Child Welfare Case Manager’s Views of Parenting Capacity Assessments: An Exploratory Study

Parenting capacity assessments (PCAs) are used in child protection as one tool in determining whether a parent has the capacity to provide good enough care for their child. If the parenting capacity assessor feels that there are challenges to meeting ‘good enough’ parenting requirements, then these assessments aid in planning for interventions that may support the parent in making needed changes. The assessment can also help in decision-making regarding the termination of parental rights. When child welfare matters are brought before the courts, assessors may provide expert testimony to assist judges. To date, there is very little research on the utility of these assessments from the child welfare case manager’s perspective. This paper presents the results of a small, preliminary qualitative study exploring the views of case managers (n = 28) in one Canadian province. Thematic analysis was performed inductively. The major themes arising from the research include: (1) What is the PCA meant to do; (2) cultural considerations regarding validity with various populations; (3) clarity of purpose: to assist the courts as opposed to clinical decision-making; (4) referral and process issues; (5) the place of the child’s voice; (6) the utility of the conclusions and recommendations; (7) specialized concerns, such as parents living with disabilities; and (8) possible negative impacts related to performing a PCA.