1. Creating Danger Statements & Safety Goals in Partnership with Families

2. Last updated: August 10, 2012
Aim of Session
To Understand How Danger Statements and Safety Goals Can Be Developed with Families

3. What do you Know About Danger Statements & Safety Goals
SOP Intro Day 3
What do you need to move up a scale? 10
No Knowledge
Some knowledge
Assessment and Mapping (4 Key Questions)
What are we worried about? (Danger Statement)
What’s going well?
What needs to happen? (Safety Goal)
On a scale of 0-10 (0 being that you are so concerned that the child needs to be removed and 10 being that Social care no longer need to be involved), how concerned are you for the safety and welfare of the child?
Danger Statements and Safety Goals are the book ends of the SOS assessment and mapping process, in order to develop a Safety Goal first we need to develop a Danger Statement…..
Full Knowledge

4. Last updated: August 10, 2012
Simple behavioural statements of the specific worry we have about this child now and into the future
Danger Statements
Who is worried
About what potential caregiver actions/inaction
Possible impact on the child
The danger statement is an extension of the questions, “What is likely to occur?” or “What is reasonable to worry about?” if the children remain in the parents’ care.
Notice that “who is worried” is different than “who reported.” (danger not just harm)
PURPOSE
To introduce danger statements.
EXAMPLE
(READ DEFINITION ON SLIDE ABOVE)

5. Last updated: August 10, 2012
Danger Statement Uses
Danger statements clearly identify what the professionals are worried may happen if there are not enhanced actions of protection by the family and network.
Sharing danger statements with the family (and within the agency!) helps create a sharpened focus on the key issues that need to be addressed so the family can make changes and demonstrate actions of protection. This can also prevent “case drift.”
Who is worried
About what potential caregiver actions/inaction
Possible impact on the child

6. Last updated: August 10, 2012
Danger Statement
CSC, the School and the Police are worried that if Danny continues to miss school and keeps breaking the law that he may end up being locked up and find it really difficult to get a job when he's older. Like the time when he hit a child at school and caused a split lip and bruised eye.
Also Danger Statements are the headlines in relation to what we are worried about, now and into the future (often based on past experiences and/or harm)

7. Let’s Practice! Last updated: August 10, 2012 PURPOSE
To transition toward some practice!
Give out copies of case study Of Diane & Jake to group to read and give them no more than 7 mins create a danger statement on their own.

8. Danger Statement Examples (Case study)
Last updated: August 10, 2012
Danger Statement Examples (Case study)
Example 1 CSC, School and the police are worried that Jake feels upset he struggles to manage his feelings and hits out at teachers and his class mates They are worried if this keeps happening Jake may hurt someone and he could be permanently excluded from school. If this happens Jake could get a criminal record and might not get the good grades he is capable which will make it difficult to get a job when he’s older. Example 2 CSC, School and the police are worried that Dianne is struggling to manage Jake’s behaviour at home and that he is often out late, Dianne often does not know where he is, like the time when he stayed out until 11PM. They are worried if this keeps happening that Jake may continue to make the wrong choices will get hurt.

9. Collaborating with Families
Last updated: August 10, 2012
Collaborating with Families
Agency are clear about statement of future danger & Safety Goals
Meet with family to gain their views on the danger statements & safety goals
Agency and family meet together to discuss & share views & create one set of mutually agreed danger statement & safety gaol
Box 1 these are written down to share with the family later
Box 2 – should include the family’s view on agency perception of them.
In written form, this process can be broken down into a number of steps:
1.Clarify and record your views on the danger statements and safety goals, based on what you know at this point, before meeting with the parents/family.
2.Use a questioning approach with the parents/family to explore their views on the future dangers and the safety goals - record this using the Signs of Safety framework
3.Share the danger statements and safety goals that you wrote earlier with the parents/family members.
4.Use a questioning approach with the parents/family to develop mutual-constructed danger statements and safety goals that include everyone’s views and that use the family’s language as much as possible. (Examples of questions are on the following notes page…....)
Provides direction for a collaborative & comprehensive safety plan

10. Last updated: August 10, 2012
For new cases: Go through some good questions to ask families for Danger Statements (below) then Give out Eliciting the Families View handout (Good questions to gain cooperation with writing danger statements with families)
•“We’ve talked about some things that are not going so well in your family at the moment. If these problems were to continue, what are you worried might happen in the future that could lead to your children being hurt? What else are you worried might happen? What else?”
•“If your children were here (were old enough to talk to me) what do you think they might say they are worried might happen to them in the future if these problems were to continue?”
•“What do you think ____ (grandparents, siblings, neighbours, child health nurse, school etc) might say they are worried might happen to your children in the future?”
•“What do you think I would be worried might happen to your children in the future if these problems were to continue?”
What’s your biggest worry for your child?
•“What else do you think agencies are worried might happen to your kids in the future?”
•“Can I show you now the danger statements that I wrote down before I came to see you and we can see if there is anything I included that we haven’t talked about yet?”
For ongoing cases/children in care:
•“We’ve talked about some things that are not going so well in your family at the moment. If these problems were to continue (or reoccur), what worries do you have about what might happen to your children if they were to come back home to live with you? What else?”
•“What worries do you think your children might have about what might happen if they were to come back home to live with you?”
•“If _______ (grandparents, child health nurse, school etc) was here, what worries do you think they would have about what might happen to your children if they were returned to your care?”
•“What do you think are my biggest worries about what might happen to your children in the future if they were returned back home to live with you? What else do you think I am worried might happen?”

11. Safety Goal Statements
Last updated: August 10, 2012
Safety Goal Statements
Clear, simple statements about what the caregiver will DO that will convince everyone the child is safe now and into the future.
Who is a part of the network/plan
What will caregiver DO differently
For how long?
PURPOSE
Show a simple way to begin crafting safety goals.
EXAMPLE
The safety network is the “jury” that must be persuaded that the child is safe.
Next, a safety goal describes what the parent will DO differently. Note that the goal is not expressed as going to services, or even completing services, gaining insight, or having clean drug screens. It’s not expressed as what a parent STOPS doing. It’s extremely important to craft this part of the safety goal in terms of actions the parent will demonstrate. Anchor what the caregiver needs to do differently in the caregiver’s behaviors that had everyone worried. What could the caregiver do instead? This ties the safety goal to the danger statement.
OPTIONAL
Tell this in an exaggerated way. This is the traditional way of thinking about safety: Take the case (take a big step), wait a few months (take another big step). If NOTHING BAD HAPPENS, the child is safe! Close the case! Ask if this is a good measure of child safety? Why not?
Actions of protection taken by caregiver that mitigate the danger
Demonstrated over time

12. Last updated: August 10, 2012
Safety Goal Example
Susan, Mark and Danny will work with a network of family, friends and
Professionals to show everyone that; Mark and Susan will; always stand by Danny even if he struggles and gets re-involved with in criminal activity activity; and they will talk about their problems before they get too big, and will continue to live together peacefully. YOT & the Police will need to see this plan in place and working for six months. so that they know that the plan will keep working once their involvement with the family ends.
Who is a part of the network/plan
What will be done differently
For how long does the plan need to be in place

13. Let’s Practice! Last updated: August 10, 2012 PURPOSE
To transition toward some practice! Go back to case study and ask participants to create a safety goal

14. Safety Goal
Dianne will work with a network of family, friends and Professionals to develop a plan that will show everyone that;
Dianne will always know where Jake is when he is away from the family home and that he will return home be an agreed safe hour.
When Jake feels upset he will find better ways to manage his feelings, he can stay in school and be able to be the best he can be.
School and the police will need to see this plan in place and working for three months so that they know that the plan will keep working in the future.
Go through some points on the Developing Mutuall-Constructed Safety Goals handout (Things to consider and questions) – then give out to participants

15. Last updated: August 10, 2012
NCSCB SOS Training available to all partners