Evaluating Parents in Child Protection Decisions: An Innovative Court-Based Clinic Model

Providing relevant, timely forensic evaluations is challenging because of the differing worlds of mental health and law. In this study, the authors evaluated an innovative, court-based clinic model for improving acquisition and use of clinical information in juvenile court in a 3-year pilot project...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Professional psychology, research and practice research and practice, 2006-12, Vol.37 (6), p.666-675
Main Authors: Budd, Karen S, Felix, Erika D, Sweet, Samuel C, Saul, Andrea, Carleton, Russell A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adjudication
Child Abuse
Child Welfare
Forensic Assessment
Forensic Evaluation
Forensic psychiatry
Human
Juvenile justice
Parents
Parents & parenting
Pilot projects
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Providing relevant, timely forensic evaluations is challenging because of the differing worlds of mental health and law. In this study, the authors evaluated an innovative, court-based clinic model for improving acquisition and use of clinical information in juvenile court in a 3-year pilot project prior to wide-scale implementation. The authors investigated the extent to which 170 evaluations of parents in the child protection division met criteria recommended in the forensic literature by comparing reports across four groups categorized by source (inside or outside court; part of pilot project or not). Findings suggested greater use of recommended practices and more timely, consistent reports by the pilot clinic. The findings provide preliminary support for the model and guidance for improving forensic evaluations in child protection.
ISSN:0735-7028
1939-1323
DOI:10.1037/0735-7028.37.6.666