Family group decision making: A propensity score analysis to evaluate child and family services at baseline and after 36-months

Family group decision making (FGDM) has been increasingly adopted as a decision making strategy in child welfare agencies, although little research exists on how FGDM facilitates connections to services for children and families. This study utilizes 36 months of nationally-representative data from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (NSCAW) to evaluate the impact of FGDM meetings on children and families' services. Specifically, the study sample consists of 3220 children referred due to child maltreatment who were residing at home during the initial study interview, including 325 children who experienced FGDM meetings during the initial placement or planning assessment. Propensity score matching was used to generate a comparison group of non-FGDM cases, which aimed to mitigate the factors contributing to FGDM selection bias. Analysis using the matched comparison group showed that around the time of the initial case assessment a higher percentages of children who experienced FGDM meetings than those who had not experienced FGDM were connected with some services, specifically parenting services, children's counseling services, and mental health treatment for parents. After 36 months, however, receipt of child and family services was not statistically different between children who experienced FGDM meetings and those who did not.