the utilisation of forms could have on the

way that young social workers perceive practice. This is revealed in the following statement:

“I think experience plays a role … I have got years of experience, but somebody who is in the

field for two years, means that she is growing up with this idea of forms, one that I did not

grow up with, and then she is going to see it as the format.”

Sub-theme 3.3: High caseloads inhibit social work innovation

The research found that use of the FA-LDC instrument was mostly viewed by the participants in the

first and the second phase as a daunting task. Observations about the FA-LDC instrument, include:

“… and the time you have to put into it to collect this information.”

“… we spend a lot of time doing it.”

The fact that participants found the instrument to be very time-consuming could be linked to the

already heavy workloads experienced in child protection service delivery in South Africa, as confirmed

again and again in research (Schiller, 2017; Ndonga, 2016, Van Huyssteen & Strydom, 2016). It was

noted that the social workers who mentioned that they started using the assessment tool in all their

investigations first had to familiarise themselves with the instrument. But after they became familiar

with the instrument they were very positive as to how it assisted them with completing their

investigations. The tension between heavy caseloads that social workers had to bear, versus adding

new alternative ways of rendering services or doing assessments that were often seen as more of a

burden than an innovation. It is thus possible that innovation in service delivery in child protection

could be negatively affected, as social workers are so swamped with work that they find it difficult to

objectively evaluate new ways of rendering services. This situation could also lead to a preference to

tick boxing or to utilise instruments that maintain the status quo.

DISCUSSION

Boldis and Tomlinson (2014) maintain that assessment instruments used in child protection services

need to be precise and need to fit into a particular context. The FA-LDC instrument is viewed as a tool

that can be useful in that it meets the needs of the participants in child protection assessment. The

instrument assisted them to gain comprehensive information by including the families in their

investigations, which can be viewed as a people-centred approach. This is also in line with the social

developmental welfare approach to ensure that families should participate in their own development.

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This study found that the use of the FA-LDC tool is perceived as additional work and that it shifts

attention away from the service user when the social worker has to record what is being said. A study

suggests that note-taking detracts attention from the people who receive services during the interview,

as it breaks eye contact more frequently and shifts attention away from the clients, thereby diminishing

their sense of importance (Forbes & Watt, 2016).

Based on the National Family Preservation Network (2012) which developed this tool, the FA-LDC tool

was developed and adapted to be used for identifying and prioritising the needs of families and services to

assist them, as well as to assess the state of family well-being and provide a source of comprehensive data.

Moreover, the use of family assessment tools helps to organise the massive amount of different kinds of

information obtained from the family (Wright & Leahey, 2013), and assists in developing a coherent

investigation. Participants who used the instrument indicated that it helped them to obtain all the relevant

information and to compile a comprehensive Children’s Court report.

The views shared above also agreed with Gillingham and Humphreys (2010) that the assessment tool can

be time-consuming, which then affects its use. It has been noted that the administration of assessment

instruments should be quick and should require only a small portion of the professional’s time (Achenbach

& Rescorla, 2013). The statements by the participants with regard to time spent using the FA-LDC tool

reveal the impact of the amount of time needed to use the tool, together with the impact of the workload. It

also indicates that the time used to administer assessment instruments directly affects the utilisation of such

instruments. Conversely, the participants were also of the opinion that it contributed value to their

investigations, as the instrument guided them to elicit appropriate information for their reports.

The comments above affirm the consequence of a lack of human capital on the use of the FA-LDC

instrument. The shortage of social workers results in very high caseloads in the child protection sector

(Sibanda & Lombard, 2015). Participants highlighted that there is also a lack of resources and funding

in the child protection sector (Sibanda & Lombard, 2015). The combination of all these challenges

could be contributing to the lack of innovation in social work service delivery.

The participants’ statements seem to reflect their sense that the FA-LDC instrument is merely a form that

needs to be completed rather than an assessment tool to be used for assessment purposes. The statements

also reflect that the collection of information is often seen as a challenge rather than contributing to decision

making in child protection. Wells and Correia (2012) suggest in a discussion of the Structured Decision

Making (SDM) assessment tool that an assessment tool should contain some form of checklist designed to

demine the current situation of the child’s safety. This implies that sometimes the difference between an

assessment tool and a form may not be obvious, since they may serve the same purpose, which tended to

engender resistance to a new approach when doing family assessment.

The way in which the views above are articulated also indicates that the FA-LDC tool is viewed as a

form that creates additional work. Gillingham and Humphreys (2010) confirm that assessment tools

designed to aid decision making in child protection are seen as administrative burdens. The assessment

tool is seen as an administrative task that needs to be done, while its potential to help is disregarded.

Gillingham (2011) found that assessment tools were considered to be used to ensure accountability

rather than for decision making.

The above statement seems to contradict Taylor (2012), who suggests that assessment instruments are

not supposed to do away with the professional decision making, as there still remains a need to analyse

and decide on the significance of the information in the assessment tool. Other scholarly material also

suggests that assessment tools should be used to encourage decision making (Gillingham & Humphreys

2010; Holland, 2011; Taylor, 2012).

CONCLUSION

The utilisation of the FA-LDC instrument could be valuable in child protection services if it is aligned

with the requirements for a Children’s Court investigation in South Africa. It assists social workers in

enabling a more comprehensive assessment and saving time by ensuring that all relevant information is

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obtained while assessing the family. Assessment instruments should not replace the professional

judgement of the social worker, but should rather be seen as a supportive tool in delivering services in a

more accountable way. In ensuring that services in South Africa are rendered according to a

developmental approach, families should be afforded the opportunities to participate and be included in

a comprehensive assessment that could contribute to the socio-economic development of families and

communities. This would allow the social worker to do a proper assessment and follow up with suitable

social support services to families. In the current dispensation South Africa lacks the capacity to

provide sufficient social workers to deliver comprehensive services, and they end up doing

administrative tasks complying with governmental requirements for families to obtain social security,

leaving them unable to focus on the developmental needs to redress inequalities.

This study strongly recommends looking at an integrated assessment instrument to assist social workers

with managing all the administrative burdens that they experience during their investigations, so that

more time can be spent on maintaining contact with families and less on administration.

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