Collaborative Care for Infants at Risk (CCIR)

Utah System of Higher Education (USHE)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Child Welfare; Primary Health Care; Child Abuse

Treatments: Other: Collaborative Care

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03199326

00098047

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study evaluates the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of a collaborative care practice for infants investigated by state Child Protective Services (CPS) for suspected maltreatment. Recognizing the vulnerability of infants referred into CPS in the first year of life, as well as the frequent contact of infants with health care providers in the first year of life, the investigators will conduct a RCT to measure the impact of a collaborative practice model linking CPS caseworkers with primary health care providers during an investigation for suspected infant maltreatment. With this trial, the investigators will ask (3a) Can a collaborative practice model improve parent-reported infant health-related quality of life 6 months following child welfare involvement for suspected infant maltreatment? and (3b) Does a collaborative practice model impact repeat child welfare involvement for suspected child maltreatment over 6 months?

Enrollment: 468 patients

Sex: All

Ages: Under 364 days old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Less than 12 months of age at referral
• Involved in a child welfare investigation for suspected maltreatment
• Investigation occurring in Utah DCFS Salt Lake Valley or Western regions

Exclusion criteria

For the primary and selected secondary outcomes,

• Caregiver with primary spoken language other than English or Spanish,
• CPS caseworkers not yet randomized to a practice arm
• Infants in out-of-home placement at the time of referral or case closure,
• Infants suffering fatal maltreatment
• Prior investigation of an infant in a household during study timeframe (e.g., twins, infant siblings, and repeat referrals will be excluded).

For other secondary outcomes related to CPS outcomes, language exclusion will not be considered.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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468 participants in 2 patient groups

Collaborative Care

Experimental group

Description:

CPS caseworkers will be randomized to collaborative or comparison practice. For any infant investigated by a caseworker in the collaborative practice, the caseworkers will conduct a standard CPS investigation. Additionally, caseworkers will seek parental permission to contact an identified primary health care provider at two points in the CPS investigation for information sharing related to health needs, social risks, and recommended interventions.

Treatment:

Other: Collaborative Care

Comparison Care

No Intervention group

Description:

CPS caseworkers will be randomized to collaborative or comparison practice. For any infant investigated by a caseworker in the comparison practice, the caseworkers will conduct a standard CPS investigation.