Original Article Young Children and Ongoing Child Welfare Services: A Multilevel Examination of Clinical and Worker Characteristics Joanne Filippelli 1 , Kristen Lwin 2 , Barbara Fallon 1 , and Nico Trocm´ e 3 Abstract There is a growing body of research that underscores that young child welfare-involved children are a unique vulnerable subgroup of children. The decision to provide postinvestigation child welfare services is consequential to children’s safety and well-being and has fiscal implications for organizations. Despite the potential ramifications of the decision, there is little known about the factors associated with the ongoing services provision for young children. This study uses secondary data analysis of the Canadian Incidence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect 2008 to explore what case and worker factors predict the provision of ongoing child welfare services. Multilevel modeling was used to assess the relationship between independent variables and the decision to provide ongoing services; analyses included 2,296 children and 555 workers. Case and worker characteristics, including worker training and worker position, predicted ongoing child welfare services suggesting that further research examining the role of what worker characteristics impact child welfare decisions is warranted and essential. Keywords child welfare, child welfare workers, young children Child maltreatment is recognized as a public health problem (Gilbert et al., 2009). The high burden and the long-term con- sequences associated with childhood maltreatment on physical and mental health across the life course have underscored the importance of investment in early prevention and intervention efforts (Gilbert et al., 2009; Taylor et al., 2016). There is grow- ing evidence to suggest that young children are a unique sub- group of children in contact with the child welfare system and that this subgroup warrants focused attention in practice, pol- icy, and research contexts (Filippelli et al., 2017a). Findings from the secondary analysis of data from the Canadian Inci- dence Study of Reported Child Abuse and Neglect (CIS; 1998, 2003, 2008; Trocm´ e et al., 2000; Trocm´ e et al., 2005; Trocm´ e et al., 2010) as well as various provincial incidence studies indicate that young children are among the most likely to be investigated and to receive services that extend beyond the initial investigation (e.g., Fallon et al., 2013; Fast et al., 2014; Filippelli et al., 2017a; Filippelli et al., 2017b) Early childhood is a critical period of development (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2010). Young children are most vulnerable to maltreatment and its devastat- ing consequences as a result of rapid brain development (Perry, 2009). Early identification, referrals, and intervention can help to mitigate the adverse and chronic consequences of early childhood maltreatment (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2016; Perry, 2009). The child welfare sys- tem is afforded a unique opportunity to enhance the well-being of young children served (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, 2016). The decision to provide child wel- fare services to children and their families following an initial investigation also has significant fiscal implications for orga- nizations that must allocate limited resources to families with the greatest needs. The decision to provide ongoing child welfare services to young children and their families is not well-understood (Filip- pelli et al., 2017a; Filippelli et al., 2017b; Lwin, Fluke, Trocm´ e, Fallon, & Mishna, 2018a). This study extends previous research by examining possible worker (decision maker) fac- tors that may influence this critical decision to provide services. Using data from the most recent iteration of the CIS-2008, we examined whether case (e.g., child functioning, caregiver drug use) and worker factors (e.g., education, training, position) predicted the ongoing child welfare services decision. Further, this is the first study to utilize multilevel modeling to examine how case and worker characteristics are related to and 1 University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2 University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada 3 McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Corresponding Author: Kristen Lwin, Social Work, Faculty of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada N9A 4M5. Email: kristen.lwin@uwindsor.ca Child Maltreatment 1-10 ª The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1077559520923757 journals.sagepub.com/home/cmx