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Preserving Families Using the Child Welfare Practice Model
Prioritizing Engagement in Interventions to Provide the Right Services at the Right Time and Prevent Judicial Intervention
JENNIFER STOCKMAN, MPA, CWPI FSS TRAINING
CARLOS CRUZ FSS PRESERVATION
Why Preservation?Fiscal year 2015-2016 (Duval and Nassau counties):
• STEPS (Family Support Services): 1017/2414 children
• FAST Safety Management: 632 cases/1278 children
• FAST On-going (Diversion): 542 cases/1082 children
The first guiding tenet of SMP is “the first and greatest investment of public resources should be made in the care and treatment of children in their
own homes and communities.”
Or…Foster care
• Area average length of stay: 8.3 months
• Area average non-relative costs: from $706 per month to $3,900 a month for group home care
But more importantly…
10xmore likely
to commit a
crime
1 in 5 will become
homeless
< 3%will earn a
college degree
7xmore likely to
have drug
dependence
1 in 4 will experience
PTSD
75%more likely to rely on
government services to
meet basic needs
Only1/2will be
employed at
age 24
71%of young woman
will be pregnant
by age 21
Reports of
Violence
Against
Children
3.6MILLION
Resulting in
264,746Placed in the Foster
Care System
Safety Family Home
Instead 22,392 aged out of foster care
2014
Source: https://www.fosterclub.com/article/statistics-foster-care
The End of Preservation?
• Did the child welfare system assume it would not work?
• Does Preservation not rely heavily on CPI discretion?
• Does it feel like removal is the only solution (or the only
straightforward one)?
Florida’s Service Array
UnsafeOut-of-home
Judicial
UnsafeIn-home
Judicial
UnsafeOut-of-Home
Non-Judicial
UnsafeIn-home
Non-Judicial
Family Support Services with case coordination throughout the life of the case targeted at building a families’ protective factors at a macro level and address barriers to long term safety.
SafeHigh/Very High
Risk
Family Support Services delivered through community referrals to aid families with resource needs with no required case coordination.
Safe Low/Moderate
Risk
Utilize Treatment Services to enhance diminished Caregiver Protective Capacities within the context of a danger threat(s) to
achieve long term behavior change ultimately mitigating the need for a safety plan/ safety services
Require Safety Management Services that immediately take effect/action to protect the child from the identified danger threat(s) until the diminished caregiver protective capacities
can be enhanced and demonstrated over time.
Utilize Well-Being Services to enhance certain desired conditions in the life of the child that are directly related to child strength and
needs indicators.
Preservation
Family Support Services Service Array
STEPS
FAST Safety Management
FAST Ongoing
STEPS (Family Support Services/Safe)Strengthening Ties & Empowering Parents (STEPS) is a prevention program for safe families. STEPS workersare co-located with the Child Protection Investigation (CPI) units, which refers the family once a decision ismade that a child is safe. Additionally, STEPS workers are trained on how to evaluate an FFA-I, assessing forpresent danger, and understanding Caregiver Protective Capacities. The program provides in-homeintervention to prevent children from becoming unsafe and to help them work toward stabilization.Depending on their risk level, families receive between one and three home visits per month, for an averagelength of service of three months.
Referrals sent to the STEPS program are accepted from the community, self-referrals, and from theDepartment of Children and Families. Any child is need is eligible for STEPS, but DCF cases have first priority.
STEPS offers in-home services and connects families to available community resources. In-home observationallows for assessments of child safety and family needs specific to individual circumstances that may put afamily at risk for abuse or neglect. Services offered by STEPS include:
• Evidence-based parenting
• Budgeting
• Behavior Modification
• Case Management
• Community Resources
FAST Safety Management• FAST Safety Management is a resource for CPIs who identify present danger on any case, and need assistance implementing and managing a safety plan
• FAST Safety Management can remain in place while the CPI completes the FFA-I• The case can then be referred to on-going non-judicial services, court-ordered services,
STEPS, or can simply be closed out if the children are determined safe
• Area-mandatory referrals:• Drug exposed newborns
• Child fatalities with surviving siblings
FAST Safety Management, Continued• Safety Management maintains a flexible design
• If requested, a FAST family services counselor can assist a CPI on-site, within 2 hours (during business hours)
• Safety Management crisis stabilization can immediately assist in preventing the need for judicial out-of-home care by the implementation of services such as:• Coordination of safety interventions with safety supports
• Manage/update safety plan as needed
• SM is tailored to the current needs of each family and respects their uniqueness
• Connecting and organizing resource needs
• Mediation of conflicts and transitions
FAST (Diversion/Unsafe)• The Family Assessment Support Team (FAST) therapeutic, non-judicial program centers on providing intensive supervision and services to Duval’s and Nassau’s unsafe, Department of Children and Families involved cases.
• A FAST non-judicial case plan seeks to enhance identified diminished caregiver protective capacities while monitoring child safety
• Behaviorally-targeted options for families to achieve successful case plan outcomes in the FAST program include:• Evidence-based parenting
• Behavior modification
• In-home counseling
• Anger management
• Substance abuse treatment
• Domestic violence advocacy, counseling, and support
Preservation Referrals – The “Old” Way• The determination to send cases to Preservation was often based on a “gut” feeling by the CPI
• Services and intrusiveness were often based heavily on the maltreatment or family history• This can affect the consistency of accurate service delivery
• No operating definitions of true risk or safety
• Varied safety planning expectations due to the lack of decision-making structure
New Practice Preservation Referrals• Structured decision making
• Removal of discretion has been both a success and a challenge• Examples:
• Success – from a CBC standpoint, the model guides accurate and precise service provision
• Challenge – upfront information collection drives case planning; service referrals were sometimes based on “old” thinking
• Referrals are driven by the safe or unsafe determination – this relies on more than a simple occurrence of maltreatment (and significant information collection)
• New options for safety services
It Starts With Intake • All Preservation service requests can be submitted by fax, phone, or email
• Single agency contact for intake
• Focus on centralized intake team among Preservation programs
• Model fidelity begins from intake to ensure the appropriate services are matched with the individual case needs
Implementation Challenges• In the past, the non-judicial referral process required little collaboration• Referrals were sent by the CPI, and assigned at time of receipt
• Within the model, new steps were designed:• Case transfer staffings (CTS)
• FFA completion and safety plan design prior to on-going service referral
Case Transfer Process• Families are referred to FAST at the point of an “unsafe” determination
• Cases are reviewed by oversight for:• Danger threat selection and threshold criteria
• Active, implemented, and functional safety plan
• Complete FFA
• Cases are then scheduled for case transfer within 72 hours
Case Transfer Best Practices• Discussion of the danger threat and threshold
• Broad analysis of caregiver protective capacities
• Consideration of safety plan sufficiency and conditions for return (if needed)
• Family strengths and barriers
• Scheduling of initial joint visit
• Services discussed on triage basis
Case Transfer Staffing Escalation Process• Specific case challenges
• Commitment to service provision
• Emphasis on correct information and assessments creating successful families
Supervisors Directors Leadership
Initial Joint Visits• Within 24 hours of case transfer staffing
• Open discussion of case transfer with family
• Primary assignment is given to case management
• Early partnership with family
• Groundwork for family ownership and responsibility
Preservation Challenges• Breaking alignment of safe case closure with service completion• Have behaviors changed or danger threats been eliminated?
• Challenges of transition to in-home safety planning• Going from ‘comfortable’ safety plan to one that feels riskier and requires more
monitoring
Or…
• When safe case closure is not possible, where do we go from there?
Intrusiveness• When conditions for return are not satisfied timely, there must be:• A thorough assessment of barriers and behaviors
• A staffing with DCF to relay concerns
• Decision can be made to approach Children’s Legal Services for more intrusive actions
Children’s Legal Services Collaboration• For cases with necessity of removal, collaboration with DCF is required
• Information between both agencies is combined in the petition for legal action
• Involvement with Prevention allows for exploration of reasonable efforts
• Imminency can be assumed through application of the danger threat, if the threat remains at threshold
2015-2016: 97.96% of FAST cases avoided judicial intervention
Safety Planning• Continuous, comprehensive safety plan monitoring
• Dynamic
• Allows space for safety during service provision
• Agency support of safety planning
• Constant assessment for present danger
That Time We Saw It WorkingK.M. family:
In-home non-judicial case began 12/2015• Substance abuse
On January 13, 2016, present danger was assessed
The FSCs quick action allowed the non-judicial case to move forward with the children under a new safety plan and absolutely prevented removal at that time
0-5 Staffings• 90% of child fatalities in 2013 occurred in during ages 0-5
• Role of 0-5 Quality Management Specialist
• 0-5 reviews conducted by Preservation program oversight
Integrated Practice Team• Families stalled in Prevention services
• Families nearing judicial intervention
• Option for DJJ “lockouts”• 49 of 53 DJJ cases staffed avoided judicial intervention
• This escalation option supports open communication and family partnering
• In fiscal year 2015-2016, 249 of 254 cases staffed were diverted from judicial intervention (98%!!)
Safety Practice Checkpoint• Cases selected by DCF on a rotating basis by supervisory unit
• Staffing is a walkthrough of core practice model factors:• Present danger assessment
• Safety planning
• Impending danger
• Looking forward to service provisions
Practice Model Fidelity Auditing• Audit tool
• Going beyond contract compliance into quality of practice work
• Developed by CBC as a team-based learning tool
• Focus on coaching and long-term implementation improvement
Successes• Of the 542 cases referred to FAST On-going, 97.96% had no court involvement, and 91.64% had no additional verified reports (fiscal year 2015-2016)
• Of the 1017 families involved in STEPS, 99.33% had no additional verified reports, and 49.79% of cases showed a decrease in “risk” through use of the actuarial risk tool
Partnership and Commitment• Barrier Breakers – child welfare team from all agencies:• No issue is too big or too small!
• Co-location
• “Our case is closed”
• Culture of Preservation
Contact Us!
Jennifer Stockman
Carlos Cruz
