Perspectives in Child Protection St. John’s, NF - May 12, 2000 Learning from the voice and wisdom of families: New partnerships in Child Protection Services

Impetus for the study To pilot learning from clients to improve service effectiveness and efficiency To obtain meaningful input from clients

Elements of the study process Underlying principle: We need to understand how people experience their own lives Oriented to articulating family-defined outcomes Collection, analysis and interpretation of stories of lived experience

Elements of the study process Inclusive and participatory Opportunities for reflection –Closing the loop through staff-client dialogue

Benefits of the study process Makes visible the strengths of families Makes visible family-defined outcomes Makes visible features of practice that help to achieve family-defined outcomes Makes possible the co-creation of more effective interventions

Learning: Strengths of families Wanting what is best for their children Knowing what is best for their children Knowing what is normal Understanding the impact of negative experiences Worrying about their children

Learning: Strengths of families Seeking ways to overcome the problems Struggling with the right way to relate to their children – Seeing today in the context of a life – Creating a different “family” for themselves Demonstrating commitment to their families

Learning: Family defined outcomes Safety, security, stability and consistency A sense of control A sense of optimism about the future Social support and a sense of belonging Shared responsibility with the community

Reframing policy and practice Family preservation does not necessarily mean under one roof Family-defined outcomes as an anchor for child welfare work Pro-active, early & long term vs crisis- driven After-hour crisis can be an opportunity for timely intervention

Study follow-up with staff Impact of learning on practice, administration and policy

Study Process Respectful of clients and staff Safe atmosphere for dialogue that served to inform and change practice Changed staff perspectives on clients Engaged staff in reflective process Engaged supervisors and administrators and created change at that level

Major Learnings Clients long to have their entire story heard Fundamental significance of client dignity Revised perspective of client –Clients’ perceived in more humane fashion –Clients seen as more articulate in the dialogue Greater understanding of how clients experience a very powerful CPS system

Learnings that lasted Importance of relationship Importance of being there for clients Importance of creative solutions rather than predetermined service offerings Importance of being available for long term support Importance of client definition of problem and perspective on solution

Learnings that were forgotten Importance of community for clients, especially those going through major life transitions Importance of informal support networks Request for advocacy resources Public education regarding problems of CW Client participation in these activities

Learnings for BSW graduates Confirmed what had learned in Social Work Clients described what they wanted superiors to know Process helped to inform managerial domain Increased confidence in creative responses Recognized limitations of current services

Learnings for BSW Graduates (2) See brokerage model as limiting Question current array of services Increased respect for clients Opportunity to reflect upon practice led to greater integration of theory and practice Increased sensitivity to client self- determination to extent possible

Learnings of non-BSW graduates Emphasis on protection of child limited responsiveness to parent needs Heavy caseloads and paperwork make client requests unrealistic Feel doing as much as “humanly possible” Sense of futility in changing system constraints Two-way dialogue needed so worker limitations can be expressed as well

Learnings of non-BSW’s (2) Understand clients need for empathy and understanding Impressed with importance of developing a “softer’ approach Concern about being overly “enabling” Lack of confidence in community to deliver Doing our best but efforts not appreciated

Practice Tensions Task versus process orientation Structured versus flexible service responses Organisational constraints versus family expectations Social control versus family support Brokerage function versus “therapeutic” intervention

Practice Tensions (2) Organisational reporting expectations versus client requests for availability Policies that focus on efficiency may hamper effectiveness of interventions –eg Broker model that keeps worker at a distance from clients who depend on helping relationship to deal with their problems

Educational and training implications Social work principles and values reinforced by clients Provision of opportunity to reflect upon practice in a safe environment leads to improved practice Experience led social workers to seek a greater integration of theory and practice

Administrative and policy implications Front line staff limited use of findings to practice improvement at the local level Staff and clients pleased with administrative response to client perspectives No efforts made to inform the policy domain with this information in spite of potential for significant influence