Child Safety Framework

Child Safety Framework
Time Needed: 15 minutes – depending if you have 25 people and if they are familiar with the area… Materials Needed: Sign in Sheet from your Regional Training Coordinator (RTC) Copy of the PP Slides for staff Agenda Parking Lot Poster Instruction to Trainers Welcome the trainees to the classroom. You will need to quickly review the location of restrooms, exits in the room, turning off/vibration of technical devices. Invite them to review materials on the table until the training gets started. Ask that everyone find their name on the registration list and sign in. All names should be on the list because the online training is a prerequisite for this training. They will not be able to register for this training without completing the online training. This will help support you as this training depends on their knowledge base from that training. Instructor introduces self and asks if trainees have questions about the online training. Go around the room and have each person introduce self and 1 thing you do in your job to keep children safe. The reason why Instructor will go around the room and have participants think of how they keep children safe is to instill the idea of “Throughout the life of the case” this means safety is not just a front end responsibility but belongs to everyone in Children’s Administration. Refer participants to the Parking Lot and any questions that come up that may or may not be addressed today should be written up on the Parking Lot and reviewed at lunch and then, at the end of the day. Here are quick notes to guide you through the history and why we are here today (in online training): Leadership instituted an additional layer of review on all safety plans by the Regional Administrator or designee. They requested the National Resource Center for Child Protective Services (NRCCPS) to come and review the safety planning practice in Washington State. In 2010 Social Workers, Supervisors, and Area Administrators from the six regions participated in this review process with the NRC. In the fall of 2010 the NRC discussed with Washington the Safety Intervention System to strengthen our safety practice. Central to our core mission

Informs and guides child safety decisions throughout the life of a case. Provides precise language and clear definitions. Strengthens child safety assessments and planning. Guides appropriate placement decisions. Time Needed: 7 minutes Materials Needed: Instruction to Trainers: Thank you for completing the On-Line training prior to coming to this class. The information that you viewed during that course was meant to give you a general overview of the terms that we will explore in more detail during your classroom trainings. The Child Safety Framework supports and enhances our practice model Solution Based Casework and focuses on assessing child safety throughout the life of a case. The safety framework is built on precise language that will be used throughout our child welfare practice. Safety is primary and essential focus that informs and guides ALL decisions made from Intake through case closure. This includes removal and reunification decisions and assessing safety of children in all placement settings. Safety is reliant on good information gathering, assessments and analysis. The Child Safety Framework supports strength-based practice and CA Practice Model. Responsibility for child safety rests with the department across all program areas.

Time Needed: 15 minutes Materials Needed: Child Safety Framework Circular Flow Chart Instruction to Trainers Point out to attendees the large visual aid in the room The child safety framework is build on 4 key principles. These principles are Gather, Assess, Analyze, Plan. These steps happen throughout the life of the case and in all situation that we encounter within the case. We should never stop gathering comprehensive information, assessing and analyzing the information collected and planning to keep a child safe. Within the orange section of the flowchart there are a variety of safety tasks and actions that need to be accomplished: This represents new principles that includes new terms and definitions and ways of thinking about child safety throughout the life of the case. We will review our terms and definitions in the next few slides. In addition, you will get an opportunity to use those new terms in real case scenarios. You will notice that throughout our Child Safety Framework there is the phrase “Throughout the life of the case” this means safety is not just a front end responsibility but belongs to everyone in Children’s Administration. Child Safety Framework

of Maltreatment The likelihood (chance, potential, prospect) for parenting behavior that is harmful and destructive to a child’s cognitive, social, emotional and/or physical development and those with parenting responsibility are unwilling or unable to behave differently. Time Needed: 5 – 10 minutes depending on conversation Instructor Note: Washington State was seen as a leader in risk assessment when first developing the Summary Assessment and later the Investigative Risk Assessment. In 2007 the SDM Risk Assessment replaced the Investigative Risk Assessment. As noted in the definition above risk of maltreatment is somewhat unpredictable in terms of timeframe, whether harm will actually result and how serious the harm might be as a result of the risk.

Definition: Safe Child Children are considered safe when there are no present danger or impending danger threats or the caregiver’s protective capacities control all known safety threats. Time Needed: 30 seconds No Materials Needed: Instructor Note: This is a new term – read definition. You will be using these definitions throughout the day today.

Definition: Unsafe Child Children are considered unsafe when they are vulnerable to present or impending danger and caregivers are unable or unwilling to provide protection. Time Needed: 30 seconds No Materials Needed: Instructor Note: This is a new term – read definition. You will be using these definitions throughout the day today.

Definition: Present Danger Present danger is immediate, significant and clearly observable severe harm or threat of severe harm occurring in the present. Time Needed: 30 seconds No Materials Needed: Instructor Note: This is a new term – read definition. The next definition is the last new term then, we will take a break.

Definition: Impending Danger Parenting behavior that is harmful and destructive to a child’s cognitive, social, emotional or physical development that is likely to occur in the immediate or near future that could result in one or more of the following outcomes: Serious or severe harm Injury requiring medical attention Life endangering illness Death Time Needed: 30 seconds Instructor Note: This is a new term – read definition. Morning Break – allow 15 minutes

Protective Capacities
Definition: Protective Capacities Behavioral, cognitive and emotional characteristics that can specifically and directly be associated with a person’s ability and willingness to care and keep a child safe. Time Needed: 5 minutes No Materials Needed: Instructor Note: This is a new term – read definition.

“Risk” versus “Safety Threats”
Risk is concerned with… Safety is concerned with… Whether a family is more or less likely to have another incident of abuse or neglect without agency intervention Current dangerous family conditions and behaviors The assessment of future maltreatment on a continuum from low to very high Severe forms of maltreatment only and the certainty of the severe effects on the child Characteristics of family functioning Family conditions that meet the safety threshold Current and historical information, patterns, and behaviors Specific threats to a child’s safety now or in the near-future Family conditions and behaviors that impair parenting capacity Family conditions and behaviors that are currently out-of-control Evaluation of conditions and behaviors that may need services and treatment Conditions and behaviors that require control and management A limited number of validated characteristics that are related to the likelihood of future abuse or neglect A limited number of specific factors threatening child safety

Risk or Safety Threat? Parent parks her car in front of the pharmacy and leaves her 2-year-old and 6-month-old in the car in their car seats while she gets prescriptions filled for the children. She watches them from the front door of the pharmacy while she waits for her prescription. Time Needed: 5 minutes Materials Needed: 3 x 5 cards COLOR 1 3 x 5 cards COLOR 2 Instructor Note: Read example. Answer: Risk – the mother has line of sight eyes on the children so situation is manageable because mom is at a near distance to the children to respond immediately if there is an emergency. Instructor will ask the group - What might raise this to the level of a safety threat? If this was a large Dept. Store and mom was at the back of the store and not able to see the children then this would be a safety threat.

Risk or Safety Threat? Dad is depressed. He is reluctant about taking his medication because it makes him feel “out of it”. He can’t stand his job; doesn’t see how things will be different; has little energy to spend time with the children. Dad is inconsistent in providing some meals but the children are generally fed. Children go to school dirty and tired because the Dad is inconsistent about cleaning their clothes and getting them to bed.

Risk or Safety Threat? Parent is picked up by police for drunk driving and has children in the car. Time Needed: 3 minutes Materials Needed: The colored 3 x 5 cards Instructor Note: Read example. Answer: Safety threat – it is happening now, immediate severe impact if mom drives off the road, there is no other adult to drive the car. Let’s see Safety Vs. Risk into practice? The next few slides help us to identify the differences.

Threats to Child Safety are very different than Risk of Maltreatment
Having a real and practical understanding of the differences will have a profound effect on the safety decisions you make daily. Time Needed: 5 minutes Instructor Note: Welcome group back from break. Ask if there are any questions with the terms and definitions. Defining the differences between safety and risk in ways staff and community can understand is critical to good safety decision making.

Present Danger Immediate and significant Clearly observable
Occurring in the present Child MUST be protected from the present danger Child may or may not need ongoing protection – Assess for Impending Danger Present danger is immediate, significant and clearly observable severe harm or threat of severe harm occurring in the present

Responding to Present Danger vs. Responding to Impending Danger
Present danger threats are controlled by immediate protective actions Impending danger threats are controlled by safety plans: Impending danger threats are identified through a comprehensive safety assessment Safety plans are developed with families and other child safety supports Time Needed: No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers CA responds to safety threats in two ways: with protective actions or with a safety plan. Present danger is controlled by immediate protective actions. The recognition of present danger results from a quick assessment of child safety, based usually on limited information. As one CPS program manager put it, these are situations that no social worker would walk away from. They would know that they could not leave that home until the child was safe. A case note documenting the present danger identified and the protective action taken is created in FamLink. Remember in Day One training we discussed present and impending danger. Ask the group for present danger examples. As they provide examples, think critically about the example. Listen for an opportunity to ask the larger group if they agree or not. The next few slides are examples for trainer use to get the group talking. You can “HIDE” these slides if you wish. Identification of impending danger threats is completed through thorough information gathered via the safety assessment. This information comes from interviews with the child(ren), the parents or caregivers, relatives and kin, medical providers, service providers, educators, law enforcement, and others. This information may also come from records or reports again from educators, medical providers, service providers, and other sources.

Controlling Present Danger with Protective Actions
Definition: Controlling Present Danger with Protective Actions Present danger is immediate, significant and clearly observable severe harm or threat of severe harm occurring in the present requiring immediate protective response. Time Needed: 30 seconds No Materials Needed: Instructor Note: This is a new term – read definition. The next definition is the last new term then, we will take a break.

Immediate, short-term and sufficient to protect a child while the comprehensive safety assessment is completed. The parents or caregivers are not relied upon to ensure that the protective action is effective. Includes the participation of others committed to the safety of the child. Time Needed: 3 minutes Materials Needed: “Protective Actions Guide” handout Instruction to Trainers Short-term means three to seven days and no longer than 10 days. Trainer can reference Safety Assessment policy (completion within 10 days) if necessary. Because the child is considered to be in present danger, the parents are not asked to provide protection. If the child is in foster or relative care, the only protective action is removal. The agency does not allow any other protective action for children in care. If the protective action is removal and emergency placement in unlicensed care, the social worker must consult with a supervisor and complete a Purpose Code X check on all caregivers in the home, 18 years or older. It is usually in the best interest of the child to ask those who know and have a relationship with the child to help with protection. Purpose Code C checks are also available if the case is open in CPS . Purpose Code C checks can be completed on all adults living in the home, 16 years or older.

Those responsible for protective actions are reliable, committed, available, trustworthy, allied to the child’s safety and implementation of the plan Describable, provides clarity on how protective actions will work Includes timeframes and logistics, who will do what and when Not voluntary Time Needed: 10 minutes Materials Needed: “Martinez Case Scenario” handout Instruction to Trainers If adults who know and have a relationship with the child are available to help with protection of the child, the social worker must assess their availability, reliability, and alliance to the child rather than the parent. When determining the protective action taken, it is important that everyone understand how the protective action will control the danger. Because protective actions are often fairly straightforward they may seem simple to understand. It is important that the social worker explain the protective action to the parents and others, linking the protective action to the danger and including any behavioral expectations about who will do what, when it will be done and when it will end. A protective action is not voluntary. Protective actions are needed for serious and critical conditions. Options should be provided to a family and parents should be involved in considering options. Social workers should strive to offer options in a respectful manner. Parents have a right to reject a protective action without threats or ultimatums. Efforts should be made to help them understand that rejection of the protective action requires the agency to seek a legal action. Trainer asks participants for examples of protective actions. Break (15 minutes) Ask participants to read the Martinez Case Scenario during the end of their break.

Present Danger Practice
Martinez Case Scenario Answer and Identify the following: Present danger threats Necessary protective actions Next steps Time Needed: 10 minutes for small groups, 10 minute large group debrief Materials Needed: Provide “Present Danger Threats” handout. (Given out during day one training). Instruction to Trainers: Break into groups of no more than five. Give groups ten minutes for exercise. Answers: Maltreating now, child is fearful, parent out-of-control Father allow Fabian to stay with his aunt for the next five days so the safety assessment can be completed. Father agrees to supervised contact only with Fabian under the authority of a VPA. Assess aunt’s home, assess suitability and reliability, discuss protection of Fabian, aunt’s commitment to Fabian’s safety. Complete NCIC Purpose Code X check. Consult with supervisor. Complete safety assessment.

Example of Present Danger
Mother of 1 month old twins has post partum depression which is untreated. She sleeps most of the day while her husband is at work. She has not shared her feelings with her husband because he just thinks she is lazy.

The father of three small children (ages 1, 5 and 6) is high, incoherent and physically disoriented when you show up for the initial contact. Time Needed: 2 minutes No Materials Needed Instructor Note: Read the scenario and identify which present danger best applies to case example. Answer: Parent intoxicated or under significant influence of drugs

A child has a broken arm and cracked ribs and the injuries are assessed to be the result of physical abuse.

A three-year-old child in relative care is found wandering on a busy street and the relative’s whereabouts are unknown. Time Needed: No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: Review slide.

A dependent six-year-old is last seen by a teacher four days ago. The child was last observed with a black eye and bruise on the neck. Now the relatives are not responding to calls from the social worker and refused to allow the social worker to see the child when the social worker visited the home. Time Needed: No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: Review slide.

A 15-year-old tells her friend that her mom’s boyfriend has been touching and grabbing at her breasts and that she is afraid of him. The mom has been working swing shift. The boyfriend comes over when her mom is working and leaves before she comes home. He told her that he loves her, not her mom. She told her mom that he had been grabbing at her chest and her mom told her that she was a whore and was probably leading him on. 15-year-old is returning home and boyfriend will be at the residence. Time Needed: No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: Review slide.

A 14-year-old boy in special education classes comes to school with redness and bruising on his jaw and cheek. He tells the teacher that his father hit him last night. He says that his father hits him a lot and has been telling the boy that he likes to fight him. The boy says that usually he doesn’t mind but this time his dad hit him all over his head “really hard” and that he doesn’t want to go home. Time Needed: No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: Review slide.

Present Danger Summary
Can occur at anytime throughout the life of a case Happening right now Must be addressed on a continual basis – never stop assessing present danger during the case When identified protective action(s) must be taken immediately to protect the child’s safety Follow up with Safety Assessment to determine if child is in Impending Danger Time Needed: 2 minutes LUNCH BREAK – 1 hour Materials Needed: Refer to Present Danger Assessment and Protective Action Handout Guide Instructor Note: This is a summary of Present Danger. Can occur at anytime throughout the life of a case Is happening now When identified must have protective action(s) taken immediately to protect the child’s safety Must be addressed on a continual basis – never stop assessing present danger during the case After lunch we will discuss IMPENDING DANGER.

Responsibility for Safety
CA is responsible for the safety of children and this responsibility cannot be delegated to others. Protective actions, safety planning and continuous safety management are the strategies used by CA to keep children safe.

Responsibility for Safety
Family, friends, relatives, and other child welfare partners are included in the development, implementation, and monitoring of the plan. Analysis to determine the type of safety plan implemented includes assessing the suitability and reliability of potential plan participants. Time Needed: 3 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers Good child welfare practice includes an understanding of the importance of a family’s natural supports as potential resources in safety plans. Those involved with a family, including friends, relatives, school personnel, medical providers, and others can all be involved in the design and implementation of a plan. They also can assist in monitoring the safety of the child, but ultimately we are responsible. When a family has natural supports who want to be involved in a plan, it is critical to assess the suitability and reliability of those supports. Assessing the suitability and reliability of potential plan participants includes an understanding of their alliances. Assessing suitability and reliability also includes FamLink and criminal history checks. We will talk more about this later today.

Information Based Safety Assessment
Supporting Best Practice Moving Away from Incident Based Practice Time Needed: 1 quick minute to pause to next segment No Materials Needed: Instruction to Trainers: This Child Safety Framework will help us to move away from incident based practice. We will be gathering information to help us assess, analyze and plan for a child’s safety. For the remainder of today we will focus on the first two principles identified on the flow chart. Let’s look at the flow chart.

Gathering Information to determine if Impending Danger Exists
What is the nature and extent of maltreatment? What surrounding circumstances accompany the maltreatment? How does the child/children function on a daily basis? How does the parent/caregiver discipline the child? What are the overall parenting and child care practices? How does the parent/caregiver manage his/her own life on a daily basis? Time Needed: 20 minutes Materials needed: 6 questions for Gathering Information Guide Instruction to Trainers: There are 6 questions to use when gathering information with a focus on child safety. The answers to these questions will help guide the other steps of this process with a focus on child safety. The six questions are: (read the slide) and point to the large wall size version of these questions. Allow time to read new materials just handed out. Let’s review them. Handout 2 - The Gathering Information Handout The key point here is: Sufficient information is the most essential ingredient to effective safety decision making. Safety decision making depends on fully understanding a family. Fully understanding a family does not allow CPS to focus only on the maltreatment or more extreme areas of functioning. Fully understanding a family takes into account positive attributes that may have little to do with CPS involvement, strengths that have much to do with CPS involvement; negative attributes and challenges that are general but have little specifically to do with CPS involvement; negative functioning and risk of maltreatment influences that influence how the family is doing overall and relate to CPS involvement and, specifically, concerning situations and behavior that are more extreme and representative of or related to safety threats. The handout reflects this larger perspective directed at collecting a range of information both positive and negative, both harmless and seriously harmful. The point is that information collection should end up providing as full a picture of a family as possible. This kind of information is what you need to know in order to apply the safety threshold and judge whether threats exist.

Gathering Questions Investigative Assessment
This will be documented in FamLink: Investigative Assessment Comprehensive Family Evaluation FAR Family Assessment

Assessing Weigh all gathered information
Assign significance to the information Determine if safety threats exists Time Needed: 2 minutes No Materials Needed Instructor Note: This Child Safety Framework is a continual process. After information is gathered we must assess that information. Through the assessment we will be able to provide weight to information that pertains to child safety, assigns significance to that information and to make a determination if safety threats exists. The assessment process and tools will also help to identify when more information should be gathered to complete a thorough assessment.

Definition: Impending Danger Parenting behavior that is harmful and destructive to a child’s cognitive, social, emotional or physical development that is likely to occur in the immediate or near future that could result in one or more of the following outcomes: Serious or severe harm Injury requiring medical attention Life endangering illness Death Time Needed: 30 seconds Instructor Note: This is a new term – read definition. Morning Break – allow 15 minutes

Impending Danger Threats to a child’s safety that are not immediate, obvious, or occurring at onset of CPS intervention Threats are identified and understood through individual and family relationships and functioning Without safety intervention one could reasonably judge potential for severe harm Time Needed: 1 minute No Materials Needed: Instructor Note: Compared to present danger, impending is more difficult to identify. It requires relevant information collection and assessment of that information if a child is living in an impending state of danger. Even though impending danger may not be observed, understanding family conditions, emotions, attitudes and behaviors can inform us about impending danger.

Safety Threshold In order to determine if a safety threat exists ALL of the 5 criteria must be met: Severe consequences to a child Immediate or will occur in the near future Vulnerable child in relation to the safety threat Out of control Behaviors, conditions, etc., are specific, observable and clearly understood Time Needed: 15 minutes Materials Needed: Safety Threshold Handout Instruction to Trainers: Determining the Safety Threshold Allow participants time to read the handout. Safety threats are essentially risk influences that are active at a heighten degree and greater level of intensity. Safety threats are risk influences that have crossed a threshold in terms of controllability that has implications for dangerousness. Therefore, the safety threshold includes only those family conditions that are judged to be out of a caregiver’s control. As far as danger is concerned, the safety threshold is consistent with severe harm. Severe harm includes such effects as serious physical injury, disability, terror and extreme fear, impairment and death. The safety threshold is in line with family conditions that reasonably could result in harsh and unacceptable pain and suffering for a vulnerable child. This refers to the point at which a family condition reaches the level of a safety threat. The safety threshold is met when the following 5 criteria are assessed. 1. Severity is consistent with harm that can result in significant pain, serious injury, disablement, grave or debilitating physical health or physical conditions, acute or grievous suffering, terror, impairment, death. 2. Immediate or liable to happen soon or will likely occur in the immediate to near future: A belief that threats to child safety are likely to become active without delay; a certainty about an occurrence within the immediate to near future that could have severe effects. 3. Vulnerable Child Dependence on others for protection. Adolescents can be vulnerable. Need to know what is their unique vulnerability to specific threat. 4. Out-of-Control: Family conditions which can affect a child and are unrestrained; unmanaged; without limits or monitoring; not subject to influence, manipulation or internal power; are out of the family’s control. Out of control – there is no responsible parent/caregiver or adult in the home that can prevent the threat 5. Specific and observable/describable: The different threats of danger may be present in parental behavior, emotion, attitude, perception or in overall situations. Observable danger is real; can be seen; can be reported; is evidenced in explicit, unambiguous ways. The 5 safety threshold criteria must be applied to any of the 17 potential safety threat(s) that are identified to be present in the family. A family will usually only have a limited number of the 17 potential safety threats. Also, it should be evident that while some family circumstances are quite sad and concerning and may in fact be CPS related, not all meet the safety threshold. Additional Note: Sufficient information is crucial to judging whether a family condition or behavior is actually a threat to a child. Threats to child safety may be present in families where no child maltreatment has occurred or is occurring. Maltreatment can be mild, moderate or severe. Threats to child safety are always severe in nature.

Time Needed: 5 minutes No Materials Needed: Instructor Note: When considering a universe of families many function at a level of low to moderate risk most of their lives. What keeps them in a state of risk is rather than moving to a state of danger is that they have adequate protective capacities to keep their children safe. As protective capacity are diminished and risk factors increase, families move closer to the line of crossing into present or impending danger. Families that have reached or crossed the threshold are operating in a state of danger and their protective capacities are severely diminished. Protective capacities are unique strengths that contribute to parents keeping their children safe and protected from danger. When the family has crossed over the line there could be a child in present danger.

Washington Safety Threats
The family/facility situation results in no adults in the home/facility performing parenting duties and responsibilities that assure child’s safety. The family/facility situation is that the living/child care arrangement(s) seriously endanger the child’s physical health. Caregiver(s) are acting (behaving) violently or dangerously and the behaviors affect child safety. Time Needed: 45 minutes for all slides regarding the 17 safety threats. Materials Needed: 17 Safety Threat Guide Handout Instructor Note: This slide is the first slide of the continuation of the 17 threats. Read the definition section of the handout for each safety threat.

There has been an incident of domestic violence that affects child safety. If “Yes”, complete the questions below: The domestic violence perpetrator has caused serious harm or threats of harm against the adult victim/caregiver of the child. The domestic violence perpetrator has seriously harmed or threatened serious harm to the child. The level of violence and/or threats towards either the adult victim or child is increasing so that serious harm is likely to occur. There are other indications of increased dangers from the domestic violence perpetrator such as suicide threats or attempts, substance abuse or threats with weapons. Materials Needed: Refer to the 17 Safety Threat Handout Instructor Note: This slide is the second slide of the continuation of the 17 threats. Question #4 – make sure that staff understand this question only pertains to intimate partner violence.

Caregiver(s) will not or cannot control their behavior and their behavior affects child safety. Caregiver(s) perceives child in extremely negative terms Caregiver(s) do not have or do not use resources necessary to meet the child’s immediate basic needs which present an immediate threat of serious harm to a child. Caregivers’ attitudes, emotions and behavior are such that they are threatening to severely harm a child or are fearful they will maltreat the child or request placement. Materials Needed: Refer to the 17 Safety Threat Handout Instructor Note: This slide is the third slide of the continuation of the 17 threats. Have a person in the room read the definition section of the handout for each safety threat.

Caregiver(s) intend(ed) to seriously hurt the child. Caregiver(s) lack the parenting knowledge, skills, or motivation necessary to assure a child’s safety. Caregiver(s) overtly rejects CA intervention, refuses access to a child, or there is some indication that the caregiver(s) will flee. Caregiver(s) are not meeting, cannot meet or will not meet the child’s exceptional physical, emotional, medical, or behavioral needs. Time Needed: Materials Needed: Refer to the 17 Safety Threat Handout Instructor Note: This slide is the fourth slide of the continuation of the 17 threats. Have a person in the room read the definition section of the handout for each safety threat.

Caregiver(s) cannot or will not explain child’s injuries or maltreating condition(s) or explanation is not consistent with the facts. A child has serious physical injuries or serious physical conditions resulting from maltreatment. Time Needed: Materials Needed: Refer to the 17 Safety Threat Handout Instructor Note: This slide is the fourth slide of the continuation of the 17 threats. Have a person in the room read the definition section of the handout for each safety threat.

A child demonstrates serious emotional symptoms, self- destructive behavior and/or lack of behavioral control that results in provoking dangerous reactions in caregivers. A child is extremely fearful of the home/facility situation or people within the home/facility. Child sexual abuse is suspected, has occurred, or circumstances suggest sexual abuse is likely to occur. Time Needed: Materials Needed: Refer to the 17 Safety Threat Handout Instructor Note: This slide is the fourth slide of the continuation of the 17 threats. Have a person in the room read the definition section of the handout for each safety threat.

Children in Licensed and Unlicensed Care
When children are determined to be unsafe in licensed or unlicensed care, children are removed. Time Needed: 6 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: Safety plans are not developed when children are determined to be in danger and are placed in licensed or unlicensed care with relatives or others. CA recognizes that if children are placed out of their own home the best placement is usually with family. Children do not remain in those placements when they are in danger. The placement is intended to be a safe place for the child while safety threats are being addressed in their own home. CA does not maintain a child in a relative placement with a safety plan. If a child is removed from their own home, CA has a responsibility to place children in a safer environment if they cannot remain at home. We expect that children in out-of-home care will be safe and no safety plan is needed. Trainers need to be ready to have a discussion about the values of relative placement over foster homes. There may be social workers who believe that a relative placement is better than a foster home, no matter what the situation. Trainer can ask: Can we tolerate a little danger and maintain the relative placement rather than move the child? This includes legally-free children who are in their permanent home. The answer is no. When DLR/CPS cases are being investigated, DLR will develop safety plans for licensed or unlicensed caregivers and their own biological and adopted children, or guardian children. Safety threats are not the only reason to remove a child from an out-of-home placement. If there are high risks in a placement that do not meet the safety threshold, strong consideration should be given to move the child. We have a higher responsibility when we place children away from their parents to ensure that they are not only safe, but well cared for by willing, able adults who are committed to them.

Safety Plan Analysis There is a parent/caregiver or adult in the home.
The home is calm enough to allow safety providers to function in the home. The adults in the home agree to cooperate with and allow an in-home plan. Sufficient, appropriate, reliable resources are available and willing to provide safety services (or activities) and tasks. Time Needed: 8 minutes Materials Needed “Safety Plan Analysis Guide” handout & Refer to the wall hanging “Safety Plan Analysis”. Instruction to Trainers At the point of Safety Plan Analysis, children have been determined to be unsafe so a plan must be developed. Consideration of the information gathered during the safety assessment and how threats operate in the family must occur before social workers complete the safety plan analysis. The safety plan analysis determines if an in-home or out-of-home safety plan is developed. Social workers and others must carefully consider the information gathered for the safety assessment in order to thoughtfully and accurately answer the analysis questions. Understanding how the safety threat operates in the family is fundamental in determining the appropriate type of plan. Note: Note that the wall hanging says “safety services”. In FamLink the word “activities” replaces services. There may be reaction to the word “home” as some families will be homeless. While some discussion is helpful, remind participants (if needed) that the plan concerns children who are unsafe (as determined by the safety assessment). It is important to consider if the family, while homeless, is stable enough to allow a plan to work wherever they are. Break for lunch – one hour.

Operation of Safety Threats
Understanding how safety threats operate in an individual family requires consideration of: The degree of protection necessary to keep the child safe. The resources available and accessible to the family. How much effort is necessary to develop and implement a sufficient plan immediately. Time Needed: 3 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: (continued on next slide) Social workers must consider the individual circumstances of parents and children when determining how the safety threat operates in the family. Threats operate and look different, family to family. For example: alcohol abuse can look different family to family. A parent in one family can be a binge drinker, drinking only on weekends and to the point of black-out. A parent in another family may drink every night until they pass out in bed. Another parent might drink to the point of intoxication every Friday and Saturday night. In-home plans are not developed for children who are placed in licensed or relative care. If safety threats are identified in licensed or relative care, children are removed from the home and placed with a different caregiver. Note to Trainer: The following is the first description of an out-of-home plan. Out-of-home plans are developed when the degree of danger is so high that it cannot be managed or controlled in the home. Out-of-home plans describe how the child will be safe whenever there is any contact with the parent, usually during visits. Out-of-home plans describe conditions of supervision, how the child will be safe, and identify safe, reliable, and suitable plan participants who may help with transportation or supervision.

Degree of Protection: How much protection is needed for each child? What is the parent’s awareness and acknowledgement of threats? What do they think their child needs in order to be safe? Time Needed: 5 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: (continued on next slide) Understanding the severity of the threat helps to know how much protection or intervention is needed. It also helps to realistically plan for the safety needs of the child. If a parent has nearly killed a child who is now in the hospital, the four-year-old sibling at home is in danger. Leaving the child in the home with the parent who has nearly killed the child is not realistic based on the degree of protection needed for the other child. Children have different needs for protection based on many factors. Ask participants how they assess how much protection is needed for a child? What do they think about? How the caregiver understands the threat and sees the impact on the child is critical in understanding the degree of protection needed. Asking the parent about the threats and what they think their child needs in order to be safe provides the social worker with the parent’s perspective on the conditions and behavior. Do they consider their child safe in light of threats identified in the safety assessment?

Resources available/accessible to family: Who can help? Relatives, kin, friends, fictive kin Educators, medical providers Service providers What are they willing to do? What is their relationship to the family? What resources are easily available and accessible? Time Needed: 3 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: Any person interested in being a participant in the plan should be unequivocally committed to the safety of the child. There should be no doubt where their commitment lies. The social worker should not have to convince them of the importance of the child’s safety. People involved in safety plans must be immediately accessible and available to participate in the plan. They must have sufficient time and capacity to do what is expected. They are committing to be in place, ready, and responsive. Being located physically close to the family makes it easier to respond to the family. How the family views the participant is important. If the family does not consider the participant a helper, they may treat the participant with hostility. The participant may become frustrated dealing with the families feelings toward them. It is important to determine how the family feels about the participant and to understand whether or not the family will cooperate and work with them. What resources are quickly and easily available for a family? For example, is child care available, how soon can the child start? Most child care facilities require up-to-date immunizations and some verification of the medical care. When considering resources, it may seem simple to choose something like child care but every choice has implications for how much time it will take to put in place.

Effort needed to develop immediate and sufficient plan: Plans should only control and manage identified threats Plans do not attempt to evaluate or treat parents Plans should match the duration, frequency, and severity of identified threats Time Needed: 3 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers When designing plans, think about what needs to be accomplished to control and manage threats only. Plans should be developed with a focus on threats, not on changing the cause of the threats. The cause of the threats, the problems, challenges, illnesses, etc. faced by the parents are addressed in the case plan. Evaluate the sustainability of a plan. Is the plan attempting to control and manage threats 24 hours a day, seven days a week? Can that effort be sustained? How many activities and tasks are being considered? How the plan will work is an important consideration. If the plan relies too much on one person, or if tasks are split up by too many people, the plan can fall apart because the effort cannot be sustained. Plans can become difficult to monitor when too many people are involved. When developing the plan, the social worker should ask participants how long they are available to help a family.

Determining Suitability/ Reliability of Safety Plan Participants
Participants in the plan must be able to provide a greater level of protection for the children than the parent. Participants in plans are allied with the child and will take action to protect the child and notify the department if threats are present. Social workers will: Interview all potential safety plan participants Conduct background checks (FamLink and criminal history) on safety plan participants w/ unsupervised access to the child Time Needed: 5 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: In evaluating suitability and reliability, social workers have information about potential participants. Interviews and visiting their home are helpful in understanding who they are and their relationship to the family. When considering potential plan participants, social workers should look to natural supports for the family. Potential participants should be able to provide a greater level of protection than the child’s parent. Any participant in a safety plan should be able and willing to demonstrate and verify that they are safe and suitable. This means a willingness to provide any information requested by the agency. Is the potential participant: Willing to have the social worker visit their home if necessary? Willing to provide verifiable proof of identification? Dates of birth, social security numbers? Are they willing to act if they believe the child is in danger or the plan isn’t being followed? What would they do? Able to physically or logistically perform the tasks that they are agreeing to? What if they were suddenly unavailable, what would they do? Realistically committing to participation. Do they have time? What are their other responsibilities? Do they have children of their own? Are they open to questions or do they become defensive? If they commit to have information to the social worker by a certain date or time, do they meet the commitment? Background checks are completed on all participants before the plan is finalized. Checks include a BCCU criminal history check and a FamLink check on all safety plan participants. The Secretary's List of Disqualifiers is used to determine participation. If the child is to be staying with them for any period of time. This includes non-custodial parents when the child has never lived in the home. It is also important to know if there are any legal restrictions regarding the non-custodial parent, and if there is a parenting plan in place, it is helpful to read a copy. Purpose Code X checks are required on all emergency placements with unlicensed caregivers.

What is a Safety Plan? A Safety Plan is: A written agreement establishing how safety threats will be immediately managed and controlled. Implemented and active as long as threats to child safety exist and parental protective capacities are insufficient to protect and keep a child safe. Time Needed: 1 minute No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: (continued on next slide) Review slide. Safety plans should not “evaporate”. They are monitored, revised, and remain in effect until threats are no longer present.

What is a Safety Plan? A Safety Plan contains:
Detailed safety activities and tasks provided by suitable and reliable participants, including the social worker. Resources immediately accessible and available. Does not include parental promises. Time Needed: 2 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: (continued on next slide) Plans include what the social worker or agency will do and what will be provided or paid for. Ask for the group to give you some examples of what they think parental promises are in our current safety plans. If they are unable to give you any examples, examples are: Mom promises not to drink in front of the children. Dad will not spank the child. Mom will protect the children if the perpetrator returns. Mom says that boyfriend will not be alone with the child.

What is a Safety Plan? Used for children in-home or out-of-home
References all children in a family Clarifies role of parents Clarifies protective role of others Addresses all threats identified in the safety assessment Time Needed: 3 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: Review slide. Trainers should be attuned to participants who continue to have questions about out-of-home plans. There are cases where some children may be safe and others not. Examples include: When one child is abused and others are not (trainers can use examples of cases they know of). These are cases where a step-parent or boyfriend or girlfriend choose to abuse the child that is not their biological child, adoptive parents abuse the adopted child and leave their own child alone. When children are different ages in a family, younger children may be in danger and older children may not. Homes that are dangerous for young children (crawlers and toddlers) with debris on the ground, dangerous chemicals, garbage and other materials that can make children sick if they ingest the materials. Older, school-aged children may be safer in these homes than the crawler or toddler children. When one child in a home is targeted over another. This can happen with parents who cannot manage or handle the behaviors associated with the developmental stage, special needs or conditions of their child. These are children who are toilet-training toddlers who are exploring, teenagers who are becoming independent, not following rules, rejecting authority, or special needs children who require special medical care and attention or behavioral structure. When on child is targeted and others in the home are not, it can have harmful psychological effects on the children that are not directly targeted.

Developing a Safety Plan Sufficient to Manage and Control Threats
A safety plan is sufficient to control threats or substitute for diminished protective capacities when it: Is a well thought-out approach Contains the most suitable people Takes the necessary actions, frequently enough Time Needed: 3 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: “Well thought-out” means accountable, justified, and reasonable. “Suitable people” means that the participants are reliable, committed to the safety of the child, and are able to offer greater protection than the parent. “Taking necessary actions frequently enough” means that the amount and frequency of intervention taken achieves the goal of child safety, that plans are monitored and revised when needed. These definitions reinforce the idea that a safety plan is creative, dynamic, and controls for the specific threat or threats identified for the family. Plans should be highly individualized and based on what is occurring in the family. Break 15 minutes.

Establishing Conditions for Return Home
When a Safety Plan Cannot keep the Child Safe Establishing Conditions for Return Home Parents should understand: The specific reasons why their children were removed. How return home will be tied to the safety threats being able to be controlled in the home (or being eliminated). Time Needed: 5 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: The Safety Plan Analysis establishes the reason or reasons for the development of an out-of-home plan. In order to consider return home, social workers must know that parents understand the original reasons why the child was removed. Using the Safety Plan Analysis can be helpful when discussing this with parents, not merely going over the questions, but linking the questions to the conditions, behaviors, and identified threats that are present in the home. When the removal is linked to specific threats, the path to return home should be clearer and easier to articulate. Parents should also understand how the out-of-home plan words to keep their children safe. The discussion should be sensitive to the parent’s degree of understanding. Remember: When children are removed, parents are generally traumatized, upset, angry, feel a sense of shame, may be shut down. This will affect their ability to take in information. Language should be simple and easy. Social workers may have explained the reasons to the parents and the parents still may not understand because they are not absorbing or comprehending the information. It is not realistic to begin discussing return home if the conditions and behaviors creating the identified threat have not changed.

Can the child Return Home?
Threats no longer exist and child is safe or existing threats can be controlled and managed with a safety plan. What must occur for the control and management of the threats? All answers on the Safety Plan Analysis must be “yes.” Time Needed: 5 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: (continued on next slide) There will be an online training and handout on Conditions for Return Home. If a child is assessed as safe, they should return home. If the child is unsafe and out-of-the-home safety plan has been developed, there are three conditions for return home of an unsafe child. Parents should understand what needs to occur and change so that threats can be controlled and managed. There should be changes in the home environment and those changes should result in “yes” answers on the Safety Plan Analysis. It is helpful, when talking about Conditions for Return, to refer to the original Safety Plan Analysis and the questions that were answered “no”. Can the answers to these questions change from “no” to “yes”? Do the questions answered “yes” on the original analysis, remain “yes”?

Parents recognize, acknowledge, and understand the threats: Acknowledgment that safety threats existed and that children were unsafe in the home. Progress has been made on understanding the identified safety threats and toward strengthening protective capacities. Parents may be able to articulate how the threats endangered their children. Time Needed: 5 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: (continued on next slide) Parents must demonstrate some recognition, acknowledgment, and understanding of the identified threats and dangers. While full recognition and acknowledgement is not necessary, there should be some progress toward a clearer understanding of the dangers. If the parent has made no progress in their understanding of what made their child unsafe, they will not know what is needed for protection and safety. Progress with the services in the case plan will strengthen protective capacities and children should be increasingly safer with their parents. Parents may be able to discuss the threats, they may have improved insight and awareness of how threats endangered their children.

A safety plan can be sustained: Components and detail of a safety plan are reliable. Family home has gained stability and predictability. Natural and other supports are accepted by parents and the resources available are also acceptable. Safety and protection of children will not be disrupted as children transition from out-of-home placement to reunification with a safety plan. Time Needed: 5 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: A sustainable safety plan is the third condition for return. Social workers need to communicate that an in-home plan can be used when the children can be safe in the home. However, the plan should be sustainable so that children can remain in the home once they are returned because moving them again is not in their best interest. This discussion with the parent focuses on the detail of establishing an in-home safety plan. Parents may want to “promise” that they will keep their children safe because they want their children home. Social workers should be talking about the detail of safety activities and tasks, the who, what, when, where, and how of a sufficient plan. While the agency is not expecting perfection, the agency is looking for protection. Has the home stabilized, is the environment predictable, is there a routine? Who is in the parent’s life? Are natural supports in place, have relationships been renewed? Are resources available, accessible and will the parents accept them? Can the parents accept help now if they were not able to when the out-of-home plan was written? Finally, can the children remain safe as they transition from placement to home? Safety for children should remain constant as the child moves from placement to their own home. There should be no gaps or lapses in protection. Development of a detailed in-home plan manages and controls threats before, during, and after the child returns home. Transition times are vulnerable to threats and dangers because they are periods of change. Parents, natural supports, and others may be eager for the return home, however, the transition home should be discussed and planned carefully.

Reunification Children are reunified when a safety plan can keep the child safe. Safety planning at reunification must include consideration of the impact of transition on safety, stability, and sustainability. Time Needed: No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: Review: The agency does not wait for a home to be “perfect” in order to return children or for parents to fully comply with services. Children can go home when threats still exist, if an in-home plan will keep them safe. Review: The impacts of reunification on safety and stability should be considered. Transitions are characterized by changing conditions. Transitions can cause upheaval and uncertainty. What safety activities or tasks that have been in place with the out-of-home plan will continue once the child is returned home? Safety plans for return home need to include detail on how safety will be managed during the transition of children to their home, in addition to how safety will be managed and controlled once children are home.

Differences in Safety Plans and Case Plans
Focus on threats that are identified in the safety assessment Focus on behavioral changes to reduce safety threats and increase protective capacities Remain in place until threats are no longer present Provide the individual and family objectives that address the safety threats and are the basis for ongoing CA involvement Time Needed: 5 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: It is important to understand the need for a safety plan that is separate from the case plan. Ask the group for reasons why the plans must be separate. Some reasons include: Precision – A level of detail is required in both that makes it impractical to try to have one. Purpose – The plans have differing purposes, with different reasons, expecting different results. Accountability – These plans exist as a benchmark for accountability, setting into place CA responsibilities and serving as an independent measure of CA actions and responsiveness. Safety plans and case plans work together. Safety focuses on threats, case plans focus on behavioral changes. Safety plans remain in place throughout the life of a case. They are managed, monitored, and revised as needed. Case plans focus on behavioral change. The targeted behaviors impact child safety. As protective capacities increase, the safety of children should increase. Treatment, services, goal setting, and revisions to plans should be related to the overall goal of child safety. For example: The goal of completing a substance abuse evaluation results in improved understanding of how alcohol use is affecting the parent’s ability to safely supervise their child. As alcohol consumption or dependency reduces, protective capacities should increase, meaning that the child is now safer. Because individual and family objectives are created with family members, the connection of conditions, environments, behaviors, skills and abilities to child safety should be highlighted. As the objectives are met and safety increases, the involvement by the agency should decrease and eventually end. Day three training will be spent on case planning.

Managing and Monitoring Child Safety throughout the Life of a Case
CA staff in every program - CPS, FVS, CFWS, FRS - actively manage and monitor safety plans. “Actively” means that the social worker is diligent, seeks information, responds promptly to concerns, and follows up on activities and tasks in a timely manner. Time Needed: 3 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: Staff are responsible for managing and monitoring child safety throughout the life of a case. Vigilance about the management and control of threats is required. Conditions for families change as their cases move through the agency. Threats diminish and protective capacities increase. If new threats appear or emerge, assessment is needed and the safety plan revised. If these new threats appear when the children are dependent, assessment and planning is necessary and communication of this planning to all parties is required. Diligent and timely oversight is essential. This oversight may be provided by those participating on the plan, by service providers, by educators, by guardian ad litem, and medical providers. The social worker is also responsible for diligent oversight. Some examples are: unannounced home visits with parents, contacts with plan participants, verification of activities and tasks, talking to children in neutral settings whenever possible away from their parents or caregivers.

Safety management means that CA is responsible for child safety until the parents can assume that role or another permanency option is implemented. Safety is the primary reason for intervention throughout the life of the case. Time Needed: 3 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: Case plans include objectives intended to increase protective capacities. Progress on objectives and goals should result in strengthened protective capacities and an ability for parents to begin to assume the role of safely parenting their children. Parents gain strength and ability to protect their children, although CA continues to remain responsible for safety. Basing interventions on safety provides an understandable rationale for agency action. When interventions are based on anything other than protection of children, the reason for agency involvement becomes confusing and activities can lose original intention.

Placement: Whenever possible discuss safety with children prior to placement Health and safety visits Establish safety expectations with placement providers, service providers, child welfare partners Visitation: Supervised or unsupervised, where should visits take place? Who should supervise? Expectations for safety during visits? Time Needed: 5 minutes No Materials Needed Instruction to Trainers: Safety monitoring while a child is placed out of the home is achieved through: Letting the child know that the social worker will be meeting with them to talk about their safety, how they are doing, if their needs are being met. Conversation with the child about safety should happen before the child is placed, whenever possible. Health and safety visits should be conducted monthly. Unannounced visits can provide a “real time” look at the child and the conditions of the home. While it is important to be considerate of placement providers, social workers should be able to see and meet with children any time, not only as scheduled. Letting placement providers, service providers, and other child welfare partners know what the safety expectations are at the beginning of the placement episode, allows others to assist in the monitoring of the child’s safety. For example: If the child has special medical needs, letting the medical provider know how the child will get to appointments, who should be with them when they come for appointments, and that the provider should call the social worker with any questions or concerns, allows the medical provider more involvement in the child’s care and safety. Visitation: Social workers ensure that all parties know about expectations for visitations, particularly if the visit is supervised by someone other than the social worker. Does the visitation supervise know about rules for the visits? Gifts? Physical contact? Who can accompany parents to visits? What will the visitation supervisor do if there are violations of the rules? What will they do if they think the child is in danger during the visit? These discussions provide visit supervisors with information and ensure that the social worker Supervised or unsupervised visitation should match threat of danger presented by parent Review policy and documentation

Child Safety Framework

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Child Safety Framework

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