Child Intervention Research Forum – Cracker Barrel Presentation – Robbie Babins-Wagner

Child Welfare Outcomes in Counselling Practice Research in child welfare typically talks about child outcomes, followed by family outcomes, and parent outcomes. Outcomes of interest include mental health, parent depression symptoms, rates of re-referral, parent-child dysfunction and adjustment, etc. Some child welfare scholars believe the Stage of Change model is useful in assessing the risk of future harm to children, identifying appropriate interventions for families of abused and neglected children, and making out-of-home placement and reunification decisions. Readiness for change is a central issue in child welfare. Some researchers have suggested that higher levels of readiness for change sustain caregivers’ intentions to enroll in services that address parenting problems. Others posit that caregivers who are ready to change abusive or neglectful practices pose less risk of future harm to children Because readiness for change has been linked to service engagement and child maltreatment, it has become a common target of intervention and, for some, a consideration in case planning. This workshop explores the relationship between Readiness for Change and client outcomes among a sample of Calgary Counselling Centre clients referred by Child Welfare. Data is available for 500 closed cases with 182 cases that have both outcome and readiness for change data. Other measures include: Number of counselling sessions, problem, age, gender, marital Status, education, employment, income, and ethnicity. Practice and policy implications will be discussed. Rochelle (Robbie) Babins-Wagner is the Chief Executive Officer, Calgary Counselling Centre, an Adjunct Professor and Sessional Instructor with the Faculty of Social Work University of Calgary. Robbie has extensive experience in Counselling, Family Violence, Mental Health and Health Care and Child Welfare. Robbie is an Approved Social Work Supervisor (Alberta) and a Fellow and Approved Supervisor with the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. Robbie’s clinical practice and research interests are focused in the areas of family violence, counselling, child welfare depression and outcomes, She has presented papers and workshops at conferences locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. Robbie received her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Social Work Degrees from McGill University in Montreal, her Masters of Social Work from Carlton University and her PhD from the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Calgary focusing on Outcome Research.