StrengthsNeedsBased Practice Principles Drawn from Child Welfare Systems of Care: from Principle to

1
Strengths-/Needs-Based Practice Principles Drawn
from Child Welfare Systems of Carefrom
Principle to Practice

• The Service Array Process
• National Child Welfare Resource Center for
  Organizational Improvement
  
• A Service of the Childrens Bureau, U.S.D.H.H.S.
• April 28, 2008

2
General Principles

• Family Involvement/Individualized/Strengths-based
  
• In a child welfare system of care, positive
  outcomes for children and families are achieved
  through development of a relationship with the
  family that recognizes their strengths and needs
  and uses those capacities as the means to a
  positive case resolution.
• Cultural Competence/Community-based/Collaborative
  Agency Systems
  
• The casework process connects the child and
  family with other providers and community
  supports who can identify, and mutually commit to
  address, the needs of the child and family
  through an integrated system of services and
  care.
• Supervisory support is required for the time it
  takes to build interagency relationships. The
  process can be supported by MOAs to share
  information and blend resources to address the
  needs of shared families. The process is also
  supported by having dedicated staff resources who
  reach out to the community to build an culturally
  responsive array of services and supports for
  families.

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General Principles

• Each principle can be put into practice with
  front-line workers, but doing so requires
  vertical changes inside the child welfare agency
  and in its interactions with other agencies and
  the community.

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Principle-Driven Outcomes

• Child safety, attachment, well-being, and
  permanency remain the cornerstone of sound child
  welfare practice and systems
  
• Childrens needs are identified and clarified
• Parents are assisted to understand and reconcile
  those needs
  
• Parents learn to listen to what their children
  need
  
• Caseworkers understand that parents model the
  nurturing and care they received as children
  
• Case plans and services are built upon the
  strengths of the family
  
• Services are community-based and flexible
• Parents are included in development of options
  when they are not able to meet their childrens
  needs
  
• The individual need for dignity is recognized and
  respected at all times
  

5
Elements of Successful Child Welfare Systems of
Care in the Community

• Community principles and practices that support
  implementation of SOC principles and practices
  
• Multi-disciplinary case planning based on unique
  strengths and needs of children
  
• An expanded array of services
• A collaborative approach to service delivery that
  allows for the development of new resources for
  families in response to unique child needs
  
• A community sense of ownership for child safety,
  well-being, and permanency outcomes
  

6
Elements of Successful Child Welfare Systems of
Care in the Agency

• Agency practices that support implementation of
  SOC principles and practices
  
• Strengths/Needs-Based Case Planning
• - Family-Centered Practice
• - Use of family-conferencing or family-decision
  meeting models to reach agreement with the family
  on childrens needs and a wrap-around plan to
  meet those needs
• - Availability of flexible funding to allow
  caseworkers the ability to craft individualized
  service plans and secure services as quickly as
  possible
• - Initial and ongoing casework and supervisory
  training includes strengths/needs-based focus
  
• - Experienced, clinical supervision

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Agency practices that support implementation of
SOC principles and practices (cont.)

• Expanded Visitation
• - Natural, child-centered environments for
  supervised and un-supervised (when safe) visits
  
• - Early onset of visitation after placement and
  increased frequency of visitation to keep parents
  motivated and children connected
  
• - Increased supervision of visits by foster
  parents (with training for foster parents)
  
• - Unsupervised visitation in the absence of any
  safety issues

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Agency practices that support implementation of
SOC principles and practices (cont.)

• 3. Concurrent Planning
• - Active concurrent planning from the outset of
  the case with clear outcomes developed in
  meetings with parents that are easily understood
  
• - Frequent plan updates and achievable interim
  plan goals for parents that keep them motivated
  
• - Frequent reviews of progress toward
  reunification and honest dialogue with parents
  about unmet needs of their children based on
  their level of participation in their plan

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Agency practices that support implementation of
SOC principles and practices (cont.)

• Quality, Community-Centric Foster Care
• - Increase number of licensed homes in each
  school cachment area so children can be placed
  near their homes and continue to attend the same
  schools
• - Increase minority, relative, and
  under-represented groups of foster care
  providers
  
• - Train foster parents in the tenets of SOC and
  expect them to be part of the team supporting
  parents
  
• - Use foster parents as coaches and mentors
• - Maintain a process for a quality review of all
  foster homes
  

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Agency practices that support implementation of
SOC principles and practices (cont.)

• 5. Systemic Needs
• - Workload standards, to include manageable
  caseloads that acknowledge the time necessary to
  fully engage parents
  
• - After hours protective services response that
  is inclusive of the principles and values of SOC
  
• - Standards for staff, to include behavioral
  hiring that ensures staff have the ability to
  convey SOC principles and values
  
• - Community advisory boards that assist with
  collaborative resource development and build
  ownership for child outcomes
  
• - Organizational culture that embraces a move
  from a pathology-based child protection approach
  to a solution-based approach
  
• - Acceptance that wrap-around planning supports
  the safest, permanent outcome for children
  

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Practice Examples Sams Plan

• Sam is 14 and has been out-of-parental control
  for several years. The family came to the
  attention of the child welfare system and Sam
  spent time in a residential program after his
  father became overly frustrated and physically
  abusive. Sam is about to return home and he is
  extremely attached to his family. Using SOC
  principles and values, the family assists the
  caseworker and other providers to craft the
  following plan
• Goal 1 Sam needs to have appropriate
  activities in which he can channel his interests
  outside of school
  
• Need that is Met The parents and Sam need help
  identifying what is an acceptable activity and
  the resources to pursue the choice
  
• Action 1 Find an old car Sam can work on
• Strength Match Sam is good with his hands Sam
  is interested in cars Sams father is a
  mechanic
  
• Person Responsible Caseworker, Sams father
• Date April
• Action 2 Connect Sam and his father to a
  father-son race track association
  
• Strength Match Sam and his father are both
  interested in cars there is a local racing
  association
  
• Person Responsible Sams father and Sam
• Date May
• Action 3 Arrange for Sam to have a slot in
  Drivers Education in the fall school semester
  
• Strength Match By the end of fall semester, Sam
  will turn 15 and his car will be repaired and
  drivable
  
• Person Responsible Sams mother, school
  counselor
  
• Date September

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Sams Example, cont.

• Goal 2 Sams younger sister will be safe
• Need that is Met Increased periods of time when
  Sam is able to feel in control of himself
  
• Action 1 Train Sam on personal crisis
  management skills he will use outside of
  residential care
  
• Strength Match Sam spent time in residential
  and has already learned how to chart when he
  would b e out-of-control
  
• Person Responsible Caseworker and Sam
• Date April
• Action 2 Train Sams parents on safe restraint
  techniques
  
• Strength Match Parents are committed to Sam and
  a local residential program is willing to provide
  the training
  
• Person Responsible Sams parents
• Date May
• Action 3 Identify a safety plan for the sister
  and get a lock/phone for her room
  
• Strength Match The sister is able to follow
  directions
  
• Person Responsible Sams parents
• Date September
• Action 4 Work with a neighbor to develop a
  safe place in their home to calm down
  

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Tylers Plan

• Tyler is 16 and is in foster care. He has been
  in care since he was found living on the streets
  at 15. When he was 14, his Native American mother
  passed away and he ran away to a large urban
  area, from the reservation where he had been
  raised within Tribal traditions. His extended
  family on the reservation has been unable to
  provide a home for him. Tyler has not done well
  in traditional foster care and a therapist has
  assessed that most of the behavioral concerns are
  grounded in Tylers loss of identity.
• Goal 1 Tyler will have access to culturally
  appropriate therapeutic intervention
  
• Need that is Met Tyler participated in
  traditional, Tribal religious and healing
  practices for the first 14 years of his life. He
  has a strong need to reconnect with that
  foundation in order to regain his sense of self,
  his confidence, and a sense of purpose that will
  work in his present environment.
• Action 1 (a) Identification of a Tribal healer
  to work with Tyler and (b) access to flexible
  funding that supports contracting for services
  
• Strength Match Tyler is an enrolled Tribal
  member and he has expressed intense desire to
  pursue his cultural connections Tylers Tribe is
  participating in case planning
• Person Responsible Caseworker, Tyler, Tribe
• Date April

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Tylers Example, cont.

• Action 2 Enroll Tyler in a Native American
  dance program at the Urban Indian Center
  
• Strength Match See Action 1
• Person Responsible Caseworker, Tribe
• Date End of the month
• Goal 2 Efforts will be made to reconnect Tyler
  to principal attachments
  
• Action 1 (a) Identification of a Tribal family
  who can be a visiting resource for Tyler in order
  meet his need to remain connected to his culture
  and extended family and (b) access to flexible
  funding to support periodic travel for Tyler to
  the reservation.
• Strength Match Tyler has expressed a desire to
  remain connected to the Tribe and a visitation
  resource will help preserve principle connections
  and may rekindle relative connections.
• Person Responsible Caseworker, Tribe
• Date Immediately

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Nancys Plan

• Nancy is a young mother who has been in repeat
  residential treatment for methamphetamine
  addiction. Her first three in-patient
  experiences were in facilities across the state
  from where her two children were placed a baby
  and a toddler and were the only facilities
  available through state and federal funds.
  Nancys therapist has indicated that she lacks
  motivation, while in treatment, because distance
  prevents visits from her children. The therapist
  also reports that Nancy has originally started
  using the drug to lose weight and that she would
  benefit from participation in a program that
  builds self-esteem and from a positive peer
  group. Finally, Nancy is very fearful that the
  reality of parenting two young children on her
  own, to include an autistic toddler, may push her
  to re-abuse.
• Goal 1 Nancy will have access to an inpatient
  program where she can be housed with her
  children
  
• Need that is Met Nancy is motivated by contact
  with her children and she needs to be in a
  setting with her toddler where she can learn to
  manage his autism at the same time that she is
  meeting the needs of her baby. Getting clean,
  while learning to improving parenting skills will
  give Nancy the first real, mutually compatible
  accomplishments of her adult life
• Action 1 Scheduling a multi-disciplinary
  staffing that can show community support for
  Nancy and her children to have priority access to
  a Moms Program
• Action 2 Arranging with the local Education
  Service Districts Early Start Program, county
  Mental Health, and a pediatrician to build a
  braided-funding service plan through which Nancy
  will learn how to parent her autistic toddler
• Action 3 The childrens current foster mother
  will provide infant-baby parenting coaching for
  Nancy in the treatment program.
  
• Strength Match Nancy is able to articulate what
  she believes are personal barriers to remaining
  sober, as well as her fears about losing her
  children and not being there for them.
• Person Responsible Caseworker, local childrens
  mental health program
  
• Date ASAP

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Nancys Plan (cont.)

• Goal 2 Once she has completed treatment, Nancy
  will have the assistance she needs to secure
  housing, obtain basic household items and
  furniture, get employment referrals, and secure
  competent child care while she works.
• Need that is Met Nancy will have a need for
  basic stability in her daily routine in order to
  successfully work to support her children and
  have time and energy to parent them, when she is
  not at work.
• Action 1 Scheduling another multi-disciplinary
  staffing to build a services plan that will
  address these needs, across agencies and
  systems.
• Action 2 Flexible funding will be tapped to
  provide the means to secure household goods,
  initial rent expenses, utility deposits, day
  care.
• Action 3 The childrens current foster mother
  has agreed to provide continued coaching in
  Nancys home and her own, as well as respite
  care.
• Strength Match Nancy is able to articulate what
  she believes are personal barriers to remaining
  sober, as well as her fears about losing her
  children and not being there for them.
• Person Responsible Caseworker
• Date ASAP

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Nancys Plan (cont.)

• Goal 3 Nancy will join a group developed for
  women in recovery from methamphetamine addiction.
  One activity of the group is to work with a
  local Dressing for Success program and a beauty
  school to help members address self-esteem issues
  about appearance.
• Need that is Met Nancy has had poor self-esteem
  and she used methamphetamine to help her lose
  weight. She needs to continue efforts to
  reconstruct a strong, positive self-image.
• Action 1 Enroll Nancy in the program and
  provide transportation and child care for her, as
  needed
  
• Strength Match Nancy has demonstrated, during
  her times in treatment, that she responds well in
  group settings and has been able to incorporate
  positive feedback from other women into her
  sense of self.
• Person Responsible Caseworker
• Date Arrange for enrollment 30 days before
  release from treatment
  

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Reference/Reading

• Beyer, Marty. Strengths/Needs Based Child
  Welfare Practice.