| Module
3: Identifying, Assessing and Enhancing Skills Needed to
Implement ASFA
Time
Approximately 2 hours
Rationale
The development of the Statewide Automated Child Welfare
Information System (SACWIS), Adoption and Foster Care Analysis
and Reporting System (AFCARS) and National Child Abuse and
Neglect Data System (NCANDS) data systems combined with
the implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act
(ASFA), creates a cluster of emerging skills related to
management, supervision and use of data that need to be
identified, defined and incorporated into the skill set
of child welfare managers and supervisors. Collaboration,
problem-solving/decision-making, team leadership, organizational
leadership, program administration, casework supervision
and information management are among the core skills needed
by child welfare managers and supervisors. The implementation
of ASFA requires child welfare managers and supervisors
to continuously review, improve and model the core skills
to workers and colleagues within the agency, as well as
to children and families.
Learning
Objectives
When this module is complete, participants should be able
to:
-
Describe how ASFA promotes the elements of 'good' child
welfare practice
-
Describe how the elements of 'good' practice are linked
to ASFA/agency, outcomes or indicators as well as the
individual's job
-
Implement some ways to help workers better understand
his/her role in achieving outcomes for children, youth
and families
- Understand
the skills needed to implement ASFA, assess his/her proficiency
in those skills and apply them in the job
Activities
-
Exercise: Explore the supervisory role in promoting ASFA
practice and compliance with staff and how key managerial
and supervisory responsibilities support (agency goals,
or) the goals of safety, permanency and well-being. (45
minutes)
-
Optional Exercise: Show the videotape, "Multiple
Transitions: A Young Child's Point of View on Foster Care
and Adoption" (40 minutes) and discuss.
-
Exercise: Identify which skills needed to implement ASFA
he/she possesses and determine which are strong and which
need improvement (15 minutes)
-
Exercise: Using real-life scenarios, demonstrate how to
use modeling and other methods to improve and reinforce
ASFA implementation skills with workers, colleagues, children
and families (40 minutes)
-
Exercise: Share most helpful practices for communicating
outcomes to his/her unit and for reinforcing the worker's
role in achieving outcomes for children and families.
(20 minutes)
Sample
Materials
-
Supervisory Accountability in 'Good Practice' (Section
II.3.1)
-
Assessment of Core Competencies (Section II.3.2)
-
Scenarios (Section II.3.3)
-
Scenario Questions (Section II.3.4)
-
Scenarios Trainer's Version (Section II.3.5)
Advance
Preparation
Make
sure the flipchart, markers, newsprint, overheads, and overhead
projector are in the room.
If the
videotape is to be used make sure that the TV/VCR equipment
is available and that the videotape, "Multiple Transitions:
A Young child's Point of View on Foster Care and Adoption"
is prepared and ready to play.
If agency
or state goals or outcomes are to be used as a basis for
discussion, have them available as handouts and/or overheads.
Review
and revise as needed the scenarios and trainer's version
of the scenarios. You may want to develop new scenarios
that reinforce your agency’s priority issues.
Bibliography
and Suggested Reading
Austin,
Michael J. (1981) Supervisory Management for the Human
Services. Englewood Cliffs, NJ.: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Bernotavicz,
Freda D. and Bartley, Dolores. (September 1996) A Competency
Model for Child Welfare Supervisors. Portland, ME:
Center for Public Sector Innovation, Edmund S. Muskie School
of Public Service, University of Southern Maine.
Kadushin,
Alfred. (1992) Supervision in Social Work. 3rd
Ed., New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Trout,
Michael. (1997) "Multiple Transitions: A Young Child's
Point of View on Foster Care and Adoption" Champaign,
IL: The Infant/Parent Institute. (Videotapes are available
through: The Infant/Parent Institute, 328 North Neil St.,
Champaign, IL. 61820. Telephone: (217) 352-4060)
U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. (2000) Rethinking
Child Welfare Practice Under the Adoption and Safe Families
Act of 1997: A Resource Guide. Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Government Printing Office.
Trainer's
Instructions
1.
Introduce the module by presenting the rationale and the
objectives. Refer to the ‘Theme’ flipchart and highlight
the theme covered in this module: supporting practice that
strengthens families, assures child and youth safety, permanency
and well-being, matches individualized needs with services
and promotes self-sufficiency.
2. Begin
the discussion using the following as a guide:
In the last module, we discussed the requirements of ASFA
and how ASFA supports ‘good practice’. We also specifically
applied ASFA and the Federal Final Rule to a case scenario
to better understand their impact on case practice. We also
discussed how ASFA has resulted in a shift in child welfare
to using outcome based management techniques to measure
success. In this module we will look at the elements of
child welfare practice that make up a supervisor's job,
especially since the passage of ASFA, identify the tasks
supervisors and managers perform, discuss how these tasks
are linked to ASFA/agency outcomes and indicators, reflect
on the skills needed to perform the job, explore some ways
supervisors and managers can help workers better understand
his/her role in achieving outcomes for children and families
and get some practice in using these skills.
3. Introduce
the first activity by saying:
Since
the passage of ASFA supervisors and managers are trying
do their jobs in a way that results in a better quality
of life for children and families. As supervisors or managers
you may think that the implementation of ASFA has not made
much difference in the way that you do your job. After all,
even before ASFA safety, permanency and well being were
issues that you thought about in connection with practice.
Child welfare practice still requires that supervisors and
managers do the same kinds of things - managing, decision
making, and overseeing casework for example. However dealing
with the accelerated timeframes set by ASFA and using data
to measure success in reaching outcomes that affect supervision,
allocating resources and monitoring services, has caused
some changes in the way supervisors and managers do business.
As a first step in examining these changes, let's look at
the tasks that supervisors and managers perform. Refer to
Overhead Section II.3.1. This is a list taken from the publication
"Rethinking Child Welfare Practice Under The Adoption
and Safe Families Act of 1997" by the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children
and Families, Children's Bureau, in November of 2000. The
authors describe the listing this way: "'Good' child
welfare practice suggests that supervisors should be accountable
for:" …followed by the list of tasks. I think you will
all agree that these are supervisory tasks that have remained
constant across time and that they make up a list of good
practices in child welfare practice. Please take a few minutes
to look over the list.
4. Move
into the group activity by saying:
We
are now going to take a closer look at what your supervisory
role is in promoting ASFA practice and compliance with your
staff within your regular job tasks.
For example, let’s look at #11 of the Handout, Supervisory
Accountability in ‘Good Practice’. The job task is “Assisting
workers in collaborating with community agencies in order
to help meet the family’s needs”. Ask how this task is related
to ASFA. (Collaboration is needed to meet timelines, deliver
services promptly, etc.) Ask, "As a supervisor how
do you achieve this job task? What do you do and how do
you do it?"
5. Write
the larger group’s responses on a flipchart. At the top
of the flipchart record the number of the job task from
the handout, key words within the statement, and the responses
the group generates. Expect responses such as: developing
Coordinated Service Teams, developing purchase of service
contracts with community agencies and discussing supervisor
to supervisor how to better collaborate to meet the family’s
needs.
6. Have
the group break into small groups. Assign the job tasks
from handout Section II. 3.1 equally among the groups. Tell
them that they are to discuss how each task is related to
ASFA goals or outcomes (or agency or state goals or outcomes)
and what do they do as managers or supervisors to help their
team to complete these tasks successfully. As in the large
group discussion, they are to discuss what they, as supervisors
or managers, would do and how they would do it. As the group
to assign a reporter who will take notes. Give the group
15 minutes for this exercise.
7. Bring
the larger group back together after 15 minutes. Ask each
group to report out on one job task that they discussed
within their group. Record on the flipchart the job task
each group reports on, with each task on a separate piece
of flipchart paper. Process the responses with the group
then post the flipcharts throughout the room. Summarize
this exercise by stating that:
The
purpose of the exercise was to consider all of the job tasks
that we perform as supervisors and managers and to generate
discussion and thought around what you to promote ASFA practice
and compliance with your staff. While our job tasks have
remained similar over time, the implementation of ASFA has
begun to change the focus of the task.
Successful implementation of ASFA depends largely on the
ability of child welfare supervisors and managers to understand
and therefore incorporate the changes it requires into their
daily routine, child welfare practice and the work of those
they supervise. For example, they must ensure that workers
strive to reduce the time children stay in foster care through
casework activities such as intensive family involvement
in case planning, front leading services and considering
permanency from the first contact with the child.
From our discussion you can see that implementation of ASFA,
with its emphasis on safety, permanency and well being,
has affected the way in which almost all the tasks and roles
of the child welfare supervisor are performed. Yet the job
of the child welfare supervisor and manager still consists
of work such as planning and delegating, monitoring, reviewing,
evaluating, coordinating and communicating. Although the
supervisor and manager's job may include the same tasks
and roles as before ASFA, the approach to the work may have
changed. Now to meet the goals of safety, permanency and
well being, supervisors must make sure that clients needs
are assessed quickly and that individualized services are
available and delivered promptly. Supervisors and managers
must use data and reports to monitor the unit's activities
within the larger frame of the agency's goals. The result
is that certain tasks are emphasized in implementing ASFA
and some new ones, especially in the area of data use, have
been added.
8. If
you are using the video, "Multiple Transitions: A Young
Child's Point of View on Foster Care and Adoption",
introduce it by saying:
Many
times when we think of the Adoption and Safe Families Act,
we think of it as something else we need to comply with,
just more work. This training is a reminder that ASFA is
really about what is good for children and families and
good social work practice. I am going to play a video for
you that was developed by the Infant/Parent Institute in
Champaign, Illinois. We are going to view the video and
then discuss it.
Play the video (17 minutes).
9. Begin
a debrief on the video by asking two questions of the large
group:
(1)
What was your reaction to the video?
(2) How do the ASFA themes relate to this video?
Look
for the participant’s comments on themes to include examples
such as (a) permanence as illustrated by 100 other mothers,
(b) safety in placement as illustrated by the child's example
of being beaten by a foster sibling and having his penis
pulled hard in the middle of the night by the foster sibling,
and (c) many broad well-being issues having to do with child
emotions (profound loss and trust issues) and behaviors.
The video also highlights the challenges to adoptive parents
and workers (for example, "How could you expect me
to be sweet and adorable?")
Summarize by saying:
ASFA
is about more than legislative mandates and compliance issues.
It is about what is good for children and families. It is
about good social work practice.
10.
Move into a discussion of skills using the following as
a guide:
We’ve been talking about ‘what’ the job of child welfare
supervisors and managers is and looking how those jobs support
ASFA. Now we’re going to reflect on the skills needed to
do this job. Earlier today, we practiced the skill of planning;
tomorrow we will focus on collaboration and using data to
enhance decision making, which are key skills for managers
and supervisors. These skills, combined with more general
supervisory and managerial skills, are fundamental to effective
child welfare practice. It is useful every once and a while
to reflect on your professional skills and honestly assess
how effective you believe your skill set is. We're going
to do that now by taking a few minutes to complete the Assessment
of Core Competencies. This skill assessment is designed
to be helpful to you during this training, when you go back
to the office to implement what was learned here and as
you think about your future training needs.
11.
Distribute the Assessment of Core Competencies (Section
II.3.2) and ask each person to take 10 minutes to fill it
out. After 10 minutes ask each person to reflect on the
assessment during this training and share it with his/her
supervisor/mangers
12.
Begin the next activity.
Now let's turn our attention to the role that supervisors
and managers can play in teaching, reinforcing and emphasizing
the skills that make up practice. Most of you are in a position
that requires you to teach, and reinforce ASFA implementation
skills to others -- your staff, providers, colleagues, children
and families. It is especially important that these people
understand the outcomes that are involved in the work they
do, and how these outcomes relate to the larger agency goals.
These activities, of course, are the same ones that we have
been discussing as the elements of practice for which supervisors
are accountable under ASFA. Let's look at some of the methods
you use to convey this information to others.
13.
Divide the group into small groups. Referring to Overhead
Section II.3.3, assign each group one a scenario. Show Overhead
or Handout Section II. 3.4. Ask each group to analyze its
scenario by answering the questions on handout Section II.3.4.
After 15 minutes, ask each group to summarize the scenario
and report the answers. Process with the group.
14.
Continue with the next exercise.
As we continue to rethink the role of the supervisor under
ASFA, lets look again at 'Good' Child Welfare Supervisory
Practice, Section II.3.1. The first of the key responsibilities
is "Communicating the importance of safety, permanency,
and well-being for children and, therefore, ensuring that
caseworkers focus on these outcome". There are many
ways to reinforce ASFA material. Let's take a few minutes
to think of the most helpful practice for sharing outcomes
with the people you supervise to reinforce the worker's
role in achieving outcomes for children and families. What
techniques and approaches have you used with your unit that
has helped the workers implement stronger child welfare
practice?
15.
Divide the group into small groups and ask each group to
list a few techniques that supervisors and managers could
use to help staff reinforce the worker's role in achieving
outcomes for children and families. Have one person record.
After 10 minutes, have each group report and record their
responses on the flipchart. Process the responses with the
group.
16.
Ask for any questions and introduce the next module by saying:
In this module we have been discussing the effects that
the implementation of ASFA has had on the job of the child
welfare supervisor and manager. In Module Four, Connecting
the Pieces Through Collaboration, we will look at the network
of people, programs, agencies and services that are involved
in the delivery of services to children and the collaboration
necessary to bring them together.
|
. |
<<
Module 2
Module
4 >>
This
video can be used as an alternative way to begin the module.
It is a different way of approaching the role of the child
welfare supervisor and manager and how the implementation
of ASFA relates to good social work practice.
The
trainer needs to be prepared for the emotional reaction
any participants may have to this video. These feelings
may include sadness, anger, and a profound sense of guilt
for past practice in the field.
For
this exercise, the trainer may want to have each scenario
and the set of questions mounted on separate sheet. Give
each group one scenario to analyze and a copy of the questions.
|
| . |
Section
II.3.1
Supervisory
Accountability in 'Good Practice'
‘Good’ child
welfare practice suggests that supervisors should be accountable
for:
1.
Communicating the importance of safety, permanency and well-being
for children thereby ensuring that caseworkers focus on these
outcomes.
2.
Communicating to workers the need to use the legal authority
of the agency judiciously when working with families.
3.
Using coaching, modeling and in-services training to help workers
develop proficiencies.
4.
Communicating performance expectations in behavioral and measurable
terms.
5.
Assessing workers' attitudes, needs, behaviors and cultural
backgrounds.
6.
Using regular supervisory conferences to provide feedback and
corrective action when needed.
7.
Discussing with workers ways of facilitating the family's inclusion
in the process.
8.
Helping workers assess training needs and arranging for appropriate
training experiences.
9.
Helping workers analyze data gathered during the assessment
process, set priorities and keep their cases on track through
continual review/updates of safety and case plans.
10.
Assisting workers in developing creative, innovative practices
to meet child and family needs.
11.
Assisting workers in collaborating with community agencies in
order to help meet the family’s needs.
12.
Rigorously enforcing the reunification time frame
13.
Establishing incentives for rewarding excellency in performance.
14.
Carefully scrutinizing every case recommended for long-term
care to be sure that adoption or guardianship is not possible.
15.
Assisting workers in convening and preparing for family meetings
and multidisciplinary staffing.
16.
Helping workers understand what constitutes reasonable efforts
within the timelines established by a child's developmental
needs and ASFA requirements.
17.
Determining the frequency of case plan monitoring, according
to the information above.
18.
Helping workers identify and remove systemic barriers to providing
accessible services that would enable families to meet their
case goals.
19.
Translating workers' case management efforts into agency goals
and outcomes.
20.
Using good practice standards to evaluate the performance of
workers.
21.
Assisting workers in monitoring and evaluating their own practice.
22.
Using collective data from the unit to gain a sense of how the
unit is performing and designing strategies to enhance effectiveness.
23.
Discussing situations in which timelines may be detrimental
to the best interest of the child.
24.
Ensuring that case closure occurs as appropriate.
25.
Conducting cross-case and within-caseload comparisons to increase
knowledge of criteria that units use for closure.
26.
Preparing staff for court.
27.
Assisting workers in understanding how ASFA applies to their
work under the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Source:
"Rethinking Child Welfare Practice Under the Adoption and
Safe Families Act of 1997" by the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families,
Children's Bureau, November 2000. Modified for training purposes.
Section
II.3.2
Assessment
of Core Competencies
Please
indicate your ability to use these skills in your job.
1= none 2 = need substantial assistance 3 = need minimal assistance
4 = able to perform unaided 5 = proficient
| Skill |
Rating |
| 3.00
Team Leadership |
|
| 3.01
Has the ability to plan the job to be done and the expectations
of how it should be completed, including vision, program
design, managing people and information, modeling and mentoring,
and policy development and interpretation. |
|
| 3.02
Engages with others in team process to solve problems. |
|
| 3.03
Shows ability to communicate a clear vision, motivation
and commitment to the safety and well-being of children. |
|
| 3.04
Understands the concepts of team development, facilitation
of effective meetings, and conflict management. |
|
| 4.00
Organizational Leadership |
|
| 4.01
Demonstrates understanding of ASFA and other current issues
that affect the organization. |
|
| 4.02
Understands negotiation. Attains one’s ends without the
overt use of power or authority, communicating data, arguments,
or positions in a manner that produces agreement with one
who is in conflict or disagreement. Securing agreements
and understanding when dealing with stakeholders, courts,
families, etc. so that cases can be processed quickly and
efficiently. |
|
| 5.00
Program Administration |
|
| 5.01
Demonstrates a general knowledge of the concepts of strategic,
operational and long-range planning, including an understanding
of how to use logic models in planning. |
|
| 5.02
Demonstrates knowledge of the mission of the agency and
its role in the child and family service system. |
|
| 5.03
Understands and clarifies role and responsibilities of participants
in the child welfare system, especially since the implementation
of ASFA. |
|
| 5.04
Has the ability to take the lead in the development of a
continuum of client-centered services, which maintain the
integrity of the family and meet the goals of permanency,
safety and well being. |
|
| 5.05
Demonstrates an understanding of the principles of outcome
based management and how they apply to agency, unit, and
personnel planning. |
|
| 5.06
Has the ability to use, evaluate, recommend and advocate
for changes in agency infrastructure and administrative
systems that support front-line staff. |
|
| 6.00
Casework Supervision |
|
| 6.01
Knows and can apply relevant federal and state statutes,
rules, policies, procedures and current practice related
to casework. |
|
| 6.02
Demonstrates ability to effectively manage case assignments,
case coverage, and service delivery to clients via direct
caseworker supervision. |
|
| 6.03
Knows, can model and teach necessary elements of assessment,
decision-making, case planning and case process to staff. |
|
| 7.00
Information Management |
|
| 7.01
Knowledge of the data, its location and organization in
the current system and its potential for providing information. |
|
| 7.02
Demonstrates the ability to utilize information in supervisory
and managerial practice, including assessing and monitoring
client outcomes, productivity and resource acquisition.
|
|
| 7.03
Demonstrates how to critically view reports and determine
if they are useful as a supervisory or management tool.
|
|
For
competency areas requiring assistance, indicate the type of
assistance and support you need
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Section
II.3.3
Scenarios
Scenario 1: Late Case Plans
You are the supervisor or you manage the casework supervisor
in a children's services unit. Your manager has just told you
that 15% of the case plans in this unit are past due. You decide
that you need to address the issue with the workers and put
the subject on a unit meeting agenda.
Scenario
2: Workers Unprepared for Court
You manage the casework supervisor or are a casework supervisor
in the children's services unit. One of the judges in the juvenile
court has just called you to tell you that the workers in your
unit are submitting incomplete court reports on the day of the
hearing. You discuss the issue in a unit meeting.
Scenario
3: Worker Having Difficulty Working with a Family
You are a case work supervisor in a children's services unit.
In a regular supervisory meeting, one of your caseworkers says
that she 'just hates dealing with the Adams family'. The two
boys, ages 9 and 11, are in foster care. The foster parents
are having difficulty dealing with them. The 11 year old has
been repeatedly caught shop lifting. The foster family is having
difficulty finding services for the 9 year old with special
needs; he is a discipline problem at school. The children's
mother is mildly mentally handicapped and has a substance abuse
problem. She has been scheduled for treatment but keeps missing
appointments. Her live-in boy friend also has a substance abuse
problem. The children have been in foster care for 10 months.
The worker is very depressed about the family. She would like
to reconcile the family but there seems to be no progress in
that direction. Finding an adoptive home for the children would
be difficult.
Scenario
4: Fatality in a Foster Home
You are a regional manager in a public child welfare agency.
Recently a child in care died. The foster mother is accused
of causing the child's death by using unacceptable disciplinary
methods. The child was video taped a few months before her death
saying that her foster mother "hurt" her. As a result
the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee has held
hearings regarding the state's child protective system. Testimony
included comments such as: 'the agency doesn't check on foster
homes regularly, caseworkers don't meet with children in care
when they are supposed to' and 'the state does not work hard
enough to keep families together'. The legislature wants a complete
report.
Scenario 5: No TPR Petition Filed at 18 Months of Placement
You are the ongoing supervisor in a children’s services unit.
In reviewing the permanency plan review summary (report) that
was prepared for the Administrative Review next week, you learn
that a six-year old child has been in foster care for the last
18 consecutive months. When you review the child’s file, you
learn that there has been no Termination of Parental Rights
(TPR) Petition filed nor documentation of an exception to the
filing requirement completed. In a discussion at the weekly
unit meeting later that day, you learn from the workers in your
unit that most of the cases where children have been in care
for at least 15 months have no TPR petition filed or documentation
of the exception to the filing requirement completed.
Scenario
6: Native American Children Placed in Non-Indian Homes
You are the supervisor of the Access Unit. The supervisor of
the ongoing unit comes to you. She says that in the last six
months your unit has passed on for assignment to her unit four
cases where Native American children were placed in out-of-home
care. She goes on to explain that upon receiving these cases
for assignment, the ongoing worker was not aware that the children
were Native American. In completing the family assessment and
gathering more detailed information about the children and parents,
her workers learned that the children who had been placed in
these four cases were Native American. All of the children were
placed in out-of-home care with non-Indian families, and it
was documented nowhere that any of the children in these cases
were Native American.
Scenario
7: Jan’s Story
Jan is the 35- year old mother of two sons, Chad (12) and Jason
(8). The following series of events began eight months ago:
Based
in part upon a mandatory report made by advocates at the battered
women’s shelter where Jan and her sons were residing, the boys
were removed from Jan’s care and placed in separate foster homes.
Jan
had sought shelter after becoming alarmed by her new partner’s
abusive behaviors. She and her children moved to Maine from
Vermont at the urging of Jan’s partner, a long time acquaintance
who only recently became a romantic partner. While at the shelter,
Jan struggled to maintain control over her older son’s ‘acting
out’ behaviors. She was alone, frustrated, and in a completely
unknown environment. She visited her boyfriend while the children
were at school. During one of these visits, Chad caused a disruption
at school and when the Principal was unable to reach Jan at
the shelter, the advocates were called to come pick the boy
up. Back at the shelter, the child’s mother could not be located,
and his behavior was ‘out of control’. The police and CPS were
called.
The
Department’s petition was based on the following concerns: Jan
was in contact with the man who had abused her, Jan displayed
behaviors and physical evidence found in her room pointed to
a possible substance abuse issue, and a previous report indicated
concerns about her unusual and ‘troubling’ physical and emotional
bonds with her sons.
Jan
fell into a deep depression after her sons were taken into custody.
She was extremely angry and distrustful of the Department, refusing
to cooperate with the caseworkers and to participate in the
treatment options provided for her. She felt betrayed by the
battered woman’s shelter, and refused to attend a support group
for battered women, though this was strongly encouraged by the
caseworker. Jan was not satisfied with the attorney assigned
to represent her. She believed she had been wrongly accused
of abusing her sons and failing to keep them safe.
Chad
had ‘blown out’ of several foster homes in a short period of
time, finally seeming to find some stability in a short- term
treatment/residential facility. He has been a difficult child
to work with and maintains that the Department has unfairly
accused his mother of abuse.
Jason
has remained in the same foster home the entire time he has
been in care. He and his foster parents bonded easily and quickly.
Supervised visitations between Jason and his mother have not
gone well over the past months, resulting in several cancelled
visits over the past months. The foster parents have indicated
that they would be interested in adopting Jason if this were
a possibility.
Regarding
the known information about Jan currently:
-
She was not found to be at risk for substance abuse. The evidence
found in her room at the shelter was paraphernalia she had
seen on the floor at the shelter and had picked up to show
staff.
-
There was no further information to support the initial concerns
about inappropriate behavior or bonding with her sons. Interviews
with the boys revealed nothing alarming or excessive.
-
Jan continued to see her male friend, though their romantic
relationship ceased after the boys were removed. Jan maintains
that this man is her only real friend in this state, and she
has no family or other support available. He has been a friend
to her.
-
Jan agreed to work with a domestic abuse advocate who was
able to work with her off-site of the domestic violence agency.
This arrangement was beneficial and supportive. Jan agreed
to participate in a support group for battered women whose
children were in the Department’s custody.
The
caseworker is considering a plan to place Chad with his mother
on a trial basis, and to keep Jason in custody with his foster
parents.
Section
II.3.4
Scenario
Questions
Answer the following questions:
1. Considered in terms of ASFA requirements, what practice issues
are involved?
2. What skills do you need to model or reinforce?
3. With what other individuals, groups or agencies do you need
to collaborate to solve this problem?
4. When picking a team to address issues, what skills do you
look for in your team members?
5. What are your expected results?
Section
II.3.5
Scenarios
Trainer's Version
Scenario
1: Past Due Case Plans
You are the supervisor or you manage the casework supervisor
in a children's services unit. Your manager has just told you
that 15% of the case plans in this unit are past due. You decide
that you need to address the issue with the workers and put
the subject on a unit meeting agenda.
1.
In terms of ASFA requirements, what practice issues are involved?
Timelines, safety, permanency, assessment of skills, training
2.
What skills do you need to model or reinforce?
Communicating expectations in measurable terms, using data,
problem solving, team leadership, casework supervision, assess
training needs, arrange for appropriate training
3.
What other individuals, groups or agencies do you need to collaborate
to solve this problem?
Need to make sure the workers contact the appropriate service
providers quickly, and that they understand they must provide
services as quickly as possible. Need to work with the family
to ensure that they know what is expected of them and how soon;
need to keep up-to-date with court requirements.
4.
When picking the team to address the issues, what skills do
you look for in team members?
Need to communicate the problem to all members of the team.
Determine what kind of assistance they need to bring case plans
up-to-date.
5.
What are your expected results?
All caseplans will be completed within 60 days of case assignment.
Scenario
2: Workers Unprepared for Court Hearings
You are a casework supervisor or you manage the casework supervisor
in the children's services unit. One of the judges in the juvenile
court has just called you to tell you that workers in your unit
are submitting incomplete court reports on the day of the hearing..
You discuss the issue in a unit meeting.
1.
In terms of ASFA requirements, what practice issues are involved?
Timeliness, safety, permanency, well being, assessment of skills,
training
2.
What skills do you need to model or reinforce?
Team leadership, collaboration, supportive supervision, assessing
worker needs, addressing training needs, communicating importance
of safety, permanency and well being.
3.
What other individuals, groups or agencies do you need to collaborate
to solve this problem?
Need to collaborate with court personnel regarding the expectations
for submission of reports; with agency attorney to discuss training
that might be needed; with workers to determine what the barriers
are and to decide what training is needed and how it should
be delivered.
4.
When picking the team to address the issues, what skills do
you look for in team members?
Legal knowledge, training skills
5.
What are your expected results?
All workers will submit complete court reports 5 days prior
to the scheduled hearing.
Scenario
3: Worker having Difficulty Working with a Family
You are a case work supervisor in a children's services unit.
In a regular supervisory meeting, one of your caseworkers says
that she 'just hates dealing with the Adams family'. The two
boys, ages 9 and 11, are in foster care. The foster parents
are having difficulty dealing with them. The 11 year old has
been repeatedly caught shop lifting. The foster family is having
difficulty finding services for the 9 year old who has special
needs; he is a discipline problem at school. The children's
mother is mildly mentally handicapped and has a substance abuse
problem. She has been scheduled for treatment but keeps missing
appointments. Her live-in boy friend also has a substance abuse
problem. The children have been in foster care for 10 months.
The worker is very depressed about the family. She would like
to reconcile the family but there seems to be no progress in
that direction. Finding an adoptive home for the children would
be difficult.
1.
In terms of ASFA requirements, what practice issues are involved?
Timeliness, permanency, TPR, reasonable efforts, family's right
to be heard, concurrent planning
2.
What skills do you need to model or reinforce?
Communication, collaboration, organizational ability, judgement,
casework supervision, supportive supervision, enforcing reunification
time frames.
3. With what other individuals, groups or agencies do you need
to collaborate to solve this problem?
Foster parents and bio parents, service providers for bio Mom
(substance abuse), school personnel, service providers for 9
year old; adoption workers, juvenile justice personnel.
4.
When picking the team to address the issues, what skills do
you look for in team members?
Special needs providers for Mom and children, court personnel,
foster parents, adoption specialists.
5.
What are your expected results?
Work to find an adoptive home for children, while at the same
time doing all that is possible for bio-Mom to address her problems
so children can be returned home. The worker will work with
the family in an objective manner
Scenario
4: Fatality in a Foster Home
You are a regional manager in a public child welfare agency.
Recently a child in foster care died. The foster mother is accused
of causing the child's death by using unacceptable disciplinary
methods. The child was video taped a few months before her death
saying that her foster mother 'hurt' her. As a result the Legislature's
Health and Human Services Committee has held hearings regarding
the state's child protective system. Testimony included comments
such as: ..'the agency doesn't check on foster homes regularly,
caseworkers don't meet with children in care when they are supposed
to' and 'the state does not work hard enough to keep families
together'. The legislature wants a complete report.
1.
In terms of ASFA requirements, what practice issues are involved?
Safety, permanency, abuse and neglect in foster care
2.
What skills do you need to model or reinforce?
Casework supervision, problem solving, judgment, using data
to monitor performance, knowledge of law
3.
With what other individuals, groups or agencies do you need
to collaborate to solve this problem?
Legal staff, managers, supervisors, caseworkers, foster parents,
bio parents
4.
When picking the team to address the issues, what skills do
you look for in team members?
Problem solving, data analysis skills, knowledge of foster care
system
5.
What are your expected results?
Problems regarding foster care placements are analyzed and improved.
Increased home visits. Rapid follow-up of the child's comment
on being 'hurt'. Legislative questions are answered.
Scenario
5: No TPR Petition Filed at 18 Months of Placement
You are the ongoing supervisor in a children’s services unit.
In reviewing the permanency plan review summary (report) that
was prepared for the Administrative Review next week, you learn
that a six-year old child has been in foster care for the last
18 consecutive months. When you review the child’s file, you
learn that there has been no Termination of Parental Rights
(TPR) Petition filed nor documentation of an exception to the
filing requirement completed. In a discussion at the weekly
unit meeting later that day, you learn from the workers in your
unit that most of the cases where children have been in care
for at least 15 months have no TPR petition filed or documentation
of the exception to the filing requirement completed.
1.
In terms of ASFA requirements, what practice issues are involved?
Permanency, timelines, knowledge of ASFA requirements
2.
What skills do you need to model or reinforce?
Knowledge of the law, communicating expectations in measurable
terms, casework supervision, assessing training needs, arrange
for appropriate training, using data to monitor casework.
3.
With what other individuals, groups or agencies do you need
to collaborate to solve this problem?
Legal staff, court personnel, trainers
4.
When picking the team to address the issues, what skills do
you look for in team members?
Knowledge of ASFA requirements, training skills, legal knowledge,
communication skills.
5.
What are your expected results?
The TPR petition or documentation of the exception to the filing
requirement is completed no later than the 15th month after
removal in all cases.
Scenario
6: Native American Children Placed in Non-Indian Homes
You are the supervisor of the Access Unit. The supervisor of
the ongoing unit comes to you. She says that in the last six
months your unit has passed on for assignment to her unit four
cases where Native American children were placed in out-of-home
care. She goes on to explain that upon receiving these cases
for assignment, the ongoing worker was not aware that the children
were Native American. In completing the family assessment and
gathering more detailed information about the children and parents,
her workers learned that the children who had been placed in
these four cases were Native American. All of the children were
placed in out-of-home care with non-Indian families, and it
was documented nowhere that any of the children in these cases
were Native American.
1.
In terms of ASFA requirements, what practice issues are involved?
The issues and standards involved relate to the Indian Child
Welfare Act (ICWA). Workers should be familiar with its requirements.
2.
What skills do you need to model or reinforce?
Collaboration, knowledge of both ASFA and ICWA requirements,
assessing needs for training, delivering training.
3.
With what other individuals, groups or agencies do you need
to collaborate to solve this problem?
Tribal social workers, extended family members as defined by
tribal standards.
4. When picking the team to address the issues, what skills
do you look for in team members?
Knowledge of ASFA and ICWA requirements, collaboration, training
skills.
5. What are your expected results?
All cases fully comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act.
Scenario
7: Jan’s Story
Jan is the 35- year old mother of two sons, Chad (12) and Jason
(8). The following series of events began eight months ago:
Based
in part upon a mandatory report made by advocates at the battered
women’s shelter where Jan and her sons were residing, the boys
were removed from Jan’s care and placed in separate foster homes.
Jan
had sought shelter after becoming alarmed by her new partner’s
abusive behaviors. She and her children moved to Maine from
Vermont at the urging of Jan’s partner, a long time acquaintance
who only recently became a romantic partner. While at the shelter,
Jan struggled to maintain control over her older son’s ‘acting
out’ behaviors. She was alone, frustrated, and in a completely
unknown environment. She visited her boyfriend while the children
were at school. During one of these visits, Chad caused a disruption
at school and when the Principal was unable to reach Jan at
the shelter, the advocates were called to come pick the boy
up. Back at the shelter, the child’s mother could not be located,
and his behavior was ‘out of control’. The police and CPS were
called.
The
Department’s petition was based on the following concerns: Jan
was in contact with the man who had abused her, Jan displayed
behaviors and physical evidence found in her room pointed to
a possible substance abuse issue, and a previous report indicated
concerns about her unusual and ‘troubling’ physical and emotional
bonds with her sons.
Jan
fell into a deep depression after her sons were taken into custody.
She was extremely angry and distrustful of the Department, refusing
to cooperate with the caseworkers and to participate in the
treatment options provided for her. She felt betrayed by the
battered woman’s shelter, and refused to attend a support group
for battered women, though this was strongly encouraged by the
caseworker. Jan was not satisfied with the attorney assigned
to represent her. She believed she had been wrongly accused
of abusing her sons and failing to keep them safe.
Chad
had ‘blown out’ of several foster homes in a short period of
time, finally seeming to find some stability in a short- term
treatment/residential facility. He has been a difficult child
to work with and maintains that the Department has unfairly
accused his mother of abuse.
Jason
has remained in the same foster home the entire time he has
been in care. He and his foster parents bonded easily and quickly.
Supervised visitations between Jason and his mother have not
gone well over the past months, resulting in several cancelled
visits over the past months. The foster parents have indicated
that they would be interested in adopting Jason if this were
a possibility.
Regarding
the known information about Jan currently:
-
She was not found to be at risk for substance abuse. The evidence
found in her room at the shelter was paraphernalia she had
seen on the floor at the shelter and had picked up to show
staff.
-
There was no further information to support the initial concerns
about inappropriate behavior or bonding with her sons. Interviews
with the boys revealed nothing alarming or excessive.
-
Jan continued to see her male friend, though their romantic
relationship ceased after the boys were removed. Jan maintains
that this man is her only real friend in this state, and she
has no family or other support available. He has been a friend
to her.
-
Jan agreed to work with a domestic abuse advocate who was
able to work with her off-site of the domestic violence agency.
This arrangement was beneficial and supportive. Jan agreed
to participate in a support group for battered women whose
children were in the Department’s custody.
You
are a casework supervisor or you manage the casework supervisor
and the caseworker is considering a plan to place Chad with
his mother on a trial basis, and to keep Jason in custody with
his foster parents.
1.
Considered in terms of ASFA requirements, what practice issues
are involved?
Family reunification, permanency
2.
What skills do you need to model or reinforce?
Knowledge of DV issues, communicating expectations in clear
and measurable terms, enforcing reunification time frames
3.
With what other individuals, groups or agencies do you need
to collaborate to solve this problem?
DV advocate, Jason's foster parents, school personnel,
4.
When picking a team to address issues, what skills do you look
for in your team members?
Communication, collaboration, secures agreements and understanding
when dealing with families so that cases can be assessed and
monitored quickly and efficiently
5.
What are your expected results?
Jan will continue to participate in a support group for battered
women whose children were in the Department’s custody, the family
can be reunified.
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