My Topic and Why I Chose It

My topic : Child welfare workers' experiences in working with infants and toddlers.

Why this topic?

a) In 1984, I was working as a mental health counselor with clients from all backgrounds and walks of life. So many who came in, struggling with issues ranging from depression to relationship problems to personality disorders or psychoses had childhood histories of abuse and neglect. At the time I had one child and was pregnant with my second. I looked at my young children and thought about how every baby starts out representing all of the hope, possibility and potential of humanity. Each parent cherishes the dependent being that represents creation, love, and the path to the future. For some babies and parents, things go wrong. I decided then I wanted to dedicate my career to helping young families get off to a good start, helping each baby grow up loved, protected, nurtured and ready to have a successful and productive life. I have been fortunate that my career has allowed me to act on this passion.

b) Infancy is a unique period of rapid development. During infancy, the foundation is laid for all that comes next. Infants and toddlers are particularly vulnerable to the most severe impacts of abuse and neglect, and those impacts can last a lifetime. Infants are overrepresented in the child welfare system, yet child welfare agency policy and practice often fails to respond to infants' developmental needs. Child welfare workers typically have little training or other professional development focused on infant and toddler development and the needs of abused or neglected infants.

c) Child maltreatment is likely a far more prevalent problem than official data indicate for various reasons. Legal definitions are narrower than psychological definitions of abuse, so that many children may suffer harm that does not rise to the level of requiring that the state interfere in a family's life. Underreporting, incomplete reporting, overworked child welfare staff and other systemic issues may prevent the identification of abuse. One recent survey of adults found that 46% of adults reported some form of childhood maltreatment. See www.medicalnewstoday.cm/articles/109087.php

d) One approach to addressing these concerns is to provide child welfare workers with training to increase their knowledge of early development and of child welfare practice that would best support infants and toddlers who have been abused and neglected. While there are some training efforts throughout the country, my literature search has not found any evidence base to support the design or content of these training efforts. My mixed methods study will collect quantitative and qualitative data on the knowledge and experiences of child welfare workers serving infants and toddlers. I hope it will help to create effective and useful professional development approaches to supporting child welfare workers provide services to the very young children in their caseloads.