Structured Decision Making

Child Welfare and the Law

Spring 2006

Goal of Structured Decision Making“Better Protection of Children”

• Benefits– Improve assessments of CPS family situations

to better ascertain the protection needs of children

– Provides simple and objective tools for workers– Reliability and consistency– Research based– Allows for prioritization– Provide data for improvement of services

System Goals

• Reduce rate of subsequent abuse/neglect reports

• Reduce the severity of subsequent abuse/neglect reports

• Reduce the rate of foster care placement

• Reduce the length of stay in foster care

Components to Structured Decision Making

• Response Priority• Safety Assessment• Risk Assessment• Family Needs and Strengths

Assessment• Case Planning and Management• Case Reassessment• Workforce Based Resource Allocation• Role of Management Information System

Response Priority

• All maltreatment reports assigned for investigation

• At time is received

• Tells you how quickly to respond

• Levels 1,2 or 3

Safety Assessment (now)

• All maltreatment reports assigned for investigation that involve a family caregiver

• Process applied at first face to face meeting (prior to allowing child to remain in household)

• Removal and return of child to family• ID factors that threaten immediate harm to

child• ID need for safety plan

Risk Assessment (future)

• All maltreatment reports assigned for investigation that involve a family caregiver

• Prior to assessment disposition (its used to decide disposition)

• Determine risk level of future maltreatment

• Close or Open case for ongoing service

• Guides contact standards

Family Assessment of Needs and Strengths

• All cases open for ongoing service

• Within 30 days of case assigned to ongoing workers

• Determine areas of family needs and strength that can be utilized in case planning

Alternative Response

• Assisting families to keep kids safe

• Meet specific criteria

• Option Statement/Agreement

• Voluntary

Risk/Needs Reassessment

• Risk (when children are in home)

• Needs (all ongoing cases)

• First review within 90 days of first treatment plan. Then quarterly afterward or anytime significant change occurs

• Measure progress, adjust service level, case closure

Reunification Assessment

• All CPS cases with at least one child in placement and goal of returning home

• First review within 90 days of first treatment plan, then quarterly.

• Prior to court hearings and whenever return home considered.

• Help decide eligibility to return home, or if new permanency plan needed

Assessing Diverse Families

Child Welfare and the Law

Spring 2006

Suspicion and Culture

• Culture and Poverty

• Under and Over reporting

False Positives• Sleeping Arrangements• Flexible boundaries (household compositions)• Small size of children• Appearance and hygiene• Clothing• Responses to authorities• Lack of cooperation• Unfamiliar disciplinary methods• Unfamiliar medical interventions• Unfamiliar practices• Care of Newborns• Linguistic Misunderstanding

False Negatives and the use of Culture as a Justification

• Failure to recognize a given practice as maltreatment because of cultural differences.

• Culture as a mask or smokescreen

Culture and Abuse

• Some families may have to abandon certain practices that were tolerated in their countries of origin

• Should be taken into consideration when assessing the family’s overall stability and most appropriate intervention.