December 11, 2006

Families' Connections to Services in an Alternative Response System

This article was written by Erica H. Zielewski, The Urban Institute, Jennifer Macomber, The Urban Institute, Roseana Bess, The Urban Institute, and Julie Murray, The Urban Institute. In response to calls for different ways to handle low-risk allegations of child maltreatment, states developed "alternative responses" to these cases that differ from the traditional child welfare investigation. Under alternative response systems, child welfare workers respond to cases where risk of harm to the child is minimal by working with families to assess their strengths, determine their needs for services, and make referrals to appropriate community service agencies. This approach is guided by the assumption that the alternative response would allow agencies to protect children and support families but in a less invasive way. At the same time, agencies would be able to reserve resources for their more intensive, high-risk cases.