Table 2.
Guidelines for risk evaluation in child maltreatment cases.
| NL | FIN | USA | UK | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG), 2014 | Finnish Police Government, 2019 | American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC), 2019 | American Psychological Association (APA), 2013b | National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), 2017 | Ward et al. 2014 | |
| General recommendations for assessment | ||||||
| Definition of best interest (or any citation or reference) | (x) | (x) | x | |||
| Apply multimethod approach | x | x | x | x | x | |
| Apply a multidisciplinary approach | x | x | ||||
| Include research findings/only scientifically validated measures | x | x | x | x | ||
| Include alternative plausible hypotheses/disproving evidence (not explicitly stated, but indicated) | x | x | x | (x) | ||
| Include supervision | x | x | ||||
| Recommendations for evaluative criteria | ||||||
| Assess history, nature, scope or severity of violence and maltreatment | x | x | x | x | x | |
| Assess child’s needs/safety | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Assess harm of the child/evidence of trauma | x | x | x | x | x | x |
| Assess parents’ skills/capacity | x | x | x | x | ||
| Assess family and environmental factors | x | x | x | x | ||
| Assess caregiver-child relationship | x | x | x | |||
| Assess risk factors that are specifically named/defined in the guideline | x | x | x | x | ||
| Assess protective factors/resources/strengths (factors are not specifically named/defined in the guideline) | (x) | (x) | (x) | (x) | ||
| Assess interventive measures and support | x | x | x | x | ||
| Explore views of the child/include them in decision making | x | x | x | |||
| Recommendations for assessment steps | ||||||
| Interviews with parents | x | x | x | x | ||
| Interviews with children | x | x | x | x | x, w.i. | |
| Behavioral observation | x | x, w.i. | x | |||
| Third party information | x | x | x, w.i. | |||
| Testing (optional) | x | (x) | x | |||
| Recommendations regarding specific instruments | ||||||
| Use of Risk Assessment Instruments (or reference to, but note limited evidence) | x | x | (x) | (x) | ||
| Use of NICHD (or reference to, but note limited evidence) | x | (x) | ||||
VNG, Association of Dutch Municipalities; Police Gov, Finnish Police Government; APSAC, American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children; APA, American Psychological Association; NICE, National Institute for Health and Care Excellence; and w.i., with instruction. For specific instructions in original wording see Table 5