Symposium on Evidence-based Practice in Child Protection

• NCJ Number: 187318
• Author(s): Penny Gordon; Robert Bush; Ian O'Connor; Nerida Saunders; Adam Tomison
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 36 pages
• Corporate Author: Families, Youth and Community Care Queenland; University of Queensland, Dept of Social Work and Social Policy
• Sale Source: Families, Youth and Community Care Queenland
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Conference Material
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: For individual papers, see NCJ-187319-23.

Annotation

This report contains the objectives, program, and papers from the Symposium on Evidence-based Practice in Child Protection held in Brisbane, Australia, on November 28, 2000.

Abstract

One theme of the symposium was ways to develop a system that supports the development and maintenance of critical reviews of research that help in decision making. A second theme involved the identification of strategies that can be used to improve the dissemination of research evidence to child protection practitioners. A third theme focused on issues that must be considered in an evidence-based approach to child-protection work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The fourth theme was how to promote the use of a dynamic and evolving evidence base within human services organizations. One of the symposium papers provided background for discussions about evidence-based practice by outlining some of the key issues and challenges as well as promising developments for contemporary child protection policy and practice in Queensland, Australia. A second paper described types of research evidence that will help community child-protection services focus on outcomes of various interventions. A third paper continued this theme by arguing for a cultural and professional shift to an outcomes-focused, evidence-based orientation in child-protection practice. A fourth paper explored examples of current models of working with indigenous communities and options in how to evaluate their effectiveness in creating and sustaining positive changes for children and families. The final paper first provided an overview of some of the major areas of research investigation of child-protection practice and the methods that have been used to date. The second half of the paper explored issues that affect the collaboration between researchers and child protection departments, as well as ways to facilitate better partnerships and ensure policy and practice are informed by research.