2011 The Palm Beach County Family Study (Full Report)

Service Use, Maternal Functioning,and Child OutcomesExperts generally agree that the stresses associated with living in poverty are likely to impair effectiveparenting and child well-being (Bradley & Corwyn 2002; Duncan & Brooks-Gunn 2000; McLoyd, 1998).It has also been suggested that society may be able to improve the outcomes of children living in povertyby strengthening the level of support available to them and their parents by providing public services andsupports (Attree 2005). This conclusion stems, in part, from evidence that social support, both informaland formal, is an important resource for poor parents (Attree 2005; Henly et al. 2005). Building on thisidea, comprehensive, integrated service systems have been viewed increasingly as a promising strategyfor supporting healthy family functioning and child development in low-income, at-risk families (Brooks-Gunn, 2003; Gomby 2005; Olds et al. 2007). However, although a sizable body of literature focuses onthe effects of specialized services and interventions for children and families, few studies to date haveattempted to assess the impact of families’ use of comprehensive services (Leventhal et al., 2000).The Palm Beach County longitudinal study provides a unique opportunity to understand the potentialconsequences of mothers’ use of services, in the broadest sense, for their families’ well-being.Accordingly, in the fourth study report (Spielberger et al., 2010), we considered how overall service useby mothers, as well as other variables, related to their own and their children’s outcomes. We did not findmuch evidence of a relationship between mothers’ overall or specific service use and maternal and childoutcomes; the evidence we did find suggests that mothers with greater needs (and thus poorer outcomes)tend to use more services over time. 57 However, we did find significant differences with respect to57 It should be kept in mind that, because mothers voluntarily decided whether or not to use services, and were not randomlyassigned to receive services, it is not possible for this study to fully control for all differences between mothers who did and didnot receive services. Thus, it is not surprising that in some cases we found a significant relationship between greater service useand poorer outcomes.Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago 106