• Who needs to be on the team and why?
• Has the team changed since the implementation of ASFA?
• Who are the individuals or agencies you would like to work with but have not established a relationship with?
• What responsibility does a worker, a supervisor and a manager have for successful collaboration?
  

Developed by the New Mexico Department of Children, Youth and Families as part of their Supervising Child Welfare Using Best Practice training, May 2002

• Take Care of Business: Failure to attend to basic organizational details will quickly breed frustration. Effective and strategic management of such details communicates an image of the collaborative’s significance and organizational integrity.
• Formal Management Tools: The level of managerial sophistication should be geared to the complexity of the project. Vision: There should be a vision statement abzout the project and the process of collaboration itself that is clear, inspirational, credible, authentic, and realistically supported.
• Impasses and Breakthroughs: Attention to timing allows good leaders to know when work is moving along and they can recede into the background and let empowerment occur; when a stronger role is necessary to move beyond points of impasse; and when to celebrate breakthroughs.
• Process Feedback: Help the collaborative group reflect on its own process.
• Breaking Barriers: The ability to address and resolve critical barriers that block a project’s success or a collaborative group’s course of action is a key leadership skill.
• Challenge and Demand: The authoritative exercise of leadership is not directed toward making people do what the leader wants. It is directed toward the critical anxieties and hostilities that inevitably arise in collaborative work. The purpose is to free participants to engage in real dialogue and to energize them to do real work.

Interpersonal Elements

• Personalities Matter: Some people partner better than others, as do some organizations. For both, the important qualities include: flexibility, openness, patience, interpersonal sensitivity, communication skills, courage, the ability to take risks, the willingness to extend trust, and the willingness to do things in a new way.
• Organizational Respect: A climate of mutual respect demands that each member of the collaboration devote time to understanding the norms and values of their partners’ organizational culture.
• Organizational Nurture: Nurture needs to work organizationally as well as individually. Good partners work hard to empathically understand each other.
• Organizational Disclosure: Direct, open communication develops trust and connection. Staff issues and financial operations provide critical venues for organizational self-disclosure.
• Organizational Trust: Trust in one another’s ability to consistently follow through on tasks is critical. Organizational representatives must possess the information and latitude to act as an empowered custodian of their organization’s resources and its capacity for risk.
• Strength-Based Approach: The courage to honestly analyze our own work without projection or blame. Organizations whose overall culture is negative and distrustful of clients and their own staff will not be successful in a strength-based approach nor in a collaborative effort.
• Extending the Organization: Good partners respect appropriate boundaries, but they also extend themselves to support their partners. Important to collaboration is the ability to make the extra effort to assure a high-quality result without resentment or grandiosity.
• Organizational Investment: The allocation of our time signals allocation of value.

Structural Elements

• Equity of Investment: “Everyone must bring something to the table”. This can be dollars or staff time or expertise or effort or the willingness to share risk. A willingness to commit important resources is more than a state of mind.
• Strong mandates from top administrators: This should include highly visible modeling from top administrators.
• Boundaries: Limits need to be clarified and tested in order for real trust to grow. Successful collaboration focuses on close relationships, new intimacy, and new relationships. Closeness, in turn, involves risk.
• Clear Goals: Service integration efforts must be guided by results-driven models that specify clear accomplishments.
• Concrete Tasks: “Mutual, effortful action creates connection.”
• Peer Networking: Structure opportunities for members to meet with others that are working on similar projects in other jurisdictions.
• Data and Outcomes: Objective data helps to unify a diverse membership and provide an objective basis for measuring success and for focusing collaborative effort.
• Blending Funding Streams: Effective allocation of fiscal resources is a critical management function. When resources are pooled and mutually administered, the fundamental structure of the collaborative relationship is redefined.
• Executive Control Function: One person or agency needs to assume leadership in terms of managing the structure and organization. The critical issue is not power and control; the critical issue is skill and resources.
• Increased Inclusion: The overall momentum of each collaborative should be toward expanding the range of membership in the partnership.

Adapted from Cross-System Collaboration: Tools That Work by James L. Hoel, published by CWLA, 1998

Section II.4.4

Attorney - Social Worker Responsibilities

Sources: Russel, Robin. "Role Perceptions of Attorneys and Caseworkers in Child Abuse Cases in Juvenile Court." Child Welfare Vol. LXVII, Number 3, May-June 1988, 205-216. See also Herring, David J. Agency Attorney Training Manual: Achieving timely Permanency for Children by Implementing the Private Model of Legal Representation for the State Agency in Child Abuse and Neglect Matters. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Law School, 1992; Skarin, Gene D. "The Role of the Child Protective Agency's Attorney in Family Court." Practicing Law Institute Criminal Law and Urban Problems 171, March 1995, 431-468, 459-460.Child Law Practice, Vol.17, Number 7 Modified for training purposes. 'Reproduced by permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any way or by any means or downloaded or stored in any electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.'

Section II.4.5

• At intake and at every stage of the case the worker should diligently inquire whether the child/parents are American Indian. Workers need to ask about absent parents and extended family members.
• The worker should look at answers to race/ethnicity self-identification questions on all forms.
• The worker needs to contact the child/parent’s tribe or tribal providers about ICWA eligibility. This inquiry can be made by letter or phone to the tribal enrollment office. (This does not constitute “Notice.”) In addition, discuss services, providers, placement options, and contacts for case planning with tribal providers. If the parents do not provide tribal information, consult with other relatives, Indian social services, health or educational organizations, or contact the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Washington, D.C. for information on parents and tribal contact information. If they don’t respond, keep trying.
• The worker should fill out a family tree with the client and tribal social worker.
• The worker needs to document in the case file all inquiries made regarding the child’s ethnicity.

3. Who has jurisdiction over this case? How do you determine jurisdiction?

• The tribe has exclusive jurisdiction when a child resides or is domiciled within a reservation or is a ward of the tribal court.
• The tribal and state court have concurrent jurisdiction when a child resides or is domiciled off the reservation and is not a ward of the tribal court.
• The state must ask the tribe if they would like jurisdiction transferred to the tribal court. The tribe has the right to intervene in the case even if jurisdiction is not transferred to the tribal court.

4. What steps should the worker take prior to court involvement?

• The worker should check with the tribe to see if the child is domiciled on the reservation or a ward of the tribal court.
• Workers must follow ICWA placement preferences, even in emergency placements. The preferences outlined in the Act are placement with:
• A member of the child’s extended family
• A foster home licensed or approved by the child's tribe
• An Indian foster home licensed or approved by an authorized non-Indian licensing authority
• An institution for children approved by an Indian tribe or operated by an Indian organization that has a program suitable to meet the child’s needs.
• The worker should develop a specific and detailed account of the circumstances that led to the conclusion that the child would suffer imminent physical danger or harm by remaining with their family. (ICWA requires higher standards of proof than generally apply.)
• The worker needs to set forth a specific action plan describing the “active” reunification efforts already undertaken and those which are planned to restore the child to the parents. (“Active efforts” imply energetic efforts that show an active attempt to assist in alleviating the child’s safety concerns, not just an identification of the problems or solutions.)
• Provide official Notice to the tribe(s) and parents via registered mail, return receipt requested.

5. How much notice must be given to tribes and parents before a custody proceedings can be held? Does official notice of proceedings need to be sent to the _________ Tribe, even if Kelly doesn’t want to involve her family?

• Tribes must receive ten days notice before a custody proceedings can be held. If the tribe or a parent asks for an additional 20 days to prepare for the proceedings, the proceedings can occur after 30 days. Formal notice is required by section 1912(a) of ICWA, even if a parent does not want to involve their family.
• A temporary custody review may have to take place within five days. This means a second hearing will have to be held ten days after the tribe has been notified.

Case Scenario #1 B

The court released Kelly and Shawn, asking them to seek help for substance abuse problems. Shawn insisted he had no problems. Kelly agreed to substance abuse services, but did not keep many of her appointments. DHS decided to keep Sam in foster care.

One night Kelly stayed home when Shawn went out. When Shawn came home the couple fought, yelling loudly. A neighbor called the police about a domestic disturbance. Kelly fled to her cousin’s house. She made arrangements to stay there for a few months, but after two weeks moved back in with Shawn.

6. What steps should a worker take when considering where to place Sam for foster or kinship care? Does ICWA state an order of placement preference for Sam?

• A worker should consider that Sam needs to be placed in the least restrictive setting and in reasonable proximity to his permanent home.
• Sam’s placement must follow the placement preferences outlined in the Indian Child Welfare Act -- placement with:
• A member of the child’s extended family
• A foster home licensed or approved by the child's tribe
• An Indian foster home licensed or approved by an authorized non-Indian licensing authority
• An institution for children approved by an Indian tribe or operated by an Indian organization that has a program suitable to meet the child’s needs.
  
• The worker should remember that locating an ICWA preferred placement could be grounds for delaying or denying placement with an “approved,” but not ICWA preferred, placement family. Due to the ICWA placement preferences, there are circumstances when a state may not be considered to have violated ASFA by seemingly denying or delaying placement with an “approved family.”
• ASFA mandates placements “outside the jurisdiction” of the state when approved homes are available. If the tribe has identified and approved an ICWA placement, the state could be in violation of ASFA if it delays or denies the placement of an Indian child with an approved tribal family. (Tribally licensed homes are legally equivalent to state licensed homes.)

7. Would it make sense to cease reasonable efforts in this case and pursue termination of parental rights (TPR)? Why?

• No. ICWA provides that parental rights can only be terminated where there is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, including testimony of expert witnesses, that the continued custody of the child by the parent is likely to seriously damage the child. Active efforts to provide remedial services and rehabilitative programs designed to prevent the breakup of the Indian family must have been made before a termination of parental rights is sought. In evaluating the “failure to provide services” exception to the TPR filing requirement, necessary services to be provided to the family would be circumscribed by ICWA’s active efforts requirement. Thus, failure to adequately utilize appropriate tribal, extended family and community resources could trigger this exception in ASFA. States should not seek suspension of services unless the state can meet the higher burden of proof required by ICWA legal standards.

8. What can the worker include in the case plan to satisfy the “active efforts” requirements of ICWA?

• Under ICWA, a state court will consider whether active efforts have been made in support of a petition to terminate parental rights of an Indian parent. Therefore, when working on an ICWA case, it makes sense to pursue active efforts with Indian families beyond the reasonable efforts required under ASFA.
• To satisfy the “active efforts” requirements of ICWA (the following is not an exhaustive list):
• The worker should develop a case plan with the assistance of the parent that involves the use of tribal/Indian community resources -- extended family resources, tribal services, urban Indian programs, and individual Indian caregivers, such as medicine people and ministers.
• The worker must document provision of timely and culturally relevant resources on an intense level.
• The worker should assist parents and children in maintaining an ongoing family relationship.
• The worker needs to develop creative case plans that identify services and programs that will assist the family.

9. How can tribal involvement occur in case planning? How can you involve the tribe and extended family as permanency planning resources?

• Tribes can stay involved in case planning if the worker maintains contact with the tribal social worker. The tribal social worker can participate in case staffings and court reviews via telephone. Both workers can maintain contact with extended family members. Also, official notice of every proceeding must be sent to the Tribe and to the parents, regardless of if they respond.

10. Since the tribe is out of state, how can the worker seek culturally appropriate services?

• Work with the tribal worker to help identify resources in the area
• Investigate urban Indian programs in the area, including education or health programs
• Access American Indian organization information on the web.

Source: Amanda Cross, Institute for Child and Family Policy, Muskie School, University of Southern Maine, in consultation with Patty Elofson, National Indian Child Welfare Association.

Section II.4.12

A Practice-based Planning Framework for Bringing the Child Welfare Team Together

The principles and elements of effective child welfare practice can be condensed into the following six underlying themes that provide a framework for planning with an emphasis on collaboration. The following questions can help frame planning to implement the different provisions of ASFA and bring the child welfare team together.

Child Focus

• What strategies are in place to ensure child safety, permanency and well-being:
  • in situations involving family violence, substance abuse, or mental illness?
  • while ensuring continuity and follow-through?
  • while working to strengthen and support families?
• What efforts are made to assess the overall health and well-being of the child and to access the necessary services to support the child's physical, emotional, and cognitive development while participating in the child welfare system?
• How do workers provide ongoing support to children during their involvement with the child welfare system, but especially during out-of-home placement, reunification, and/or adoption or another permanency option? How do workers prepare children for these transitions?
• What efforts has the agency made to implement a model of concurrent planning?
• How is permanency expedited for infants and toddlers in cases with a poor prognosis for family reunification (e.g., chronic substance abuse, multiple previous removals)?

Family-Centered Services

• How do the agency's mission, principles, and goals reflect family-centered values?
• How does the agency achieve comprehensive assessments of the child and family that will yield the necessary information to design an individualized, comprehensive, strengths-based, and culturally competent case plan?
• What strategies are in place to shift the services towards a stronger emphasis on prevention of family crises, family breakdown, and out-of-home placement?
• What mechanisms and resources (i.e., financing, organization, management, staffing, in-service training, family-professional partnerships, family advisory boards) are in place to help services become more family-centered?
• How are families involved in determining how, where and when services are provided?
• What measures have been taken to obtain meaningful input and involvement of families in the design of the policies, procedures, and practices that guide the child welfare system?
• What are the strategies to identify, recruit, process, approve, and support qualified foster care and adoptive families?

Comprehensiveness

• How is the agency collaborating with the courts to ensure the best outcomes for children and families?
• How is the agency collaborating with local employment, housing, health, food, and nutrition, education agencies, and others to access resources and services for families in the child welfare system? Are there interagency agreements outlining how they will collaborate and share resources? Do staff from the various agencies work together with the family to plan and implement a cross-agency case plan?

Community-Based Services

• What are the tools (i.e., community needs assessments, family feedback, data on individual families) used to assess/document the existing gaps in community services?
• What is the child welfare agency doing to raise awareness about service gaps and to enhance services available in the community?
• What are the mechanisms to cross-train other providers on the requirements of ASFA and train child welfare workers on the requirements of other systems?

Outcome-Based

• What is the system to measure progress towards the outcomes of safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families?
• What are the procedures to regularly assess the quality of services at different levels of the agency?
• How does the agency obtain feedback about quality of services from families as well as from state, tribal, and community-based organizations (both private and public)?
• What are the mechanisms for tracking outcomes across programs, developing agreements concerning information and methods of collecting data, and ways to connect this information with broader state data?

Cultural Responsiveness

• What measures have been taken to obtain meaningful input and involvement from minority families, consumers and citizens at the state and community level in the design of the policies, procedures and practices that guide the child welfare system?
• What measures have been taken to obtain meaningful input and involvement from the tribes in the design of the policies, procedures and practices that guide the child welfare system?
• How do individual, family, and community-level assessments incorporate the needs of families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds?
• What specific strategies are in place to engage, assess, plan, implement, and evaluate services that will improve outcomes for minority children and families disproportionately represented in the system?
• What formal training requirements are in place for staff (at all levels) to acquire effective knowledge of the ever-evolving dynamics of culture and social acculturation to effectively meet the needs of the diverse children and families the agency serves?
• What are the strategies to identify, recruit, process, approve, and support qualified foster care and adoptive families from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds?

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children's Bureau, A Resource Guide, Rethinking Child Welfare Practice Under the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, November 2000, modified for training purposes.

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