A Mediating Effect of Public Service Motivation on Retention Intention Among Child Welfare Students: Task Self-Efficacy.

PURPOSE: This study investigates the role of Public Service Motivation (PSM) in retaining highly skilled and qualified child welfare graduates within the public child welfare sector. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three entire cohorts of child welfare student social workers over three years (N = 125) in BSW and MSW child welfare programs at seven universities in a Southern state were surveyed to examine the effects of task self-efficacy achieved through the curriculum and public service motivation on retention intention among social work students specializing in child welfare practice at both the baccalaureate and master's levels. Mediation analysis was conducted to estimate the indirect effect of self-efficacy on students' retention intention. RESULTS: The self-efficacy of child welfare students, operationalized as their confidence in performing competencies, significantly influences their intention to remain in the field of child welfare. Furthermore, self-efficacy among child welfare students has a statistically significant effect on their PSM. PSM, in turn, significantly impacts their intention to persist in child welfare work. DISCUSSION: The findings indicate that PSM partially mediates the relationship between students" self-efficacy and their intent to remain in child welfare work, even when controlling for educational background. We recommend that child welfare agencies recognize and nurture workers" PSM by incorporating practices that promote PSM.

Transformational Leadership, Secondary Traumatic Stress, and Burnout of Child Welfare Workers: Multilevel Moderation Effects.

This study examines the moderating effects of distant leader's practice of transformational leadership on the relationship between secondary traumatic stress (STS) and burnout among child welfare workers. Caseworkers and supervisors in a Midwest U.S. state (N = 210) rated their regional director's use of transformational leadership skills using a survey. Given the nature of the clustered data, multilevel modeling was employed to examine the main effects of transformational leadership on worker burnout and its cross-level interaction effect on the association between worker STS and burnout. Multilevel modeling demonstrated that worker burnout was positively associated with STS and negatively associated with organizational-level transformational leadership. The cross-level interaction between transformational leadership and STS was significant. Specifically, the positive association between workers' STS and burnout decreased as transformational leadership increased. These findings suggest that organizational approaches such as transformational leadership can influence workforce results. Further research will guide child welfare policymakers to develop more sophisticated training programs in leadership skills and strategies.

Dietary fatty acids and flight-training influence the expression of the eicosanoid hormone prostacyclin in songbirds.

Diet shifts can alter tissue fatty acid composition in birds, which is subsequently related to metabolic patterns. Eicosanoids, short-lived fatty acid-derived hormones, have been proposed to mediate these relationships but neither baseline concentrations nor the responses to diet and exercise have been measured in songbirds. We quantified a stable derivative of the vasodilatory eicosanoid prostacyclin in the plasma of male European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris, N = 25) fed semisynthetic diets with either high (PUFA) or low (MUFA) amounts of n6 fatty acid precursors to prostacyclin. Plasma samples were taken from each bird before, immediately after, and two days following a 15-day flight-training regimen that a subset of birds (N = 17) underwent. We found elevated prostacyclin levels in flight-trained birds fed the PUFA diet compared to those fed the MUFA diet and a positive relationship between prostacyclin and body condition, indexed by fat score. Prostacyclin concentrations also significantly decreased at the final time point. These results are consistent with the proposed influences of precursor availability (i.e., dietary fatty acids) and regulatory feedback associated with exercise (i.e., fuel supply and inflammation), and suggest that prostacyclin may be an important mediator of dietary influence on songbird physiology.

Mitochondrial metabolism in blood more reliably predicts whole-animal energy needs compared to other tissues.

Understanding energy metabolism in free-ranging animals is crucial for ecological studies. In birds, red blood cells (RBCs) offer a minimally invasive method to estimate metabolic rate (MR). In this study with European starlings Sturnus vulgaris, we examined how RBC oxygen consumption relates to oxygen use in key tissues (brain, liver, heart, and pectoral muscle) and versus the whole organism measured at basal levels. The pectoral muscle accounted for 34%-42% of organismal MR, while the heart and liver, despite their high mass-specific metabolic rate, each contributed 2.5%-3.0% to organismal MR. Despite its low contribution to organismal MR (0.03%-0.04%), RBC MR best predicted organismal MR (r = 0.70). Oxygen consumption of the brain and pectoralis was also associated with whole-organism MR, unlike that of heart and liver. Overall, our findings demonstrate that the metabolism of a systemic tissue like blood is a superior proxy for organismal energy metabolism than that of other tissues.

Organizational justice and secondary traumatic stress among child welfare workers: The moderated mediation model.

OBJECTIVE: Secondary traumatic stress (STS) is documented as a common occupational hazard among child welfare workers. We examined the moderated mediation effects of distributive, procedural, and interpersonal justice on child welfare workers' STS. METHOD: We analyzed survey data collected from 1,053 child welfare workers in a Midwestern state in 2018. Participants were asked to rate their STS and perceived organizational justice using valid scales. Hypotheses were tested using multiple regression and the PROCESS macro. RESULTS: Distributive justice was a stronger factor associated with STS. The direct effect of procedural justice was not significant. However, it was associated indirectly with STS through distributive justice. Interpersonal justice was associated directly with STS. Furthermore, it moderated the association between distributive justice and STS. CONCLUSION: Findings suggest that the different types of organizational justice have different functions in reducing child welfare workers' STS. This study can contribute to developing justice-oriented and trauma-informed organizations that prevent child welfare workers' STS and reduce its negative effects on themselves, organizations, and children in the child welfare system. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Concerted phenotypic flexibility of avian erythrocyte size and number in response to dietary anthocyanin supplementation.

BACKGROUND: Endurance flight impose substantial oxidative costs on the avian oxygen delivery system. In particular, the accumulation of irreversible damage in red blood cells can reduce the capacity of blood to transport oxygen and limit aerobic performance. Many songbirds consume large amounts of anthocyanin-rich fruit, which is hypothesized to reduce oxidative costs, enhance post-flight regeneration, and enable greater aerobic capacity. While their antioxidant benefits appear most straightforward, the effects of anthocyanins on blood composition remain so far unknown. We fed thirty hand-raised European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) two semisynthetic diets (with or without anthocyanin supplement) and manipulated the extent of flight activity in a wind tunnel (daily flying or non-flying for over two weeks) to test for their interactive effects on functionally important haematological variables. RESULTS: Supplemented birds had on average 15% more and 4% smaller red blood cells compared to non-supplemented individuals and these diet effects were independent of flight manipulation. Haemoglobin content was 7% higher in non-supplemented flying birds compared to non-flying birds, while similar haemoglobin content was observed among supplemented birds that were flown or not. Neither diet nor flight activity influenced haematocrit. CONCLUSION: The concerted adjustments suggest that supplementation generally improved antioxidant protection in blood, which could prevent the excess removal of cells from the bloodstream and may have several implications on the oxygen delivery system, including improved gas exchange and blood flow. The flexible haematological response to dietary anthocyanins may also suggest that free-ranging species preferentially consume anthocyanin-rich fruits for their natural blood doping, oxygen delivery-enhancement effects.

Cognitive and Affective Empathy as Indirect Paths Between Heterogeneous Depression Symptoms on Default Mode and Salience Network Connectivity in Adolescents.

Depression amongst adolescents is a prevalent disorder consisting of heterogeneous emotional and functional symptoms-often involving impairments in social domains such as empathy. Cognitive and affective components of empathy as well as their associated neural networks (default mode network for cognitive empathy and salience network for affective empathy) are affected by depression. Depression commonly onsets during adolescence, a critical period for brain development underlying empathy. However, the available research in this area conceptualizes depression as a homogenous construct, and thereby miss to represent the full spectrum of symptoms. The present study aims to extend previous literature by testing whether cognitive and affective empathy indirectly account for associations between brain network connectivity and heterogeneous depression symptoms in adolescents. Heterogeneous functional and emotional symptoms of depression were measured using the child depression inventory. Our results indicate that cognitive empathy mediates the association between default mode network functional connectivity and emotional symptoms of depression. More specifically, that adolescents with a stronger positive association between the default mode network and cognitive empathy show lower emotional depression symptoms. This finding highlights the importance of cognitive empathy in the relationship between brain function and depression symptoms, which may be an important consideration for existing models of depression in adolescents.

Flight and Dietary Antioxidants Influence Antioxidant Expression and Activity in a Migratory Bird.

Ecologically relevant factors such as exercise and diet quality can directly influence how physiological systems work including those involved in maintaining oxidative balance; however, to our knowledge, no studies to date have focused on how such factors directly affect expression of key components of the endogenous antioxidant system (i.e., transcription factors, select antioxidant genes, and corresponding antioxidant enzymes) in several metabolically active tissues of a migratory songbird. We conducted a three-factor experiment that tested the following hypotheses: (H1) Daily flying over several weeks increases the expression of transcription factors NRF2 and PPARs as well as endogenous antioxidant genes (i.e., CAT, SOD1, SOD2, GPX1, GPX4), and upregulates endogenous antioxidant enzyme activities (i.e., CAT, SOD, GPx). (H2) Songbirds fed diets composed of more 18:2n-6 PUFA are more susceptible to oxidative damage and thus upregulate their endogenous antioxidant system compared with when fed diets with less PUFA. (H3) Songbirds fed dietary anthocyanins gain additional antioxidant protection and thus upregulate their endogenous antioxidant system less compared with songbirds not fed anthocyanins. Flight training increased the expression of 3 of the 6 antioxidant genes and transcription factors measured in the liver, consistent with H1, but for only one gene (SOD2) in the pectoralis. Dietary fat quality had no effect on antioxidant pathways (H2), whereas dietary anthocyanins increased the expression of select antioxidant enzymes in the pectoralis, but not in the liver (H3). These tissue-specific differences in response to flying and dietary antioxidants are likely explained by functional differences between tissues as well as fundamental differences in their turnover rates. The consumption of dietary antioxidants along with regular flying enables birds during migration to stimulate the expression of genes involved in antioxidant protection likely through increasing the transcriptional activity of NRF2 and PPARs, and thereby demonstrates for the first time that these relevant ecological factors affect the regulation of key antioxidant pathways in wild birds. What remains to be demonstrated is how the extent of these ecological factors (i.e., intensity or duration of flight, amounts of dietary antioxidants) influences the regulation of these antioxidant pathways and thus oxidative balance.

Flight training and dietary antioxidants have mixed effects on the oxidative status of multiple tissues in a female migratory songbird.

Birds, like other vertebrates, rely on a robust antioxidant system to protect themselves against oxidative imbalance caused by energy-intensive activities such as flying. Such oxidative challenges may be especially acute for females during spring migration, as they must pay the oxidative costs of flight while preparing for reproduction; however, little previous work has examined how the antioxidant system of female spring migrants responds to dietary antioxidants and the oxidative challenges of regular flying. We fed two diets to female European starlings, one supplemented with a dietary antioxidant and one without, and then flew them daily in a windtunnel for 2 weeks during the autumn and spring migration periods. We measured the activity of enzymatic antioxidants (glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase), non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity (ORAC) and markers of oxidative damage (protein carbonyls and lipid hydroperoxides) in four tissues: pectoralis, leg muscle, liver and heart. Dietary antioxidants affected enzymatic antioxidant activity and lipid damage in the heart, non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity in the pectoralis, and protein damage in leg muscle. In general, birds not fed the antioxidant supplement appeared to incur increased oxidative damage while upregulating non-enzymatic and enzymatic antioxidant activity, though these effects were strongly tissue specific. We also found trends for diet×training interactions for enzymatic antioxidant activity in the heart and leg muscle. Flight training may condition the antioxidant system of females to dynamically respond to oxidative challenges, and females during spring migration may shift antioxidant allocation to reduce oxidative damage.

Network functional connectivity underlying dissociable cognitive and affective components of empathy in adolescence.

Empathy, the capacity to understand and share others' emotions, can occur through cognitive and affective components. These components are different conceptually, behaviorally, and in the brain. Neuroimaging task-based research in adolescents and adults document that cognitive empathy associates with the default mode and frontoparietal networks, whereas regions of the salience network underlie affective empathy. However, cognitive empathy is slower to mature than affective empathy and the extant literature reveals considerable developmental differences between adolescent and adult brains within and between these three networks. We extend previous work by examining empathy's association with functional connectivity within and between these networks in adolescents. Participants (n = 84, aged 13-17; 46.4% female) underwent resting state fMRI and completed self-report measures (Interpersonal Reactivity Index) for empathy as part of a larger Nathan-Kline Institute study. Regression analyses revealed adolescents reporting higher cognitive empathy had higher within DMN connectivity. Post hoc analysis revealed cognitive empathy's association within DMN connectivity is independent of affective empathy or empathy in general; and this association is driven by positive pairwise connections between the bilateral angular gyri and medial prefrontal cortex. These results suggest introspective cognitive processes related to the DMN are specifically important for cognitive empathy in adolescence.

Dietary linoleic acid, antioxidants, and flight training influence the activity of oxidative enzymes in European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris).

Multiple studies have demonstrated that diet (e.g., fatty acid composition, antioxidants) and exercise training affect the metabolic performance of songbirds during aerobic activity, although the physiological mechanisms that cause such an effect remain unclear. We tested the hypothesis that elevated proportions of dietary linoleic acid (18:2n6) and amounts of dietary anthocyanins (a hydrophilic antioxidant class) influence the activity and protein expression of oxidative enzymes in flight and leg muscle of European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris N = 96), a subset of which were flown over 15 days in a wind tunnel. Carnitine palmitoyl transferase (CPT) and citrate synthase (CS) activity displayed 18:2n6-dependent relationships with soluble protein concentration. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was similarly related to protein concentration although also dependent on both dietary anthocyanins and flight training. 3-Hydroxyacyl CoA Dehydrogenase (HOAD) activity increased throughout the experiment in flight muscle, whereas this relationship was dependent on dietary anthocyanins in the leg muscle. Soluble protein concentration also increased throughout the experiment in the flight muscle, but was unrelated to date in the leg muscle, instead being influenced by both dietary anthocyanins and flight training. Training also produced additive increases in CPT and leg muscle HOAD activity. FAT/CD36 expression was related to both dietary 18:2n6 and training and changed over the course of the experiment. These results demonstrate a notable influence of our diet manipulations and flight training on the activity of these key oxidative enzymes, and particularly CPT and CS. Such influence suggests a plausible mechanism linking diet quality and metabolic performance in songbirds.

The energy savings-oxidative cost trade-off for migratory birds during endurance flight.

Elite human and animal athletes must acquire the fuels necessary for extreme feats, but also contend with the oxidative damage associated with peak metabolic performance. Here, we show that a migratory bird with fuel stores composed of more omega-6 polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) expended 11% less energy during long-duration (6 hr) flights with no change in oxidative costs; however, this short-term energy savings came at the long-term cost of higher oxidative damage in the omega-6 PUFA-fed birds. Given that fatty acids are primary fuels, key signaling molecules, the building blocks of cell membranes, and that oxidative damage has long-term consequences for health and ageing, the energy savings-oxidative cost trade-off demonstrated here may be fundamentally important for a wide diversity of organisms on earth.

Flight training in a migratory bird drives metabolic gene expression in the flight muscle but not liver, and dietary fat quality influences select genes.

Training and diet are hypothesized to directly stimulate key molecular pathways that mediate animal performance, and flight training, dietary fats, and dietary antioxidants are likely important in modulating molecular metabolism in migratory birds. This study experimentally investigated how long-distance flight training, as well as diet composition, affected the expression of key metabolic genes in the pectoralis muscle and the liver of European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris, n = 95). Starlings were fed diets composed of either a high or low polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA; 18:2n-6) and supplemented with or without a water-soluble antioxidant, and one-half of these birds were flight trained in a wind-tunnel while the rest were untrained. We measured the expression of 7 (liver) or 10 (pectoralis) key metabolic genes in flight-trained and untrained birds. Fifty percent of genes involved in mitochondrial metabolism and fat utilization were upregulated by flight training in the pectoralis (P < 0.05), whereas flight training increased the expression of only one gene responsible for fatty acid hydrolysis [lipoprotein lipase (LPL)] in the liver (P = 0.04). Dietary PUFA influenced the gene expression of LPL and fat transporter fatty acid translocase (CD36) in the pectoralis and one metabolic transcription factor [peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-α (PPARα)] in the liver, whereas dietary antioxidants had no effect on the metabolic genes measured in this study. Flight training initiated a simpler causal network between PPARγ coactivators, PPARs, and metabolic genes involved in mitochondrial metabolism and fat storage in the pectoralis. Molecular metabolism is modulated by flight training and dietary fat quality in a migratory songbird, indicating that these environmental factors will affect the migratory performance of birds in the wild.

Dietary antioxidants attenuate the endocrine stress response during long-duration flight of a migratory bird.

Glucocorticoids (GCs) are metabolic hormones that promote catabolic processes, which release stored energy and support high metabolic demands such as during prolonged flights of migrating birds. Dietary antioxidants (e.g. anthocyanins) support metabolism by quenching excess reactive oxygen species produced during aerobic metabolism and also by activating specific metabolic pathways. For example, similar to GCs' function, anthocyanins promote the release of stored energy, although the extent of complementarity between GCs and dietary antioxidants is not well known. If anthocyanins complement GCs functions, birds consuming anthocyanin-rich food can be expected to limit the secretion of GCs when coping with a metabolically challenging activity, avoiding the exposure to potential hormonal detrimental effects. We tested this hypothesis in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) flying in a wind tunnel. We compared levels of corticosterone, the main avian GC, immediately after a sustained flight and at rest for birds that were fed diets with or without an anthocyanin supplement. As predicted, we found (i) higher corticosterone after flight than at rest in both diet groups and (ii) anthocyanin-supplemented birds had less elevated corticosterone after flight than unsupplemented control birds. This provides novel evidence that dietary antioxidants attenuate the activation of the HPA axis (i.e. increased secretion of corticosterone) during long-duration flight.

Transformational Leadership and Turnover Intention in Child Welfare: A Serial Mediation Model.

PURPOSE: This study examined a serial mediation model testing the effects of STS on turnover intention through executive leaders' use of transformational leadership as perceived by child welfare workers and then organizational commitment while controlling for age, gender, and social work degrees. METHOD: Survey data were collected from 264 child welfare workers at one Midwestern state. RESULTS: The results supported the serial mediation model, corroborated by the finding that the impact of STS on turnover intention has disappeared as a result of transformational leadership and organizational commitment between the two variables. DISCUSSION: The findings of the study provide practical implications for training transformational leadership styles to leaders training at the middle manager and executive leadership levels in child welfare agencies.

The effects of dietary linoleic acid and hydrophilic antioxidants on basal, peak, and sustained metabolism in flight-trained European starlings.

Dietary micronutrients have the ability to strongly influence animal physiology and ecology. For songbirds, dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and antioxidants are hypothesized to be particularly important micronutrients because of their influence on an individual's capacity for aerobic metabolism and recovery from extended bouts of exercise. However, the influence of specific fatty acids and hydrophilic antioxidants on whole-animal performance remains largely untested. We used diet manipulations to directly test the effects of dietary PUFA, specifically linoleic acid (18:2n6), and anthocyanins, a hydrophilic antioxidant, on basal metabolic rate (BMR), peak metabolic rate (PMR), and rates of fat catabolism, lean catabolism, and energy expenditure during sustained flight in a wind tunnel in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris). BMR, PMR, energy expenditure, and fat metabolism decreased and lean catabolism increased over the course of the experiment in birds fed a high (32%) 18:2n6 diet, while birds fed a low (13%) 18:2n6 diet exhibited the reverse pattern. Additionally, energy expenditure, fat catabolism, and flight duration were all subject to diet-specific effects of whole-body fat content. Dietary antioxidants and diet-related differences in tissue fatty acid composition were not directly related to any measure of whole-animal performance. Together, these results suggest that the effect of dietary 18:2n6 on performance was most likely the result of the signaling properties of 18:2n6. This implies that dietary PUFA influence the energetic capabilities of songbirds and could strongly influence songbird ecology, given their availability in terrestrial systems.

The Impact of Sociosexualization and Sexual Identity Development on the Sexual Well-Being of Youth Formerly in the Foster Care System.

PURPOSE: Youth in the child welfare system experience disproportionate rates of negative sexual health outcomes as well as increased engagement in risky sexual behaviors. This study explored the impact of sociosexualization and sexual identity development on the sexual well-being of youth formerly in the foster care system. METHODS: Two hundred and nineteen youth formerly in the foster care system completed an Internet-based survey, including measures of the level of sexuality-related topics discussion, relationship quality with the individual with whom the topics were discussed, adverse childhood experiences, severity of sexual abuse history, sexual identity development, and sexual well-being. Hierarchical regressions examined the impact of youths' sociosexualization experiences and four domains of sexual identity development on their sexual well-being. RESULTS: Sexual Identity Commitment was the strongest positive predictor of youths' sexual well-being (ß = .428) followed by Sexual Identity Synthesis/Integration (ß = .350) and Sexual Identity Exploration (ß = .169). Sexual Orientation Identity Uncertainty negatively impacted sexual well-being (ß = -.235), as did adverse childhood experiences (ß range = -.150 to -.178) and sexual abuse severity (ß range = -.208 to -.322). Sexuality-related discussions with foster parents negatively impacted youths' sexual well-being, whereas discussions with peers were a positive predictor. CONCLUSION: Enhancing youths' sexual identity development and reducing the impact of traumatic experience are critical to improving sexual well-being. The influence of sexuality-related discussions on sexual well-being requires further analysis as impacts varied widely. Public policies should provide guidance to professionals on what services should be provided to enhance youths' sexual development.

Concrete services usage on child placement stability: Propensity score matched effects.

BACKGROUND: Experiencing poverty and financial difficulties are significant barriers to outcomes of permanency and placement stability. This is particularly true for children who are in out of home placements. The provision of concrete services is intended to meet concrete needs of families to address this barrier. However, little is known about how concrete services meet the needs of families in need of these services or if the use of concrete services is a viable treatment for children who are in out of home placements. METHODS: The present study examined differences between those who received and those who did not receive concrete services on factors of stability, child and caregiver traumatic stress, number of placements, and current out of home placement. Regression analysis examined the association between amount of concrete service spending and permanency. Then to test concrete services as an intervention for children in a current out of home placement, we used propensity score matching to match participants on characteristics that predicted whether they would receive concrete services. We then ran a hierarchical regression to test the treatment condition of concrete services with children who are in a current out of home placement. RESULTS: Participants who received concrete services were at a much higher level of need with significantly higher levels of traumatic stress and number of placements and lower levels of placement stability. The amount of money spent on concrete services was associated with increases in placement stability. And, children in a current out of home placement had an increase in placement stability when they received concrete services. CONCLUSIONS: The present study is the first to evidence concrete service as a treatment for placement stability for children in current out of home placements. Spending on concrete services in addition to child welfare services improves a child's current placement stability. This is an important finding with implications for improving child welfare services' approach to those in their care with financial burdens.

Environmental cues and dietary antioxidants affect breeding behavior and testosterone of male European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris).

Environmental cues, such as photoperiod, regulate the timing of major life-history events like breeding through direct neuroendocrine control. Less known is how supplementary environmental cues (e.g., nest sites, food availability) interact to influence key hormones and behaviors involved in reproduction, specifically in migratory species with gonadal recrudescence largely occurring at breeding sites. We investigated the behavioral and physiological responses of male European starlings to the sequential addition of nest boxes and nesting material, green herbs, and female conspecifics and how these responses depend on the availability of certain antioxidants (anthocyanins) in the diet. As expected, cloacal protuberance volume and plasma testosterone of males generally increased with photoperiod. More notably, testosterone levels peaked in males fed the high antioxidant diet when both nest box and herbal cues were present, while males fed the low antioxidant diet showed no or only a muted testosterone response to the sequential addition of these environmental cues; thus our results are in agreement with the oxidation handicap hypothesis. Males fed the high antioxidant diet maintained a constant frequency of breeding behaviors over time, whereas those fed the low antioxidant diet decreased breeding behaviors as environmental cues were sequentially added. Overall, sequential addition of the environmental cues modulated physiological and behavioral measures of reproductive condition, and dietary antioxidants were shown to be a key factor in affecting the degree of response to each of these cues. Our results highlight the importance of supplementary environmental cues and key resources such as dietary antioxidants in enhancing breeding condition of males, which conceivably aid in attraction of high quality females and reproductive success.

Child welfare organizations: Do specialization and service integration impact placement decisions?

The objective of this study was to contribute to the understanding of the child welfare organization by testing the hypothesis that the characteristics of organizations influence decisions made by child protection staff for vulnerable children. The influence of two aspects of organizational structure on the decision to place a child in out-of-home care were examined: service integration and worker specialization. A theoretical framework that integrated the Decision-Making Ecology Framework (Baumann et al., 2011) and Yoo et al. (2007) conceptual framework of organizational constructs as predictors of service effectiveness was tested. Secondary data analysis of the Ontario Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect - 2013 (OIS-2013) was conducted. A subsample of 4949 investigations from 16 agencies was included in this study. Given the nested structure of the data, multi-level modelling was used to test the relative contribution of case and organizational factors to the decision to place. Despite the reported differences among child welfare organizations and research that has demonstrated variance in the placement decision as a result of organizational factors, the structure of the organization (i.e., worker specialization and service integration) showed no predictive power in the final models. The lack of variance may be explained by the relatively low frequency of placements during the investigation phase of service, the hierarchical impact of the factors of the DME and the limited information available regarding the structure of child welfare organizations in Ontario. Suggestions for future research are provided.