ABSTRACT
This chapter examines whether risks differ across families, whether service provision differs across families, and whether services are indeed matched to family risks. It discusses process and outcome evaluation in a large public child welfare agency. Researchers in the field of risk assessment have found that the likelihood of future child maltreatment can be somewhat accurately predicted by a very small number of variables. There was a significant difference between physical abuse cases and child neglect cases in the proportion of time a caseworker actually spent in the home, as opposed to other sites of service delivery. Twenty-six percent of the families were assessed to exhibit codependent behaviors and 17 percent exhibited irrational behaviors. If the study finds that all families present the same risks at intake, risk assessment procedures in public sector agencies could be significantly streamlined.
