Cumulative jeopardy: in the ongoing challenge of working with maltreating families, what works?

In families where child abuse and neglect have already occurred, but the children remain in the care of their parents, it is essential to provide interventions that reduce or eliminate harm done to children. However, generic ‘off-the-shelf’ parenting programmes are not tailored to the individual needs of parents, and parents involved with child protection services vary enormously in the types of challenges they are facing.

Because there is little international evidence for the effectiveness of interventions for this population, children can be exposed to ongoing maltreatment while many different approaches are tried – leading to serious and permanent developmental consequences. This presentation answers the question “What evidence is there that parenting interventions conducted with parents who maltreat their children, reduce the incidence of further child maltreatment?” and finishes with a discussion about systemic and research approaches that may reduce ongoing child abuse and neglect in Aotearoa.

Speakers:

Sarah Whitcombe-Dobbs is a child and family psychologist and, until recently moving to a new role at Oranga Tamariki clinical services, was a lecturer at the University of Canterbury. Her long-term interest is in child protection, with a particular focus on assessment and intervention with families involved with Oranga Tamariki. Sarah has worked in private practice in Christchurch for several years. Prior to this she worked at the Ministry of Education’s severe behaviour and early intervention services, culminating in a role as the Practice Advisor (Behaviour) for the Southern Region.

Sarah has also worked for the Canterbury District Health Board in the Child Development Service, at the Ara Institute of Canterbury’s Student Health Centre, and is a provider of assessments and treatment for sensitive claims with ACC. She has also worked for the Family Court, providing specialist assessments of parenting capacity, and provided contractual services for the Permanent Caregiver Support Service. Sarah’s recent PhD research focused on the assessment of parenting capacity in the context of child protection.

Register now to secure your place in the seminar.

This is the fifteenth in a series of seminars hosted by the Oranga Tamariki Evidence Centre Te Pokapū Taunakitanga. We partner with a range of social sector agencies to present current research and thinking.