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Meaning and Essence of Child Well-Being According to Child Welfare Professionals

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Abstract

Many foster youth demonstrate poor outcomes in multiple domains of functioning, including behavioral, cognitive, physical and psychosocial. Because child well-being is a central aim of the child welfare system (with safety and permanency), it is critical to better understand well-being in order to properly measure, promote and intervene to secure the well-being of children in care. Child welfare professionals play a central role in the experience of children and families in care, thus their perspective on well-being is key to its conceptualization. Twenty-nine child welfare professionals participated in in-depth interviews to discuss their understandings of well-being, as well as barriers and facilitators to well-being in their practice experience. After iterative coding of the entire data set, data related to defining well-being was analyzed using phenomenology in a qualitative secondary data analysis. Results include two central domains that organize findings about the essence of well-being in child welfare: (1) a practice approach for professionals and (2) the lived experience of well-being for children. Across both domains were shared clusters of meaning identified as humanization, fulfilling connections with a responsive adult, and a long-term, hopeful future orientation. The article concludes with discussion of implications for practice, policy and future research, particularly the role of this new understanding in improving child well-being.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the study participants of this study. We would also like to thank Katie Gibson for her help in transcribing the interview data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Loyola University Chicago, Maguire Hall, 5th Floor, 1 East Pearson St., Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Bridget Colacchio Wesley & Julia Pryce

  2. School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, 969 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA

    Gina M. Samuels

  3. Faculty Center, Loyola University Chicago, Cuneo Hall 407, 1032 W. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL, 60660, USA

    Bridget Colacchio Wesley

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  1. Bridget Colacchio Wesley
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Correspondence to Bridget Colacchio Wesley.

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Wesley, B.C., Pryce, J. & Samuels, G.M. Meaning and Essence of Child Well-Being According to Child Welfare Professionals. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 37, 425–441 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-019-00638-3

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