1. John Vogel and Sophia Chin The Action Learning Group

2. Purpose To have a dialog on how to effectively engage family members in goal setting.

3. Desired Outcomes Participants will walk away with: – An understanding of the features of an effective goal; – Increased confidence in how to ask strategic questions to facilitate goal development; – An understanding of how to assess progress towards identified goals.

4. Engagement, Assessment, and Planning through Collaboration Safety, Well-Being and Permanency Solution Focused Approach Goal Setting in the Child Welfare System:

5. Solution-Oriented Assumptions  Social reality is co-created.  Change is inevitable. People and families experience constant change  Rapid resolution of complaints is probable.  Small change is all that is necessary; a change in one part of a system affects change in other parts of the system  Clients have resources to solve problems and their reach goals. They are the experts.

6. Solution Focused Approach  Draws on client’s own resources, strengths and abilities to achieve their goals.  More important for client to find his/her own solution than follow what you tell them.  Focus on solutions, not problems  Find exceptions to the problems  Focus on the process of goal setting  Concentrate on the worker’s role in the relationship

7. Assessing the client/worker relationship Motivation is not simply an attribute within the family, it is a dynamic reflection of the nature of the relationships they have with professionals. A Solution Focused Approach to Child Welfare

8. Solution Focused Inquiry Premise: Focus of intervention is revealing what will resolve their situation Process: Series of interviews focusing on solutions Practice: Ask solution focused, open ended questions

9. Solution Focused Interview Exception Focused Questions Times when the outcome was different Miracle Focused Questions Focused on the desired behavior or outcome; ‘what if, then what…?’ Coping Focused Questions Focused on the coping behaviors/skills Scaling Questions Puts numerical value on self efficacy, measures change/progress

10. Solution Focused Interview Question Type Exception Seeking Miracle Question Coping Question Scaling Question Purpose for asking Finding Strengths Developing Goals Exploring Solutions Assessing progress

11. Goal Setting: The Essential Elements Effective Goals address four key questions  Where are you at now?  What are you aiming for?  What are you going to do achieve it?  How will you know you’ve reached it? 17

12. Solution Focused Inquiry Question Type Exception Seeking Miracle Question Coping Question Scaling Question Purpose for asking Finding Strengths Developing Goals Exploring Solutions Assessing progress Where are you at now? What are you aiming for? What can you do to achieve it? How will you know when you’ve reached it?

13. Goal Setting: The Essential Elements The number one most important aspect about setting goals is the extent to which it is “owned”. We want the family members to set their own goals, with our help, to promote their motivation and commitment to achieving tangible outcomes. When someone takes ownership of their goal, they feel a greater commitment to the goal and a better sense that the goal is feasible. 18

14. Level of Ownership Has a different view of the problem. There is no alliance towards a resolution Agrees there is a problem, but views that someone else should solve it Values services, but has not yet utilized them to change behavior Uses services to support efforts at lasting change A Solution Focused Approach to Child Welfare

15. Important and Meaningful Unless someone actually wants to change, it is impossible to force them to change. It is much easier to work with someone towards a change that they value, than to tell them what to do. Goals are meaningful when the build on a pattern of success that the person has already recognized. Goals are more important when they represent the attainment of something beneficial. 20

16. Positive Positive goals are creating goals with the presence of a behavior or start of something. Having positive goals allows you to observe and measure your actions. Specific positive objectives help provide details for when you are moving in the right direction which ultimately allows you to create solutions. Example: The more I focused on not eating certain foods, the more I found myself eating them. The more I focused on eating vegetables, the more I found myself eating them. 21

17. Concrete, Small and Realistic Creating concrete and specific goals will provide the opportunity to evaluate progress and keep heading in the best direction to success. Focus on generating goals that are measurable with specific outcomes. An effective goal is something that can be done immediately, within the next week or two. For example: “Quit drinking is a big goal—going to one AA meeting is more immediate and realistic” 22

18. Behavioral When setting behavioral goals it is important to think about the type of behavior/tasks you would like to incorporate into your goals. For example, if a mother has a goal to spend more quality time with her kids you may ask her questions such as: *What types of things would you be doing that would tell me you were spending quality time with your children? *What would your kids say you were doing that would show them you were spending quality time with them? By asking the parent these questions it will help paint a visual picture of their goals and what they, and others, can see them. 23

19. Set Short and Long Term Goals Long term goals are meaningful and probably most important to us when envisioning the future. However, the problem with only setting long term goals is that they are set so far in the future that it is difficult to focus on or achieve without a short-term plan. So it is necessary to set both long and short term goals. For example, a long term goal could be: "complete my degree within 2 years." An example of a short term goal could be: "send in 5 college applications by the deadline May 15th." Your short-term goals can be set for a few days, weeks or even a few months. Make sure your goals are time bound and can be achieved in the near future. 24

20. Reduced to Small Steps Create goals that can be reduced to small steps. According to solution focused theory only small change is necessary because change, no matter how small, creates the context for further change. Creating smaller goals allows the parent to manage their goals better and make them obtainable. It also allows them to recognize the smaller changes they are making which gives them more power to make bigger changes and achieve their goals. 25

21. Is Viewed as “Hard Work” If it is “easy”, then anyone can do it, but most people won’t. Even small changes can seem like huge efforts to stressed and overwhelmed parents. When the problem is described a being difficult to solve, the parent feels less blamed for a lack of effort or unwillingness to solve it. It’s not the parent’s inherent shortcoming but the magnitude of the problem that is the challenge. 26

22. CPS Goals and Family Goals CPS must establish priorities which insure the safety of the child. If the child is currently safe, but there exists risk due to chronic worries, it may be possible to work first on what the parent identifies as goals. Working together on the parent’s goals first makes it more likely that you can work together on the agency goals. Even in time of disagreement, the family’s goals and the agency goals are not mutually exclusive. 27

23. The How Who needs to be involved? Dialog Structure Use of Inquiry The bottom line 28

24. Family Safety Circles Tool People who don’t know anything at all People who know a little bit People who know most things CHILD Building a Safety Network Who can help to keep the child safe? Paternal Grandmother Sister Next door neighbor Best friend Aunt Work friend

25. Goal Setting: The Essential Elements Facilitation is a process of supporting people in developing and sustaining commitment to their goals and the belief that it is possible to achieve. There are many creative ways to set goals, however, the following list of goal setting characteristics will help you create specific, achievable, action-oriented goals based on a solution focused approach. “Even big problems can be solved with small, simple solutions. (Insoo Kim Berg, 1994) 19

26. Dialog Structure

27. Purpose Example Our purpose here is to make sure we have shared understanding of what needs to happen in order for Johnny to transition to his group home as smoothly as possible. At the end of the meeting, each of us will have a list of action items to fully implement Johnny’s discharge plan. 31

28. Goal Setting

29. OPEN : Brainstorming to gather a broad, wide-open set of responses-Seek understanding NARROW : Focused inquiry to provide clarity and details: Seek agreement CLOSE: Understanding and agreement of a plan of action How do we promote collaboration? Stages of a Dialog

30. 34 Where are we?

31. What is working well right now? What are you doing differently than before Who has helped you do that? What is Mom doing to help you to do that? What is one thing that is happening in Johnny’s counseling sessions that is helpful? Tell me about a time that Johnny was behaving well? Where are we?

32. 36 Where do we want to go?

33. 37 Where do we want to go? What needs to happen? Describe a resolution in which everyone wins? Suppose a miracle happened and this family was functioning so well that we are no longer involved, what would they be doing? What is the one thing that would make a difference with this family? How do you think your sister (brother, husband, sponsor) see her role in this. What do you see your role in helping this plan come together? What is most important to you right now? What is the department’s bottom line?

34. 38 How are we going to get there?

35. 39 How are we going to get there? What needs to happen? On a scale from 1 - 10, with 1 being you are completely uncertain that this plan will work and 10 being you are absolutely certain our goals will be accomplished, how do you rate your confidence level about this plan? What needs to happen to bring your level up one? What is the one thing you can do to help Johnny maintain his connection to his foster mother? What is the one thing that would make a difference with this family? How can we reunify Johnny with his mother and build a safety plan for them? What has enabled you to stay supportive of Johnny?

36. Assessing Progress Where are we? On a scale from 1 - 10, with 1 being there’s been absolutely no progress made on getting Johnny closer to discharge and 10 being everything is in place to make sure he can successfully stay sober in the community, how would you rate where things are right now? What needs to happen to bring that up one? What would your sponsor say about that if he were here? What are your worries about Johnny right now? 40

37. The Bottom Line Concrete description: Who, what and how long? When Jane and Peter visit with Dad, someone from their safety network will always be there. Dad is never to be left alone with Jane or Peter. CPS need to see that visits with Dad are going well for the next 3 months before we can close the case. 41

38. CPS Goals and Family Goals CPS must establish priorities which insure the safety of the child. If the child is currently safe, but there exists risk due to chronic worries, it may be possible to work first on what the parent identifies as goals. Working together on the parent’s goals first makes it more likely that you can work together on the agency goals. Even in time of disagreement, the family’s goals and the agency goals are not mutually exclusive. 27

39. 39 Your Own Goals Thinking back to the goals that you set at the beginning of this dialog, What if you were achieving what you want to achieve in your work, how would you know? What of that would you be able to accomplish by next Tuesday? 39

40. 40 Wrap Up Plus/Delta? Thoughts/Comments?