Module 2: Florida’s Childwelfare Practice...

Module 2: Florida’s Childwelfare Practice Model

January 2015

Core Child Welfare Pre-Service Curriculum | Module 2-TG 1

Module 2: The Practice Model Display Slide 2.0.1 (PG 1)

Time: 3 hours

Module Purpose: In this module, we turn participant attention to Florida’s

Child Welfare Practice Model. Display Slide 2.0.2

Agenda:

Unit 2.1: Florida’s Child Welfare Practice Model and Related Values Review Agenda with participants.

Materials:

• Trainer’s Guide (TG) • Participant’s Guide (PG) (participants should bring their own) • PowerPoint slide deck • Markers • Flip chart paper

January 2015


Activities:

Unit 2.1 • Engagement and Teamwork • Information Sufficiency • Core Practices

Trainer Instructions and Script:

In Module 1, you learned about the legal foundation for child welfare work, including the importance of least intrusive interventions and a family’s right to self-determination. In this next module, you will receive a high-level overview of the components of the child welfare system and the associated responsibilities for identifying, and remediating, a child’s need for protection and his/her family’s need for changed protective capacities. You will be introduced to our common “safety language” and safety constructs. In addition, we will begin to look at the behaviors of a child welfare professional, the essential skills that you will bring to working relationships with families. Although it is problem behaviors in a family that bring them to the attention of the child welfare system, your skills will matter significantly in terms of the family’s prognosis for success in changing those behaviors.


Unit 2.1: Florida’s Child Welfare Practice Model Display Slide 2.1.1

Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes

Unit Overview: This unit introduces participants to the major components of

the child welfare system, building on the legal foundations, purpose and principles, and professional roles. Participants will have their first introduction to Florida’s Child Welfare Practice Model.

Display Slide 2.1.2 (PG: 2)

Learning Objectives: 1. Describe safety constructs and interventions at a very high level across the

child welfare system. 2. Describe the practice model skills that are essential in order to apply safety

constructs and interventions. 3. Practice beginning recognition of practice model skills.


Trainer Instructions and Script:

Display Slide 2.1.3 (PG 3)

The core purpose of our child welfare practice model is to first, identify children whose safety is not being provided by their parents/legal custodians, and second, to remediate or change the family conditions that make the child unsafe.

A comprehensive family assessment process occurs throughout the life of a case. Tasks are all related and bound by common safety concepts, criteria and interventions.

Display Slide 2.1.4

Hotline The assessment of whether we have an unsafe child in a family begins with the Hotline. A report can be from any source, including an anonymous person, at any time (day or night). When made in good faith, a hotline intake represents an expression of concern from the community. The hotline screens the reports based on a reasonable suspicion of


child abuse, neglect or abandonment as defined in Florida Statutes, Chapter 39. The hotline determines if there is reason to suspect that a child might be in present danger, which means that the child protective investigator (CPI) must see and interview the alleged child victim within 4 hours of receiving the report. If the hotline determines there is reason to suspect impending danger, the CPI must see and interview the alleged child victim within 24 hours of receiving the report.

Display Slide 2.1.5

Child Protection Investigator The CPI investigating the report will determine at the first encounter with the child and relevant others whether or not there is present danger. This assessment is a field judgment based strictly on what is observed as being in process the day of the initial contact. The CPI will collect and analyze sufficient information to develop a Family Functioning Assessment (FFA). The FFA will provide information about the maltreatment, the circumstances surrounding the maltreatment, child functioning, adult functioning, and family approach to parenting and discipline. Based on this information, the CPI will determine if there is an unsafe child due to danger threats that are not adequately managed by caregiver protective capacities. The assessment also


is known as the Family Functioning Assessment – Investigation, or FFA-Investigation. The Family Functioning Assessment completed by the CPI is the department’s formal and official justification and determination of child safety. When children are not safe, the CPI must work expeditiously to take steps to manage child safety by developing an impending danger safety plan. Regardless of whether an in-home or out-of-home safety plan is developed, the case will be opened and will require full safety management and case management. The determination that a child is unsafe means that the child and family must be served through formal, ongoing case management services. At the conclusion of the assessment of the family’s functioning and safety determination, the CPI also will complete a risk assessment to determine if a family is at increased risk of future maltreatment. If the family is at a high or very high risk level, the CPI will encourage the family to consider receiving prevention services.

Display Slide 2.1.6

Case Management: Determine What Must Change Once the case is transferred for ongoing case management and ongoing protective services, the Case Manager is responsible for safety management and case management, and immediately begins preparation for completing the ongoing FFA.


The Case Manager will use information collected during the Family Functioning Assessment-Investigation related to impending danger and caregiver protective capacities to begin discussing with caregivers what must change. The FFA-Ongoing results in the development of a Case Plan, which includes goals for what must change related to enhancing diminished caregiver protective capacities and the identification of treatment services to address what must change. The safety management and case plan progress are evaluated through the use of the Progress Evaluation.

Display Slide 2.1.7

Case Management: Measure Progress for Achieving Change Service provision occurs through actions, activities, tasks, resources and interactions both informal and professional, which are intended to address the needs of an unsafe child facing impending danger by enhancing diminished caregiver protective capacities. Services may be provided when children are out of the home or in the home. The families of children served in-home may be under court supervision. All children in out-of-home care, with few exceptions, will be under court supervision.


Any child in out-of-home care will be returned to his/her home as soon as it is safe to have an in-home safety plan.

Display Slide 2.1.8

Case Management: Achieve Safe Case Closure In addition to continued safety management, case management supports the achievement of behavior change—the enhancement of caregiver protective capacities so the child’s parent is able to provide care and protection. When reasonable efforts to enhance caregiver protective capacities have been provided and are not successful, then parental rights must be terminated, and an alternative permanency goal for the child must be achieved.

Display Slide 2.1.9

Across the hotline, investigations and case management, we share a common language about child safety and safety interventions. We share the expectation that children will be safe, and their needs for stability and well-being will be met.


The role of licensing and adoption specialists is critical to ensure the safety and well-being needs are met for children who must be cared for out of the home on a temporary or permanent basis. Although our focus and responsibilities may vary, depending on our individual positions, we are expected as child welfare professionals to function as one system, one team, serving Florida children and families.

Display Slide 2.1.10

Now that you have had a basic introduction to the core safety constructs you will continue to learn about throughout all of your pre-service training, let’s turn our attention to the skill set that is required in order to apply the safety constructs.

While laws and policy govern our work, the following professional practices reflect the essential skills you will develop and use continuously, regardless of your role and your responsibilities. Consider this sports analogy: The rules for a sport govern the actions of team members that are acceptable or not acceptable. The practice skills of team members, which are not learned from reading a playbook, are what result in the game being won or lost.



Family Centered Practice incorporates essential practice behaviors that, when deployed in unison, create a consistent standard for engaging with families in partnership.

Provide a brief overview of each area on the slide, providing the meaning of the

practice behavior. Generate dialogue and discussion as to what the behaviors look like, and how they would impact the response of our families to us.

When practicing family-centered practice, as an agency, we will demonstrate the following behaviors: Demonstrate Respect and Courtesy: Respect and courtesy demonstrate to our families that we believe in their worth as persons, that we want to listen to their perspectives, that we want to work with them in a productive, positive way. We recognize that they have problems (e.g. arrests, drug or alcohol use/abuse, domestic violence, mental illness, poverty, child abuse, sex abuse, low functioning, etc) but we do not define them by their challenges, their race or socio-economic status. Empathy and Encouragement: Child Welfare interventions of any type are basically government intrusion into a private family life; providing empathy for how the family feels about our intrusion and providing encouragement that we truly want the situation for their family to benefit from this intervention go hand-in-hand. Professionalism: Professionalism includes due diligence in following our standards of conduct and ethics. Through the lens of


family-centered practice, we are exploring how we present to families and how we maintain our professional objectivity. This relies on the ability to have genuine compassion and empathy for the family. Respond Respond Promptly: When we offer any follow-up actions, such as a phone call, referral to an agency, bus pass, etc., our follow-up and promptness will speak volumes. An often-heard complaint about case workers from families is that the worker does not return phone calls. Continually Seeking to Engage: Constantly remember that without the family, practice cannot proceed successfully, and information and decision-making will be insufficient. It is our job to proactively make every effort to engage families and build trust. The family is our customer and, as such, continually seeking to engage the family is critical. Enable Participation and Involvement: Because we serve families your skills in engaging the family will be critical to securing their participation and involvement. Change cannot happen without family involvement; nor can sufficient decisions be made regarding safety without family involvement. Family Expertise: The family should be the primary source of information. This recognizes that each family is the expert on that family. This also demonstrates respect for the families you are assisting. Family Knowledge: “Knowledge is power” and families are empowered when provided necessary information to keep informed of their rights and responsibilities at each phase of our involvement. This includes ensuring that families have a basic understanding of how the system works.



This session will provide an overview of the essential skills in the practice model, with particular focus on two of the essential skills as a foundation for safety decision-making and intervention. The practice wheel is provided as a visual overview of family-centered practice skills. Participants have the practice wheel in their participant guides for reference. There is also a chart in the participant guide, “Essential Skills for Practice Model,” that provides more details about how the practice skills support implementation of safety-focused responsibilities. For now, this chart is to be used as a training resource to support the identification, discussion and explanation of the essential skills.

Refer participant’s to PG: 6-8, Essential Skills for Practice Model Essential Skills for Practice Model

Safety Decisions (What we need to know)

Essential Practice Skills (How we do the work)

Assess Safety (Present and Impending Danger)

1. What is the extent of the maltreatment?

2. What surrounding circumstances accompany the maltreatment?

3. How does the child function on a daily basis?

4. How does the caregiver function with respect to

Engagement Skills • Display sincere sense of caring, empathy and

encouragement. • Use active listening skills to hear what family is saying. • Observe and interpret non-verbal behaviors to explore

positive intent and purpose. • Elicit family competencies and solutions. • Encourage, support and provide positive reinforcement. • Observe and respond appropriately to diffuse symptoms of

resistance (behaviors that reflect passiveness, depression, denial, anger, anxiety).

• Reframe causality from “Why did you do it?” to “How did this come about?” And “What life experiences do you




daily life management and general adaptation, including substance use and mental health functioning?

5. What are the overall, pervasive general parenting practices used by the caregiver?

6. What are the disciplinary approaches and/or behavior management strategies and typical context used by the caregiver?

Develop, Implement and Manage Safety Plans Prior to case transfer for supervision, safety management and case management, identify underlying conditions that must be addressed to achieve child safety over the long term. Manage transition of child and family to case management agency that will supervise and manage safety plan and address underlying conditions through case plan and case management.

think brought you to this point?” (Trauma-informed) • Clearly convey safety concerns and non-negotiable actions

to family. • Elicit family priorities, and identify basic needs. • Enlist family members to participate in development of

safety plan. • Assist family and extended family in creating alliances

around child safety. • Identify and deliver on next actions offered to family. Teaming Skills • Engage immediate and extended family in assessment of

family dynamics, participation in meetings and hearings. • Be aware of one’s own prejudices and biases. • Identify family members who care about child(ren), and

identify appropriate roles in safety planning. • Identify and utilize family resources. • Identify other professionals with necessary expertise to

participate in assessment and interventions planning. • Facilitate involvement of family members in developing

adequate interim safety interventions and consensus when possible.

• Utilize team meetings when necessary, with family participation when appropriate, to achieve understanding of family dynamics and develop actions, including safety planning and case planning.

• Use facilitation skills to conduct family team meetings with other necessary persons.

• Ensure family members and other professionals have clear roles and responsibilities.

• Promote commitment and accountability of family and team members to common safety plan and longer term goals.

When there are no present or impending dangers, but scored risk level indicates high or very high probability of future verified maltreatment, encourage and guide families to community resource options. When reports are false (malicious intent), take appropriate actions to ensure

Assessing/Understanding Skills • Use keen observation and interviewing skills to assess

congruence of verbal and non-verbal communication among family members.

• Learn how family culture influences safety considerations. • Create emotional safety for children and adults to share

their family experiences. • Discern family communication and relationship patterns,

(For example, which relative speaks for whom? Who follows? What subjects can be explored? Which subjects




law enforcement referral.

are taboo? Do parents display appropriate expectations and parenting behaviors? Do family members keep each other at a distance? What factors promote family stability? What purpose might the family problems or child symptoms serve?)

• Conduct screening using information ascertained during interviews, historical information, professional judgment (and other resources as necessary) for substance abuse, domestic violence and mental illness.

• Engage other expertise to understand the severity of substance abuse, domestic violence and/or mental illness, and impacts on parent functioning and child safety.

Planning and Identification of Services • Identify and intervene promptly when children are not safe. • Respond to concrete needs quickly. • Identify and offer culturally appropriate options for

intervention. • Create clear expectations for family members and

professionals who will be responsible for safety plan implementation.

• When child removal is necessary to achieve interim safety, establish safety benchmarks to indicate conditions necessary for parents to resume custody.

• Identify and address child needs for emotional safety when transitions to another person’s care are necessary.

• When child removal occurs, identify child and family needs for family time based on child’s age and needs.

• Establish case plan outcomes and goals in collaboration with the parent/caregiver.

• Establish case plan outcomes that clearly describe in positive terms what the parent will be able to do differently in order to be protective.

• When child removal occurs, identify appropriate family care options and the family connections that should be sustained.

• Identify the underlying family needs that must be addressed over the long-term in the case plan in order for the family to achieve system independence.

• Identify and articulate child and family needs in specific behavioral terms, not as “services” needed.

• Develop clear, small and achievable steps and benchmarks to increase family’s ability to succeed.

Monitoring and Adapting




• Clarify specifically how accountability for all safety actions will be monitored (by whom, for how long, process for reporting challenges or changes, etc.).

• Clarify specifically how progress evaluation of case plan outcomes will be achieved.

• Identify and implement adaptations quickly when needed, based on child and family needs.

• Establish clear understanding of on-going lead responsibility for safety when present danger is identified and at conclusion of FFA where impending danger threats, with diminished caregiver protective capacity to manage the threats, require an ongoing safety plan and case management; establish clear understanding of safety management responsibilities at case transfer from protective investigator to case manager.

The professional practices that ultimately determine our success with families are grouped into four categories:

• interaction practices, • information practices, • planning practices and • implementation practices.


INTERACTION-FOCUSED PRACTICES 1. Engage the Family 2. Partner with All Involved

At the heart of your work as a child welfare professional is your ability to engage and interact constructively with the family and


people who know the family, relative caregiver, foster or adoptive parent. Your intentional, and skillful, interactions will result in developing productive and on-going working relationships with parents that foster the sharing of critical information about what is really going on in the home and how caregivers are handling the challenging job of raising their children. Interaction skills will help a family achieve change, a foster parent become licensed or an adoptive parent successfully complete the adoptions process.

Your interactions as a child welfare professional might be essential in order to:

• Diffuse a crisis • Minimize further trauma to a child or adult • Gather more complete information for an assessment • Identify family strengths, goals and solutions • Increase the willingness of a family to work with you toward

a goal. Let’s look at the first interaction-focused practice: Engage. To engage families, the child welfare professional:

• demonstrates the core conditions of genuineness, empathy and respect, and

• uses an array of interviewing skills.

Let’s talk about what “respect” looks like. How would we know when someone is behaving in a respectful way?

Endorse:

• Asking for permission to enter the home • Addressing all adults as “Mr.” or “Mrs.” (Last Name) • Asking where you may sit prior to sitting down • Acknowledging that they are the expert on their family


Why would demonstrating respect matter in our work?

Endorse:

• Shows people you care about them • Shows you want to help • Shows you want to hear their perspectives • Conveys a sense of fairness

Demonstrating respect conveys that I want to hear what you have to say, I am not going to be judgmental, and you can trust me.

What does “genuineness” mean?

Endorse:

• I mean what I am saying. • I am open in my communications and can be trusted. • My body language matches what I am saying verbally.

Trainer Note: Trainer should demonstrate a first meeting with a person,

saying how glad they are to meet, using closed body language (say the greeting with folded arms or hands on hips) and then with open body language.

What does “empathy” mean?

Endorse:

• I understand what you are feeling, your situation • I can identify with how you are feeling

Engagement requires that you step beyond your personal biases, be non-judgmental, and be completely open to learning about the family.

Effective engagement is NOT:

• Being “friendly” with families


• Endorsing in any way what the individual is alleged to have done

• Setting aside consequences in lieu of building rapport • Pre-determined bias • Minimizing valid safety concerns • Withholding information because it will be difficult for the

family to hear Over the course of your training, you will learn and practice the professional skills that are interaction-based.

The second ‘interaction-focused practice’ – Partner with All Involved - means that as a child welfare professional, you work as a team partner with the child, family members, and other persons who will assist with the identification and implementation of solutions. When you “Partner with All Involved,” including the parent, caregiver, foster or adoptive parent, you acquire information from all concerned. As a partner, you lead and facilitate teamwork with all persons involved, both formal and informal supports, to ensure that relevant information is known and processed by all team members. Through effective teamwork you will achieve:

• A unified perspective of what needs to happen • Clarity of individual roles and responsibilities • The opportunity to hold each other accountable for our

respective parts in achieving a solution.


Activity: Engagement and Teamwork


Let’s conduct an activity on engagement and teamwork. Go to PG: 9, Exercise Vignettes in your participant guide. There is an activity regarding engagement and teamwork. You will review brief statements by a child welfare professional about a situation he/she is facing. Indicate whether the individual must:

1. Seek ways to strengthen engagement. 2. Seek ways to strengthen teamwork. 3. Strengthen engagement and teamwork.

After participants complete the exercise individually, debrief as a group.

EXERCISE VIGNETTES With Answers:

1. Ms. Jones makes it clear that she doesn’t think I know anything because I

don’t have children. □ Strengthen Engagement □ Strengthen Teamwork □ Strengthen Engagement and Teamwork

Trainer Note: It will not be uncommon for our families to ask if we have children and to state that, if not, we don’t understand. They may also express concerns about your age if they are older. You will be learning skills to know how to respond and to not get defensive when this happens. It will be up to you to convey to the family that they are indeed the best experts on their family.

2. Mr. Harris will not talk to me unless I reveal who called the hotline.

□ Strengthen Engagement □ Strengthen Teamwork


□ Strengthen Engagement and Teamwork

Trainer Note: It will not be uncommon for families to be angry that someone has called the hotline. They are embarrassed and ashamed. You will be learning skills to know how to respond and persist in turning the discussion back to the information that you need to learn.

3. The child has a pervasive developmental delay, and I don’t understand

how that impacts the care of him. □ Strengthen Engagement □ Strengthen Teamwork □ Strengthen Engagement and Teamwork

Trainer Note: Engage parents in discussion as they are the experts on their child; and always ask a professional with knowledge (school teacher or other expert) their perspective regarding the child’s care.

4. Ms. Smith is so friendly every time we talk, and she agrees to go get a

substance abuse evaluation. However, she keeps missing every appointment I set up for her. □ Strengthen Engagement □ Strengthen Teamwork □ Strengthen Engagement and Teamwork

Trainer Note: We will be learning about the stages of change that everyone goes through; it is not uncommon for a family to be in an initial state of denial about a problem. With substance abuse, it is also helpful to confer with the substance abuse professional at the treatment program for possible engagement strategies.

5. Ms. White believes that her mother-in-law just has it in for her. She does

not feel that her drinking is a problem. □ Strengthen Engagement □ Strengthen Teamwork □ Strengthen Engagement and Teamwork

Trainer Note: Refer to trainer note for #4.

6. I know from reading the record that Ms. May has a mental illness. She won’t let me into her home to interview her. □ Strengthen Engagement □ Strengthen Teamwork □ Strengthen Engagement and Teamwork Trainer Note: Particularly when a parent is known to have a mental health diagnosis, it will be helpful to confer with a supervisor or a mental health professional about possible engagement strategies.


Activity STOP


INFORMATION-FOCUSED PRACTICES

1. Gather Information 2. Assess and Understand Information

As a child welfare professional, you will be working with a number of different individuals. These individuals include: the child, the family, law enforcement officers, foster parents, people who know the family, the foster parent or adoptive applicant, Children’s Legal Services attorneys, Guardians ad Litem, and many others whose responsibilities are relevant to your work with the family.

A central part of your work is to gather sufficient, verifiable information in order for you to make informed decisions. You must assess and critically think through the information to clearly understand what it means.

Let’s look at the first of the two information-focused practices: GATHER INFORMATION.

No matter what role you play as a child welfare professional, you will continuously gather information during the time you are working with a child or family in order to complete or update a family assessment, renew a foster parent license or update an


adoption home study.

Gathering information occurs through purposeful, and skillful, interviews and observations, from a wide variety of individuals: the child, the family, relatives and friends of the family, and other “collateral” contacts.

This information-gathering continues throughout your work with the family to gain ongoing insight into the child or family as their situation changes over time. Information-gathering comes first; understanding how the information is related or important follows next. Think of having a box full of puzzle pieces. That represents all of the information you have gathered. Think of the completed puzzle. That shows you have a comprehensive picture, or understanding, of all of the individual pieces of information gathered.

Finally, you must be able to develop a written summary of your assessment that conveys and supports your professional analysis. You create the picture of what has been learned, in words. The information gathered must be sufficient to fully inform your critical thinking and analysis. Underlying issues must be identified and addressed, and the family’s preferences, abilities and culture should inform any interventions or other decisions.

It is only by being able to assess that information and understand it that you can make informed and effective decisions. To determine whether you have sufficient information in order to make good decisions, you can expect to use three types of guiding questions. Guiding questions regarding information sufficiency include:

• Are there information gaps in terms of what I need to


know? • Are there inconsistencies in the information that I must

reconcile to make sense of the information? (These would include observations that contrast with information learned from interviews or other sources.)

• Can I validate the information I have, or is it all based on “self-report”?


Activity: Information Sufficiency


Let’s conduct an activity related to information sufficiency. In your participant guide, there is an activity regarding information sufficiency. You will review brief statements by a child welfare professional about a situation he/she is facing. Indicate whether the individual must:

1. Get more information, because right now it is insufficient. 2. Reconcile inconsistent information. 3. Validate this information from another source.

Have participant’s turn to PG: 10, Information Sufficiency Exercise. After participants complete the exercise individually, debrief as a group.

INFORMATION SUFFICIENCY EXERCISE with Answers for Trainer

1. John says that he broke his leg falling down on the playground at school,

but the Child Protection Team says that his injury could not have happened that way.

□ Get more information, because right now it is insufficient. □ Need to reconcile inconsistent information. □ Need to validate this information from another source.

2. Ms. White says that her daughter is doing very well in school. □ Get more information, because right now it is insufficient. □ Need to reconcile inconsistent information. □ Need to validate this information from another source.

3. The infant’s mom says the baby is perfectly normal. □ Get more information, because right now it is insufficient.


□ Need to reconcile inconsistent information. □ Need to validate this information from another source.

4. The mother says the 4-year old is extremely active and doesn’t follow directions. The child care provider says the child is on task and able to sit during story times.


5. Mr. Hodges says that his wife is over-reacting; he does not have a drinking problem.


Activity STOP


PLANNING PRACTICES There are many types of plans that must be developed in our child welfare work. Some are more formal, such as a child safety plan or a case plan. Planning skills are necessary for:

• Plan for Child Safety • Plan for Family Change • Plan for child transitions • Plan to become licensed as a foster parent


• Plan to become an approved adoptive parent Any plan of action that a family has actively helped to create is one they are more invested in and committed to achieving. Your interactions to engage a family in co-constructing a plan of action will be key to:

• Recognizing that their current situation is resulting in danger for their child

• Helping a parent overcome an addiction • Helping a foster parent determine what they need to do to

obtain a license, or maybe after they have been licensed, to learn what to do to help a child whose behaviors are very challenging

• Helping a prospective adoptive parent understand the needs of the child they wish to adopt.

When you think of a plan you have developed that involves more than one person, what are the important ingredients?

Endorse:

• Clear purpose/destination/know what the plan will accomplish

• Proper sequence of steps, what must happen first • Allowing adequate time for each step • Identifying who is responsible for which tasks • Identifying resources needed (such as funding) and whether

we have enough

Let’s look at the components of any of plan you will co-construct with a family:

• The plan achieves a clear set of outcomes that describe how family conditions and capacities will be different

• The plan lays out a clear roadmap for achieving the outcomes

• The plan is clear on/about who, what, when and how each step in the plan will be accomplished.



IMPLEMENTATION PRACTICES A well-constructed plan does not complete your work. Plans must be implemented and diligently monitored to determine:

• Are all actions being taken as planned, or have some barriers to action surfaced?

• Are all persons doing their part? • Has an action been implemented or completed? • Has an action been implemented, but the service, training or

treatment received was an inadequate match to the need? • Has a new need surfaced that should be added to the plan? • Have outcomes been achieved, or not?

Plans must be modified. The professional practices related to plan implementation are to monitor safety plans, case plans or plans developed with foster parents or adoptive parents, and adapt the plans as needed.

Activity: Core Practices



Let’s conduct an activity related to how these core practices often work simultaneously to achieve the best results.

1. Divide participants into small groups or discuss each with the group as a

whole.

2. Discuss and identify the impact that the practice of effective teamwork might have on information sufficiency.

3. Discuss and identify the impact that the practice of strong family

engagement might have on the development and implementation of any type of plan:

o Family is more invested in the plan o The plan is better match to family needs/preferences/culture o The plan will tap into family resources/solutions o Family will share their concerns and possible barriers, which can

then be addressed up-front o Well-engaged family will be comfortable and proactive about

communicating when barriers surface (for example, a child care problem, a financial problem, etc.)

4. Identify the impact that effective teamwork might have on any type of

plan: o All team members are invested in the plan, want it to work o All team members bring their resources and knowledge to the

table o Team members hold each other accountable for their respective

parts o Team member communicate openly with each other when a

problem or barrier is surfacing Have each group report their responses.

Activity STOP



All of these practices contribute to the outcomes we want to help children and families achieve. When a child or family is not making the progress we hope for, our initial questions should relate to self-examination of our practices as child welfare professionals.

• Have I built a trusting relationship with this family? • Have I helped to identify and build a team of people who are

working together to achieve a goal? • Have I gathered sufficient information, and do I have a big-

picture assessment? • Do I know what I need to know to do what I need to do? • Have I developed a clear and succinct plan? • Is the plan working or not working, and why?

During your communications lab work and field-shadowing activities, you will learn to identify these critical practice skills as child welfare professionals interact and communicate with both individual family members and other professional staff working with the family. You will also practice and begin to master the associated interviewing and writing skills.

In the next classroom module we will cover the child; learning

about child development at different ages and stages. Regardless of your position, knowing what is normal and healthy behavior at different stages is essential information to know. A child’s needs for care, supervision and nurturing from parents and other caregiver’s parallel developmental stages as well any special needs they might have.


Module 2: Florida’s Childwelfare Practice...

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