Building Solutions In Child Protective Services

"[O]ffers creative ways to build alliances with families…using language and motivational interviewing to help parents focus on problem-solving….a valuable resource." --Virginia Child Protection Newsletter How does one change the attitudes and practices of child protective services (CPS)—a statewide bureaucracy often overwhelmed and understaffed? First, take an outsider to the system, Insoo Kim Berg, who has a vision and a solution-focused model. Add an insider, Susan Kelly, who understands the system. Spend many hours with CPS workers in the field, learning from them and helping them make the shift from a deficit perspective to a collaborative model that emphasizes strengths and solutions. Envision and implement change throughout the system. Celebrate small successes on the way to building family self-sufficiency and integrity. This recipe for reforming child protective services is being followed in many public child welfare agencies, with growing success. In Building Solutions the authors explain how to conceptualize, implement, and sustain this hopeful and positive frame in a daily practice for dedicated frontline workers as well as for those in supervision, management, and administration. The book has two parts. In the first, the authors put child protective services in context, introducing the system and their new approach, giving a brief history of child protection in the United States, and setting the stage for change. In the second part, the authors walk readers through the nuts and bolts of implementation, from the first phone call to case closure—including discussions about placing a child out of the home. Berg and Kelly also discuss supervision, consultation, and ongoing training, as well as their vision of the future of CPS. This book is not a manual; it is a challenge to step out of the traditional CPS "box" and think differently—to create client-driven services that make sense. The authors challenge CPS administrators, supervisors, and workers to begin conversations about how the system can be more helpful and respectful to the families so that the parents can get what they need to care for their children. Building Solutions should have a place on the desk of everyone involved in child protective services.

This comprehensive handbook is a useful tool for practitioners in understanding the casework process. Chapters cover child development, intervention with families and medical evaluation of child abuse and neglect and how to interview in child protective services.

From the Preface: This manual, Child Protective Services: A Guide for Caseworkers, examines the roles and responsibilities of child protective services (CPS) workers, who are at the forefront of every community's child protection efforts. The manual describes the basic stages of the CPS process and the steps necessary to accomplish each stage: intake, initial assessment or investigation, family assessment, case planning, service provision, evaluation of family progress, and case closure. Best practices and critical issues in casework practice are underscored throughout. The primary audience for this manual includes CPS caseworkers, supervisors, and administrators. State and local CPS agency trainers may use the manual for preservice or inservice training of CPS caseworkers, while schools of social work may add it to class reading lists to orient students to the field of child protection. In addition, other professionals and concerned community members may consult the manual for a greater understanding of the child protection process. This manual builds on the information presented in A Coordinated Response to Child Abuse and Neglect: The Foundation for Practice. Readers are encouraged to begin with that manual as it addresses important information on which CPS practice is based-including definitions of child maltreatment, risk factors, consequences, and the Federal and State basis for intervention. Some manuals in the series also may be of interest in understanding the roles of other professional groups in responding to child abuse and neglect, including: Substance abuse treatment providers; Domestic violence victim advocates; Educators; Law enforcement personnel. Other manuals address special issues, such as building partnerships and working with the courts on CPS cases.

Therapy is frequently miscast as requiring an enormous amount of time and financial commitment, but helpful, goal-oriented therapy can produce positive results after only a few sessions. By focusing on solutions instead of problems, SFBT asks clients to set concrete goals and to draw upon strengths in their lives that can help bring about the desired change for a preferred future.

Strengths-based, solution-focused practice is one of the most exciting areas of contemporary child protection work. The demand for this protection practice has increased faster than the availability of training resources to help students and practitioners, until now. Strengths-Based Child Protection is the first textbook solely dedicated to furthering strengths-based practices in a child protection setting. Carolyn Oliver provides an original, accessible, and practical research-based model that focuses on the key to success in this field: the worker-client relationship. Oliver’s long and varied front line experience in child welfare and research based on surveys and interviews with 225 child protection workers provides grounding in the realities of child protection work. Strengths-Based Child Protection contains a rich combination of case studies, reflective questions, and exercises that enable students and practitioners to conceptualize and master implementing strengths-based practices with children.

Not every child is lucky enough to live in a safe, loving home. Many young people live in difficult, unhealthy, or even dangerous conditions. Luckily, there are systems in place to help kids caught in theses situations. Child protective services are working hard to help children in need. Ryan Delaney is one of these kids. He spends most of his time living in a fantasy world, because that's easier than facing his real life. He lies to his friends about his parents and his home—but eventually, the truth catches up with him, forcing him to get the help he needs. As you read Ryan's story, you will learn about the history of the child protective services and find out about the programs and services offered today.

Child welfare is the oldest specialization within social work practice and the only specialty area in which social work is the host profession. This edited volume provides a unique and comprehensive overview of practice issues relevant to contemporary child welfare professionals entering the field as well as those already working in direct service and management positions. This book’s emphasis on systemic, integrated, and evidence-informed practices at the individual, family, and organizational level is in keeping with child welfare’s core mission of child protection, family support, and permanency for youth. This volume also explores the challenges and opportunities present in a contemporary practice environment, which are driven by the attainment of defined outcomes, fiscal limitations, and the need for an informed professionalized child welfare workforce.

This up-to-date and comprehensive resource by leaders in child welfare is the first book to reflect the impact of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997. The text serves as a single-source reference for a wide array of professionals who work in children, youth, and family services in the United States-policymakers, social workers, psychologists, educators, attorneys, guardians ad litem, and family court judges& mdash;and as a text for students of child welfare practice and policy. Features include: * Organized around ASFA's guiding principles of well-being, safety, and permanency * Focus on evidence-based "best practices" * Case examples integrated throughout * First book to include data from the first round of National Child and Family Service Reviews Topics discussed include the latest on prevention of child abuse and neglect and child protective services; risk and resilience in child development; engaging families; connecting families with public and community resources; health and mental health care needs of children and adolescents; domestic violence; substance abuse in the family; family preservation services; family support services and the integration of family-centered practices in child welfare; gay and lesbian adolescents and their families; children with disabilities; and runaway and homeless youth. The contributors also explore issues pertaining to foster care and adoption, including a focus on permanency planning for children and youth and the need to provide services that are individualized and culturally and spiritually responsive to clients. A review of salient systemic issues in the field of children, youth, and family services completes this collection.