Order of Juvenile court hearings
1. Temporary Custody / Shelter Care Heating
2. Adjudication Hearing
3. Dispositional Hearing
4. Permanency Planning
... [Show More] hearings
5. Termination Hearing
6. but anytime. Status and Progress Hearings
Child welfare professionals as change agents help to
help families to identify their own problems and help families to recognize their strengths
4 Stages of Interviewing
-social
-problem definition/needs identification
-focus
-closure
Positive reframing
a cognitive-behavioral technique involving turning negative messages into positive ones
solution-focused questions
help the client picture a preferred alternate future
order of placement for a child:
1) with a non-custodial parent
2) with siblings in care
3) with other relatives
4) with foster caregiver
child and family team meetings
frequent meetings with families and those involved with serving families are required to plan, assess programs, and decide permanency direction
CANS assessment
gathers information about the child, not the services they need
Dual mandate
Protecting children and supporting families
4 types of supervision
1. Educational: directed toward helping staff learn what they need to know to carry out their job responsibilities;
2. Supportive: directed toward creating a positive psychological and physical climate for staff;
3. Administrative: focuses on job performance and how it is related to the agency's mission;
4. Clinical: directed toward clinical interventions.
Steps of a placement planning case
1: The DCFS / SCR (State Central Registry) is called by a mandated reporter
2: DCP opens the case or CPI
3: Investigation occurs
4: DCP attempts to keep the family reunified
5: Protective Custody (PC) if taken
6: The DCP worker prior to placement takes the child(ren) for a Health Works Screen
7: CAPU (Case assignment Unit)
8: TC (temporary custody) hearing occurs also called the shelter care hearing
9: Handoff from DCP (department of Child Protection) also referred to as CPI (Child
Protection Investigator) to the placement worker (between DCP worker and agency)
10: Placement supervisor assigns case to the placement caseworker.
11: Transitional visit between the CPI and the Assigned Placement agency (in the home of the parent where the DFCS worker is transferring the case to the home)
12: First family meeting (this is not the CFTM) this occurs at 48 hours from case assignment
13: First Parent / Child visit at 48 hours from PC (Protective Custody)
14: Parent / Child visitation plan is filed in court at 10 days from PC
15: The assigned placement worker or the foster parent takes the child(ren) for a Comprehensive Health Works exam at 21 days
16: Completion of the IA (Integrated Assessment) at 35 days (in this we are looking for drug abuse, other abuse is a clinical screening so that we can develop service plan)
17: CFS 497 Service plan is completed at 40 days (can be 40-45 days bc it needs to be filed in court)
Fictive kin
someone who becomes accepted as part of a family of the child to which he or she has no blood relation
Relative / HMR placement
Home of a relative, place the child in the home of a family relative, this includes godparents
Concurrent Planning
Caseworker engages in active efforts to promote family reunification and simultaneously identifies an alternative permanency plan with the knowledge of the parent, child, and foster parent/relative
CIPP (clinical intervention for placement preservation)
A CIPP staffing is conducted to determine the array and intensity of services needed for a child or youth whose current placement is threatened with disruption or whose care cannot be provided for in his/her current placement. In a CIPP staffing, the caseworker brings together key people in the child/youth's life, with the assistance and support of a trained facilitator who leads a discussion sensitive to the individual needs, motivation and capabilities of the child/youth. Participants are encouraged to offer their assessment of the child/youth's wishes, needs and strengths and to generate ideas on how those wishes, needs and strengths can be best addressed, ideally in the child/youth's current placement.
Expeditated termination
It is appropriate when "the maltreatment of children is so egregious that efforts should not be made to preserve the family." When this occurs, the child welfare professional should request a legal screening, and the children should be place with families committed to permanency. expedited termination is specified in IL law.
Unusual Incident Report (UIR)
If a child goes to the ER or if one child goes to the hospital when they are in foster care, there are procedures to fill out a UIR to report the incident that happened and the form CFS 119-A needs to be filled to establish that the risk has been mitigated.
Random moment survey related to title IV B funding
DCFS is governed by State and Federal that is why. (Title IV B funding that requires to document what are we doing to receive funding) For example, random moment survey can happen when someone may randomly call to ask "what are we doing?" and if we answer "doing a case plan" or any other activity related to the agency, that will contribute to us doing something that will qualify to justify receiving grant and money from federal bc we are doing our job.
Administrative Case Review (ACR)
The purpose is to review the progress of a case and if goals are reasonable steps to reach the main goal. Also makes sure that all the important people in a child's lives are involved to ensure permanency, plans, services, and other programs need to be reviewed to ensure that they will fulfill the need to accomplish the goal. Every 6 months.
Protective factors:
1.Enhance Parental Resilience
2.Develop Social Connections
3.Build Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development
4.Offer Concrete Support in Times of Need
5.Foster Social and Emotional Competence
6. Promote Healthy Parent-Child Relationships
7. Safety
8. Commitment to permanency
Nine possible service plan / permanency goals that you can have for child?
1.Return home within five months
2.Return home within 12 months - most common
3.Return home pending status hearing
4.Substitute care pending court determination on termination of parental rights
5.Adoption, provided that parental rights have been terminated or relinquished
6.Guardianship
7.Independence
8.Cannot be provided for in a home environment
9.Continuing foster care
Adult Guardianship Act
Protects adults w/ disabilities from abuse, neglect, financial exploitation or self-neglect. Protects their right to self-determination and offers assistance and support to vulnerable adults who are unable to manage their own affairs. (may not have family)
Diligent Search
Search for a missing parent that must be conducted within 48 hours after protective custody is taken of a child or prior to the protective custody hearing. In the punitive father's registry we can locate fathers missing
What is the single child welfare task that most increases the rate and success of reunification?
Visitation
Ecomap
diagram used to identify the direction and intensity of family relationships between members and/or community institutions of importance to the family
Genogram
A family diagram that depicts each member of the family and shows connections between the generations.
Substance abuse screening
Is done by a caseworker to a parent to screen the use of any substances in the family.
Domestic Violence screening
Done by a caseworker to a parent, history and current events of DV between adults in the family.
Home safety checklist
Done by a caseworker and can be done on a biological parents' home or a foster parents' home. Done to assess household dangers and reduce unintentional injuries to a child, especially to those under 5 yrs old.
Safety Assessment CERAP
Done to parents by the caseworker when children are returning to the home. Asesses for safety and identifying safety threats and guides the development and implementation of actions needed to protect a child.
Risk assessment CERAP
Done to the parent's home when children are returning home to assess safety vs risk. It provides a basis for making decisions regarding the ongoing needs of the family.
Child and Adolescent Needs Assessment CANS
DCP does that when a case comes and the caseworker does one too
-Family based assessment; completed for the entire family to assess areas of needs and areas of strengths
-Global assessment-the highest rating for the one individual is the score for the entire family.
-Includes all subjects of the investigation or case members
-24 items are assessed
-DCP created the initial risk assessment for all indicated cases
-New CANS is completed every 6 months prior to the ACR
Integrated Assessment IA
The clinical assessor of DCFS and is done with the case worker to assess the family. Prepared after interviewing observations, use of assessment tools and reviewing documents that are part of the assessment process. includes information collected, analysis of the information, conclusions drawn and decisions made for recommended services. It takes into account family strengths, parent/child relationships, family history and the well-being of children.
Which of these documents would your use to support reunification?
1. CANS
2. Recovery Matrix
3. SAF checklist
4. Progress notes
5. Parent - Child visitation notes
6. Service plan evaluations
Criteria for Kin Gap
1. The child must be removed from the home through a judicial determination or a voluntary placement with DCFS.
2. Adoption and return home are ruled out.
3. The HMR relative home must be licensed for at least 6 months
4. Child needs to have been placed in the home for at least 6 months
5. If the child is 14 or older they have been consulted on the plan
6. Siblings of children placed are also eligible for Kin Gap
7. Youth 14 years or older living with a licensed non relative
8. With approval may also be eligible for subsidy services (day care, college scholarships, legal fees and post adoption services)
9. Provides a subsidy to move to guardianship
What is most likely to cause trauma for a child?
Removal of a house, foster care in itself is a trauma
Who are eligible for DCFS services?
You have to be referred by the hotline, need to be under 17 if you are child, and you need to have an allegation of abuse and neglect.
What is Rule 431?
A confidentiality
Should CANTS and LEADS be shared at case handoff?
yes
What happens to visits after a goal is changed from return home to sub. care?
Should visit be delayed or taken away of a parent is not complying or competing services?
Visits can't be used as punishment.
Do Genograms identify community supports?
no, they identify family relationships and support, as well as health and other commonalities between generations
Would a CERAP be done prior to unsupervised visits?
Yes
Who are and what are you assessing when you complete a CERAP?
Structured approach to decisions making designed to guide, support, and document professional judgement in situations in which children are potentially in danger immediately or in the near future. Guides development and implementation of any actions that may be needed to immediately protect a child. An instrument to document findings decision-making and actions.
What is the life span approach when dealing with 60 + caregivers?
-Recognizes that older caregivers will experience physical or cognitive changes as they age, how does that compare to the child's age?
-Normal events should be anticipated and planned for in advance
-We assess the older caregiver: Health, Parenting skills/history, Capability to perform everyday tasks, Extended support, Long term care plan for child and caregiver, Back-up plan.
-Comparing age of child with caregiver as it progresses.
-Prior to finalization of an adoption or guardianship arrangement the following must be completed: 60+ Checklist, Medical Evaluation of an adult (CFS-604), Authorization for Background Check (CFS-718), CANTS 48 (Background Check on Back Up Provider), SERVICES
If a child cannot be adopted what is the next best goal?
guardianship
Is a goal of independence considered permanency?
yes. [Show Less]