Evidence-Based Child Welfare Screening and Assessment Practices

This action research project examined the screening and assessment behaviors of child welfare workers in the southwestern region of the United States. With the use of a focus group, the study addressed whether social workers’ knowledge of evidence-based practice influenced their implementation of evidence-based practice in child welfare screening and assessment, and whether the agency environment affects evidence-based practice implementation and use. The family systems theory was used to evaluate child welfare practitioner work and systems theory was used to evaluate the child welfare system in the region of the study. Social workers’ knowledge of evidence-based practices and the impact of the agency environment were found to affect social workers’ use of evidence-based practice. The overuse and misuse of evidence-based practice terminology confused the concept for social workers. This combined with the implementation approach in an agency setting led many of the social workers to avoid evidence-based models and revert to experiential practice knowledge.