Promising Practices in Chronic Neglect

Dee Wilson, MSWNorthwest Institute for Children and Families, University of Washington

June 18, 2008Neglect: The Hidden Cost of Meth

and Other Substance AbuseDeschutes County Summit

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Parents

Concern: Parents with substance abuse and mental health problems have low rates of initial engagement in treatment.

Promising practices: Motivational Interviewing

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Concern: Parents drop out of treatment or relapse, lose hope of overcoming obstacles to getting children back.

Promising practices:

Parent mentors for support and encouragement

Parents

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Parents

Concern: Convincing decision makers to return children to their custody; progress in treatment is rarely smooth and without setbacks, and families usually have a variety of serious problems apart from substance abuse.

Promising practices: Family Treatment, or Dependency Drug Courts

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Parents

Concern: Parents completing treatment programs often return to the same living arrangements and same neighborhoods

Promising practice:

Transitional Housing

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Parents

Concern: Parents in recovery with low levels of education are destined for lengthy welfare dependence or a struggle for survival in the low wage economy.Promising practice: Education and Job Training Programs, partnerships with business sector to hire and support parents

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Parents

Concern: The problems and stresses associated with reunification may overwhelm a parent’s ability to cope.

Promising practice:

Intensive Support (ex: Respite Care) for reunified families for at least one year.

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Children

Concern: Substance abuse and mental health problems interfere with emotionally sensitive responsive care-giving.

Promising practice:

Parenting Programs and visitation that promote attachment.

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Children

Concern: Chronic neglect and chronic maltreatment have a powerful cumulative effect on children’s cognitive development and social development and the capability to regulate emotions.

Promising practice: Therapeutic Child Development Programs

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Children

Concern: Chronically neglectful parenting often leads to children who engage in non-stop negative attention getting behavior with parents and to be oppositional with childcare staff and teachers as well.

Promising practice:

Parenting Programs that teach how to reduce such behaviors

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ChildrenConcern: Neglected children’s reduced ability to calm themselves when experiencing negative emotional states mimics the difficulties traumatized children experience with affect regulation.

Promising practice:

Trauma Treatment Techniques for Children

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Children

Concern: Hopeless/ helpless attitudes of youth that can become self-fulfilling.

Promising practice:

Resiliency Based Youth Programs

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Community/Professional

Concern: “I’ve called and called. Why don’t they open this case?” Tensions between child welfare and community partners re: when to open a case.

Promising practice:

Clear protocol, shared with community, for when child welfare is best approach, and when voluntary community based services are best.

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Community/Professional

Concern: Limited funding for early intervention and prevention leads to over-reliance on child welfare.

Promising practice:

Develop funding for family support programs that engage vulnerable families in a supportive, non-stigmatizing setting.

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Community / Professional

Concern: Families have many needs, many providers, many mandates and ‘dueling case plans….’

Promising practice:

Develop teams around and with families to coordinate services and plans.

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Community/Professional

Concern: Working with such families can be exhausting and ‘burn out’ even the most idealistic helpers.

Promising practice:

Build teams, so that helpers from different agencies or faith/community groups can take the lead at different times.