Background

In Canada, two of the most common forms of maltreatment substantiated by child protective services are child exposure to domestic violence and child physical abuse. Fathers are identified as the parent responsible for a substantial proportion of this maltreatment.

Objective

This study examined whether providing a group-based intervention program for fathers was associated with greater engagement of fathers in child protection case management and with lower rates of subsequent father-perpetrated abuse.

Participants

A quasi-experimental design compared child protection outcomes in families in which fathers were referred to an intervention program (Caring Dads) and either completed the group (n = 85) or remained on a waitlist for future service (n = 100).

Methods

Data were collected from a retrospective review of administrative files over two years, starting from the time of referral to Caring Dads.

Results

Initial comparisons found no significant differences in intervention and comparison group fathers in demographic characteristics, child protection concerns, and all but one area of risk and needs. Completing intervention, as compared to being waitlisted, was associated with a greater number of contacts between child protection workers and fathers over two years (M = 30.3 vs. M = 16.7), a difference that was significant and large in size (d = 0.81) and with lower rates of verified re-referral due to fathers' maltreatment (20.5% vs. 36.0%), a difference that was significant and between small and medium in size (V = 0.17).

Conclusions

Current results suggest that there may be significant benefits of involving fathers in child protection-linked intervention.

中文翻译：

---

关爱父亲对在家庭中实施虐待的父亲进行干预：两年内儿童保护结果的准实验评估

背景

在加拿大，儿童保护服务证实的两种最常见的虐待形式是儿童遭受家庭暴力和儿童身体虐待。父亲被认为是造成这种虐待的很大一部分的父母。

客观的

本研究探讨了为父亲提供基于团体的干预计划是否与父亲更多地参与儿童保护案件管理以及随后父亲施虐的较低比率相关。

参与者

一项准实验设计比较了家庭中的儿童保护结果，在这些家庭中，父亲被转介到干预计划（有爱心的爸爸）并且要么完成了小组（n  = 85），要么留在了未来服务的候补名单上（n  = 100）。

方法

从转介给爱心爸爸的时间开始，从两年内对行政文件的回顾性审查中收集数据。

结果

初步比较发现，干预组和对照组父亲在人口特征、儿童保护问题以及除一个风险和需求领域外的所有方面没有显着差异。与被列入候补名单相比，完成干预与两年内儿童保护工作者和父亲之间更多的接触有关（M  = 30.3 vs. M  = 16.7），差异显着且规模较大（d  = 0.81 ) 并且由于父亲的虐待而验证的再转介率较低（20.5% 对 36.0%），在中小型企业之间存在显着差异（V  = 0.17）。

结论

目前的结果表明，让父亲参与与儿童保护相关的干预可能会有显着的好处。