Neighborhood Caregivers’ Recommendations to a Family in Need: Patterns of Assistance Across Different Family Needs

Child maltreatment is a global health concern that affects approximately one in four children worldwide and significantly affects the well-being over the life course of those involved (World Health Organization, 2016). Interest has increasingly focused on the role of neighborhood and community context in understanding child maltreatment. Our study objective was to examine what neighbors, who were themselves child caregivers, would recommend to other neighborhood families in need of assistance, paying particular attention to the degree to which informal support was recommended compared to other options. The stratified random sample of 400 residents of 20 urban neighborhoods who cared for at least one child under 18 years of age was presented with five scenarios, each involving a specific need: baby care, child care, parenting issues, basic needs, and medical care. Qualitative analyses of open-ended responses revealed four primary findings: (1) formal support is a consistent and stable resource for any need; (2) informal support is a complicated and nuanced form of assistance to recommend; (3) the church is a dominant resource for basic needs; and (4) most participants recommended something. Findings suggest that although most neighbors offer suggestions, these may be nuanced and conditional, depending on family needs, particularly for informal support. Findings suggest that development of community-based programs building on informal support mechanisms must account for the perspective of neighborhood residents, who are in the position to recommend resources and offer support.