Contents
Outcomes and continuity of the program.. 3
Recommendation on outcome measurement. 3
Introduction
Child protection is a core obligation of all social workers. This obligation aims to protect children from any unnecessary harm, either from their parents or non-family members. This paper evaluates three articles that evaluate the effectiveness of different child safety programs.
Programs
Peacock et al. (2013) investigate the effectiveness of home visiting programs to enhance child safety. Home visits are programs tailored to suit the at-risk children, from poor or addictive families, by allowing them to gain much from the social services in the home and familiar environment. The study measured the effectiveness of home visits by evaluating the findings of other primary sources.
Another article by Biehal et al. (2012) measures the effectiveness of Multidimensional Treatment Care for Adolescents. This program deals with foster care of adolescents with complex needs. According to the study, the program has no impact on the lives of adolescents with special needs. The study measured results by evaluating the performance of these children before and after the program.
Lastly, Blakey and Thigpen (2015) investigated the effectiveness of school-based prevention programs, especially those focusing on teaching children how to identify, avoid, and prevent child abuse. The article measured effectiveness by evaluating the children’s knowledge and skills and reporting of abuse.
Outcomes and continuity of the program
Peacock et al. (2013) reported that home visits effectively identify child abuse and mitigate the problem before it continues to cause harm. Although there are significant challenges to the program, the outcome frequency justifies the continuation of the program. This program helps thousands of children and parents while allowing the children to remain in their familiar environment.
On the other hand, Biehal et al. (2012) reported that the special fostering program for children with complex needs is not practical. Therefore, the program should not be continued. The authors also reported the transfer from the usual foster facility to a special one takes a significant toll on the individual. Thus it is logical for the children to be made feel as normal as possible.
The evaluation of a school-based child safety program has reported its significant effectiveness. Therefore, this program should be continued. Children learn critical information about identifying and reporting cases of abuse (Blakey and Thigpen, 2015).
Recommendation on outcome measurement
For the home visit program, the assessment can measure social factors like the child’s attachment with the family members and friends. This measurement can help determine whether the home visits enhance the child’s relationship and secure attachments with their environment.
For the fostering program, future assessment can focus on the child’s emotional wellbeing and response to the new fostering system. This assessment would help in determining whether the change has positive emotional outcomes on the child.
Lastly, the school-based program can assess the child’s attachment or reliance on the program. While the children responded positively to the program, it is necessary to assess whether they can get the same information from other programs or parents.
References
Biehal, N., Dixon, J., Parry, E., Sinclair, I., Green, J., Roberts, C., … & Roby, A. (2012). The care placements evaluation (CaPE) evaluation of multidimensional treatment foster care for adolescents (MTFC-A). London, Department for Education.
Blakey, J. M., & Thigpen, J. W. (2015). Play it safe!®: A school-based childhood physical and sexual abuse prevention program. Journal of Adolescent and Family Health, 7(1), 5.
Peacock, S., Konrad, S., Watson, E., Nickel, D., & Muhajarine, N. (2013). Effectiveness of home visiting programs on child outcomes: a systematic review. BMC public health, 13(1), 17.