Decision Making in Child Welfare Services

1 Introduction.- Overview of the Book.- Notes and References.- 2 Studies of Decision Making in Child Welfare and Sources of Information for Decision Making.- Decision-Making Studies: A Brief Review.- Information.- Discussion.- Notes and References.- 3 Judgment and Decision Making.- Knowledge Structures and Judgmental Strategies.- Summary.- Discussion.- Notes and References.- 4 A Model for Decision Making.- The Program Environment.- Reception.- The Investigation.- Guidelines for Determining Whether a Child Is in Immediate Danger and, if so, Whether Protective Custody Is Necessary.- Determining Whether There Is Credible Evidence of Abuse or Neglect.- Notes and References.- 5 Description of the Illinois/West Virginia Project.- Project Implementation: The Field Test Sites.- The Research Hypotheses and Research Design.- Case Characteristics.- Training Workers for the Field Test.- Consultation with Project Workers and Supervisors.- Reliability.- Results.- Notes and References.- 6 The Process of Decision Making.- Decisions Made by Workers and Others: An Overview.- Summary of Decisions Mode by Workers.- The Decision Making Process.- Summary of Decision Making Process.- Notes and References.- 7 The Outcomes of Decision Making.- The Outcome of Using Structured Decision-Making Procedures.- Summary.- A Search for Predictor Variables.- A Finding of Credible Evidence.- Discussion.- Limitations of the Study.- Notes and References.- 8 Implications of the Study.- Implications for Child Welfare Practice.- Summary.- Implications for Administration.- Summary.- Implications for the Education of Child Welfare Workers.- Notes and References.- Subject/Author Index.