ABSTRACT

Cross-agency collaboration for responding to child abuse cases is critical for the safety and wellbeing of children. However, working effectively across organizational boundaries can be difficult, especially where there are considerable disciplinary differences. Accordingly, many jurisdictions have put in place policies and processes to support cross-agency collaboration across groups responding to severe child abuse. The aim of this scoping review was to highlight key factors that may influence the quality of cross-agency collaboration in severe child abuse cases. A systematic search comprising 57 empirical studies examining the facilitators and/or barriers to cross-agency collaboration in child abuse cases was undertaken identifying eleven factors. This review found the most commonly cited factor was the need to reconcile the different roles/mandates of workers with their roles in a cross-agency response. A clear cross-agency protocol that establishes agreed procedures was also a commonly cited factor, along with cross-agency training, and communication and information sharing practices. This scoping review highlighted the lack of high-quality evidence that could be used to assess the effectiveness of policies and processes to support cross-agency collaboration for child abuse cases, and targeted areas for future research to enhance the quality of evidence for this common type of program/intervention.

摘要

应对虐待儿童案件的跨机构合作对于儿童的安全和福祉至关重要。但是，跨组织边界有效地工作可能很困难，尤其是在学科差异很大的情况下。因此，许多司法管辖区制定了政策和流程，以支持应对严重虐待儿童的团体之间的跨机构合作。本次范围界定审查的目的是突出可能影响严重虐待儿童案件中跨机构合作质量的关键因素。系统搜索包括 57 项实证研究，研究了虐待儿童案件中跨机构合作的促进因素和/或障碍，确定了 11 个因素。该审查发现，最常提及的因素是需要协调工人的不同角色/任务与其在跨机构响应中的角色。建立商定程序的明确跨机构协议，以及跨机构培训、沟通和信息共享实践，也是一个普遍引用的因素。该范围界定审查强调缺乏可用于评估支持跨机构合作处理虐待儿童案件的政策和流程的有效性的高质量证据，以及未来研究的目标领域，以提高这种常见类型的证据质量计划/干预。以及沟通和信息共享实践。该范围界定审查强调缺乏可用于评估支持跨机构合作处理虐待儿童案件的政策和流程的有效性的高质量证据，以及未来研究的目标领域，以提高这种常见类型的证据质量计划/干预。以及沟通和信息共享实践。该范围界定审查强调缺乏可用于评估支持跨机构合作处理虐待儿童案件的政策和流程的有效性的高质量证据，以及未来研究的目标领域，以提高这种常见类型的证据质量计划/干预。