1. 1 www.nccd-crc.org Children’s Research Center A nonprofit social research organization and division of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency www.nccdglobal.org Module Four: Solution-focused Inquiry Integrated Safety-Organized Practice Integrated Safety-Organized Practice

2. 2 ModuleSubject 1Interviewing for Safety and Danger 2Three Questions to Organize Your Practice 3Small Voices, Big Impact: Keeping Children at the Center of the Work 4Solution-focused Inquiry 5Introduction to Mapping 6Harm Statements, Danger Statements, and Safety Goals 7Mapping With Families 8Safety Networks 9Safety Planning 10Landing Safety-Organized Practice in Everyday Work 11 Organizational Environments: Reflection, Appreciation, and Ongoing Learning 12Summary and Looking to the Future

3. 3 Agreements “Try on.” Everyone always has the right to pass. Know that silence is a contribution. We agree to share airtime and stick to time limits. We agree to speak personally, for ourselves as individuals. We agree to disagree and avoid making assumptions or generalities. We agree to allow others to finish speaking before we speak, and avoid interrupting and side conversations. We will work together to hold to these agreements and authorize the trainer to hold us to them.

4. 4 Steve Edwards Andrew Turnell …and we hope YOU will continue to build on these ideas and approaches. Sonja Parker CRC Staff Insoo Kim Berg Steve de Shazer Our Thinking Draws From the Legacy of Others Rob Sawyer Sue Lohrbach Carver County John Vogel Sophia Chin Heather Meitner Nicki Weld Susie Essex

5. 5 Essential Question What are the Worries? What’s Working Well? What Happens Next? Are the children safe? SFQ’s Impact Detail Position Sort SDM SFQ’s Impact Detail Position Sort SDM SFQ’s Impact Detail Position Sort SDM

6. 6 Safety Definition Safety is: Actions of protection taken by the caregiver that mitigate the danger demonstrated over time. Adapted from Boffa, J., & Podesta, H. (2004) Partnership and risk assessment in child protection practice, Protecting Children, 19(2): 36–48. Turnell, Andrew and Susie Essex Working with Denied Child Abuse, Open University Press, 2006.

7. 7 Trauma Lens The impact of abuse and/or neglect on a child can be traumatic. Many parents with whom we work have been impacted by childhood trauma. A parent’s response to past trauma can actually lead to repeating trauma patterns in their children. What are some of the ways you talk about the impact of trauma in your work with children and families?

8. 8 Let’s Review and Reflect! What have you tried from the module last month? What worked well? What were your challenges? How did you handle those challenges? Let’s Review and Reflect!

9. 9 What is Solution-focused Inquiry?

10. 10 What is Solution-focused Inquiry? A practice of using questions and having conversations that strengthen an individual or family’s capacity to achieve their own best judgment in difficult times by surfacing and making visible: People’s past and present capacities (how they survived trauma); Achievements, assets, unexplored potentials; Innovations, strengths, high-point moments; Values, traditions, stories; Expressions of wisdom; and Visions of valued and possible futures.

11. 11 Check In In small groups with someone who has tried some of these practices before: Can you talk about a time you tried to use a solution-focused practice of some kind? About that time: What worked well that you appreciated, felt was effective, would want others to know? What was hard, confusing, not effective, that you would not want others to repeat? What, if anything, do you wish you could better understand about solution-focused practice?

12. 12 Why Solution-focused Inquiry? Single biggest predictor of positive outcomes in child welfare? Good working relationships between the worker, the family and the other helping professionals. Farmer & Owen, 1995

13. 13 Solution-focused Questions are Your Tools!

14. 14 Why Solution-focused Inquiry? Two Conversations

15. 15 Five Types of Solution-focused Questions Exception Questions Past history of protection Scaling Questions Sharing judgment, steps to change Coping Questions Solutions even in the face of difficulty Preferred Future Questions A vision for what could be Position Questions

16. 16 Recipe for Power Struggles Hurtful comment or actionAssumption of malicious intent Collection of evidence Determination to be “right” SFQs Help!

17. 17 Are an intervention (strategic!) and are never neutral in their effects; Generate an experience for the person being asked; Can provide new understanding for the person being asked, as well as the inquirer; Can help people recognize exceptions, solutions and useful moments from their own history they might have otherwise disregarded; Can create space for critical reflection with minimal blame and shame; and Require skill, rigor, and practice. Questions in Solution-focused Inquiry

18. 18 How is This Different? Two categories of questions: 1.Straight data-gathering questions 2.Solution-focused questions We are trying to expand our practice to include both on a regular basis so we stay in a place of INQUIRY rather than EXPERT. Over-used, data-gathering questions will feel like too much QUESTIONING. Over-used, solution-focused questions can feel too DIFFERENT. Both are good!

19. 19 Solution-focused Question Tip: Think of a solution-focused category that might help: example “Preferred Future” Think of what you want to know more about or are hoping to help your client do. Practice! Sometimes you have to reword it a few times until it lands. Don’t be afraid to get tongue-tied the first few times!

20. 20 Exception Questions

21. 21 Classic Exception Question “Can you tell me about a time X (the problem) could have happened, maybe almost happened, but somehow, some way, you were able to do something else instead?”

22. 22 Exception Questions: Basic Assumptions Cornerstone of Solution-focused Inquiry; No problem is absolute in its effects—there are always “signs of safety;” Seeks to find times when the problem could have done what it always does, but did not; Gives us a place to begin to look for safety, strengths, resources and alternative actions; People who know they have been able to change in the past are more likely to be able to do it again; and Helps family members realize we are not only interested in the problems or failures of their lives, but also how they could repeat their successes.

23. 23 Listen for the Empty Spaces Really look for them. No problem is ever complete in its effects.

24. 24 Suicide attempt by gas in the kitchen while the children were home Foster care Her father: physically abusive, dangerous Poverty DVDV DEPRESSIONDEPRESSION OFFMEDSOFFMEDS Past PresentFuture Listen for the Empty Spaces

25. 25 Suicide attempt by gas in the kitchen while the children were home Foster care Her father: physically abusive, dangerous Poverty DVDV DEPRESSIONDEPRESSION OFFMEDSOFFMEDS Past PresentFuture Listen for the Empty Spaces What is the history of protection?

26. 26 Eliciting Exceptions Try asking an exception question three different ways before you decide there is no answer. 3 1 2 Persistence is important— exceptions are often hidden, neglected or minimized.

27. 27 …especially the children! With Whom Can You Use Exception Questions?

28. 28 Exceptions and the SDM ® system

29. 29 Get Details What exactly did he do well? What else? He was “appropriate” on the visit What difference did it make to the child? Would it meet the SDM definitions? Jargon and generalities Behavioral details SDM definitions and “impact on the child”

30. 30 Case Opens (child comes into care) Case is Closed (child goes home) Case Opens Again (child returns) Quick Practice

31. 31 Drunk every night for years Sober four months Drunk again for a month Sober again two weeks Quick Practice

32. 32 “You said that John’s lying (problem) had been happening all the time, but then last week there was one moment when it did not happen. He could have lied and didn’t. Can you tell me more about that?”

33. 33 “You said that even though Jack’s drinking (problem) had been going on for some time, you still were able to hold onto some hope that things could be better. Is that right?”

34. 34 “I understand that Linda’s running away has been happening a lot, and I do want to hear about it. Can I ask though – has there ever been a time when Linda could have bolted but somehow she managed to stay?”

35. 35 “What would be good for me to know about you as a family/parent that might be hard for me to see if I were only to talk about X?” “If you were to believe that the [reported danger] was a problem, what, if anything, would you want to do to respond?”

36. 36 Turn to your partner. Partner A - Pick a goal in your life that is important to you – something that would make you a better person. Pick a goal that you feel comfortable sharing with your partner. Partner B - Ask your partner an exception question. Switch Give feedback

37. 37 Now, with your same partner, give this a go on Cheryl’s case. Have one person be Cheryl and one person be the social worker. Think of an exception question you could ask Cheryl related to her depression. Switch.

38. 38 Summary: Exception Questions Listen for the “empty spaces.” Use the three questions—have you gotten behavioral detail focused on impact? Use the SDM definition—does it change what you score? Have you been rigorous about the history of protection? Remember: Your questions are an intervention!

39. 39 Scaling Questions

40. 40 Basic Scale LeastMost 010 A perfect 10!

41. 41 Four Follow-up Questions 1.Describe your scale endpoints: 0 = the behavior to be stopped; 10 = the new, desired behavior. 2.What got you to that number? 3.Ask a position question: “Where would your daughter scale this if she were here?” 4.What will it take to move your number up just one point?

42. 42 Example for Physical Abuse Case On a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 = the most danger, and 10 = the most safety for your child, when your boyfriend hits your child how safe do you think your child is? Follow-up questions: What is helping you give it this number and not one below? What (concretely!) would need to happen to increase your rating by one? Can I tell you what I think would need to happen so my number would go up?

43. 43 Very sad Very happy

44. 44 Scaling Questions Take something abstract and turn it into something concrete; Take something that is often thought of as an absolute (“he/she is safe or he/she is not’” and put it on a continuum; Help professionals stake a claim to their judgment in a concrete way; Allow for dialogue across family/worker, worker and supervisor/manager; Help professionals consider what family member views might be in supervision and consultation; and Help identify small next steps.

45. 45 With Whom Can You Use Scaling Questions? Ask questions that get the positions of all the family members on the scale… …especially the children!

46. 46 Scaling and the SDM ® System 010

47. 47 Scaling Questions You can use these to assess:

48. 48 Willingness Scale On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 = you don’t feel willing at all to follow this plan, and 10 = fully willing, how willing are you to take this next step? Follow-up question: Is there anything we could do about this plan that might help your number go up by one?

49. 49 Capacity Scale On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 = you do not feel you have what you need to accomplish this goal; and 10 = you have everything you need, where would you say you are on this scale? Follow-up question: What could happen to bring your rating up one?

50. 50 Confidence Scale On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 = you have no confidence at all in your ability to accomplish this goal, and 10 = you have all the confidence in the world that you can do this, where would you say you are on this scale? Follow-up questions: What is helping you keep it at that number and not one below? What could happen that might bring your rating up one?

51. 51 Progress Scale Follow-up questions: If we met again one month from now and this number was up by one in your mind, what do you think would have happened? How do you understand us getting different results from the different people we ask this? On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 = we are making no progress on the problems that brought you into your work with the agency, and 10 being we are making all the progress that could possibly be made, where would you say we are right now?

52. 52 Incorporating Scaling Questions A little goes a long way...

53. 53 Turn to your partner. Partner A - Pick a goal in your life that is important to you – something that would make you a better person. Pick a goal that you feel comfortable sharing with your partner. Partner B - Ask your partner a scaling question. Ask the four follow-up questions. Switch Give feedback

54. 54 Now, with your same partner, give this a go on Cheryl’s case. Have one person be Cheryl and one person be the social worker. Think of a scaling question you could ask mom related to Cheryl’s depression. Switch.

55. 55 Summary of Scaling Questions Scaling questions help us talk about abstract things in a more concrete way. Scaling questions help us think about things on a continuum instead of on/off. The important part of scaling questions is not the number, but using the number to have a conversation that follows. Scaling questions can be used to help answer each of the three main questions (What are we worried about? What is working well? What needs to happen next?) and can help with any SDM assessment. Scaling questions should be used strategically—they are useful at many, many points but do not need to be used at all points.

56. 56 Position Questions

57. 57 Position Questions These questions are designed to help someone shift perspective and see things through another’s eyes. “If your son was here right now and heard everything we have been talking about, what do you think he would be most worried about?” “When your daughter is older, what would you want to tell her if someone she was dating started doing to her what your boyfriend has been doing to you?”

58. 58 Turn to your partner. Partner A: Pick a goal in your life that is important to you—something that would make you a better person. Pick a goal that you feel comfortable sharing with your partner. Partner B: Ask your partner a position question. Switch Give feedback

59. 59 Now, with your same partner, give this a go on Cheryl’s case. Have one person be Cheryl and one person be the social worker. Think of a position question you could ask Cheryl related to her depression. Switch.

60. 60 Summary of Position Questions Position questions are a great tool to help ourselves and the families we work with to take on the perspective of another. These questions help to build empathy and to increase perspective about a given situation. Position questions help to build partnerships that can be used to build more safety for a child.

61. 61 Coping Questions

62. 62 Coping Questions Most people never would have been able to survive what you have survived. How do you think you were able to do it? Follow-up: What specifically have you done to survive this? Who or what has helped? How have you managed to keep things from getting worse? What would your child say he/she is most proud of that you are doing?

63. 63 Exercise: Invisible Suitcase For children who have experienced trauma, they can have an invisible suitcase that is often filled with overwhelming negative beliefs and expectations. How could you ask a coping question to help a child deal with these beliefs? “It’s all my fault.” “I never know when something bad is going to happen around me.” “I can’t count on the people who take care of me.”

64. 64 Turn to your partner. Partner A: Pick a goal in your life that is important to you—something that would make you a better person. Pick a goal that you feel comfortable sharing with your partner. Partner B: Ask your partner a coping question. Switch Give feedback

65. 65 Now, with your same partner, give this a go on Cheryl’s case. Have one person be Cheryl and one person be the social worker. Think of a coping question you could ask Cheryl related to her depression. Switch.

66. 66 Summary of Coping Questions Coping questions are a good starting place to build a partnership with a parent, child or caregiver. A good coping question relies on an astute sense of observation to determine what the person has been struggling with and how they have been managing that struggle. Coping questions can show a person that you see him/her more as a survivor than a victim.

67. 67 Preferred Future Questions

68. 68 Preferred Future Questions These are questions that help someone imagine a future they want/do not want and compare it to the present. Examples: You are pretty clear that this isn’t how you want things to be. How would you like things to be instead? (DETAILS!) What would need to happen to get things there? Ten years from now when your child is older, what story do you hope he/she tells about this time? About what you do or don’t do?

69. 69

70. 70 Turn to your partner. Partner A: Pick a goal in your life that is important to you—something that would make you a better person. Pick a goal that you feel comfortable sharing with your partner. Partner B: Ask your partner a preferred future question. Switch Give feedback

71. 71 Now, with your same partner, give this a go on Cheryl’s case. Have one person be Cheryl and one person be the social worker. Think of a preferred future question you could ask Cheryl related to her depression. Switch.

72. 72 Summary of Preferred Future Questions Preferred future questions help develop a vision for where they wish to be or where they want to go. It’s very hard to make a change if you don’t have a vision of where you want to be instead. Preferred future questions can help a parent, child or caregiver to identify what they think should happen next, and identify small steps they can take to reach that destination. Preferred future questions are helpful for people who have experienced trauma. They are a way to get a person thinking about how things can be, and actions they can take to start to feel better without using a substance or something else to cope with their pain.

73. 73 At the Heart: “Motivation for change may be linked to the degree of hope that change is possible.” U.S. National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect

74. 74 Solution-focused Question Tip Describe the purpose of the interview I want to get your best thinking about how we can keep your child safe. Discuss context I am learning a new way to ask questions to help us get answers and ideas about how we can keep your child safe. This is new to me. Agreements Is it OK with you if I sometimes re-ask a question a few times so we can be sure the question is clear?

75. 75 Application Examples

76. 76 What’s going well? What are your worries? What should happen next? Exception Questions Coping Questions Position Questions Scaling Questions Coping Questions Scaling Questions Position Questions Exception Questions Preferred Future Questions Scaling (confidence, capacity and willingness) Position Questions

77. 77 *Turnell, A. and Edwards S. (1999). Signs of Safety. New York: Norton

78. 78

79. 79 One Last Thing—Thinking Ahead In pairs: What is one thing you heard today that you value or makes sense to you? What are you already doing to put that into action in your work? What else would you like to do to ‘land it’ even more in your work between now and next time?

80. 80 References Berg, I. K. & Kelly, S. (2000). Building Solutions in Child Protective Services. New York: Norton. de Shazer, S. (1985). Keys to Solution in Brief Therapy. New York: Norton. Madsen, W. (2007), Collaborative therapy with multi-stressed families: from old problems to new futures (2nd Edition). New York: Guildford. Turnell, A. & Edwards S. (1999). Signs of Safety. New York: Norton. Child Protection Messages from Research.(1995). Studies in Child Protection HMSO: London. Creating Trauma Informed Systems (2012). National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Retrieved from http://www.nctsn.org/resources/topics/creating- trauma-informed-systems