The Child and Family
Services and Practices Toolkit:
A Resource in Enhancing the
Service Array
April 28, 2008
1
Table of Contents
Overview of Toolkit3
Descriptions of Child Welfare Services6
Categorization of Services By Category22
Child Welfare Prevention Services22
Child Welfare Supervision Services24
Child Welfare Custody Services26
Child Welfare Extended Services28
Categorization of Services By Capacity29
Safety Capacity 129
Safety Capacity 231
Permanency Capacity 133
Permanency Capacity 236
Well-Being Capacity 138
Well-Being Capacity 240
Well-Being Capacity 341
Descriptions of Child Welfare Practices43
Categorization of Practices By Category50
Child Welfare Prevention Practices50
Child Welfare Supervision Practices51
Child Welfare Custody Practices52
Child Welfare Extended Practices53
Categorization of Practices By Capacity54
Safety Capacity 154
Safety Capacity 255
Permanency Capacity 156
Permanency Capacity 257
Well-Being Capacity 158
Well-Being Capacity 259
Well-Being Capacity 360
1
Overview of Toolkit
The Child and Family Services and Practices Toolkit is used to assist the work groups established in “Step 3: The Assessment Process (Four Assessments) and Writing the Consolidated Assessment Report” of the service array process. Step 3 of the service array process is detailed in the document entitled “Enhancing the Service Array in Child Welfare: Assessing the Capacity of a Jurisdiction/State to Meet the Individualized Needs of Children and Families and Creating and Implementing a Resource and Capacity Development Plan: A Description of the Process.”
The Child and Family Services and Practices Toolkit will assist the established work groups in assessing the respective capacities assigned to each work group and detailed in the document entitled “Achieving Successful Outcomes for Children: A Rationale for the Service Array Process and A Listing of the Capacities a Jurisdiction Needs to Flexibly Meet the Needs of Children and Families in the Child Welfare System.” In particular, this Toolkit will assist with the First Assessment: Assessment of Current Practices; the Third Assessment: Assessment of Current Services; and the Fourth Assessment: Assessment of the Need for Other Services Not Currently Available.
The First Assessment: Assessment of Current Practices
As part of the First Assessment, the work groups are asked to answer the following question:
What are the current practices utilized to achieve this capacity?
This Toolkit can be utilized as a resource for the work groups to identify current practices used to achieve the respective capacity being assessed. The State Service Array Steering Committee, the Community Service Array Steering Committee, and the work groups should think strategically about selecting practices to assess. The jurisdiction is likely to use many different practices, but assessing every practice that is related to a particular capacity may overburden the stakeholders conducting the assessment. Thus, an alternative may be to use the Child and Family Snapshot to identify practices that should be assessed for each capacity.
The Toolkit provides a list of child welfare practices with definitions for consideration by the work groups. Additionally, the practices are sorted in a variety of ways: alphabetically, by category (prevention, supervision, custody, and extended), and by capacity (SafetyCapacity 1, SafetyCapacity 2, Permanency Capacity1, PermanencyCapacity 2, Well-BeingCapacity 1, Well-Being Capacity2, and Well-Being Capacity 3). The work groups may identify practices utilized in their respective communities that are not identified in this Toolkit, which is acceptable and expected. This Toolkit is solely meant to be a resource for the work groups in conducting the assessment of the capacities.
The Third Assessment: Assessment of Current Services
As part of the Third Assessment, the work groups are asked to answer the following question:
What services currently exist in the jurisdiction which could be used to achieve the particular capacity under review?
This Toolkit can be utilized as a resource for the work groups to identify current services used to achieve the respective capacity being assessed. The State Service Array Steering Committee, the Community Service Array Steering Committee, and the work groups should think strategically about selecting services to assess. The jurisdiction is likely to use many different services, but assessing every service that is related to a particular capacity may overburden the stakeholders conducting the assessment. Thus, an alternative may be to use the Child and Family Snapshot to identify particular services that should be assessed for each capacity.
The Toolkit provides a list of child welfare services with definitions for consideration by the work groups. Additionally, the services are sorted in a variety of ways: alphabetically, by category (prevention, supervision, custody, and extended), and by capacity (Safety Capacity 1, Safety Capacity 2, Permanency Capacity 1, Permanency Capacity 2, Well-Being Capacity 1, Well-Being Capacity 2, and Well-Being Capacity 3). The work groups may identify services utilized in their respective communities that are not identified in this Toolkit, which is acceptable and expected. This Toolkit is solely meant to be a resource for the work groups in conducting the assessment of the capacities.
The Fourth Assessment: Assessment of the Need for Other Services Not Currently Available
As part of the Fourth Assessment, the work groups are asked to answer the following question:
What services are currently not available that would enhance the particular capacity of the jurisdiction to address the individualized needs of children and families? And why would these services be important for building the capacity being assessed?
This Toolkit can be utilized as a resource for the work groups to identify services currently not available that could enhance the ability to achieve the respective capacities. The Toolkit provides a list of child welfare services with definitions for consideration by the work groups. Additionally, the services are sorted in a variety of ways: alphabetically, by category (prevention, supervision, custody, and extended), and by capacity (Safety Capacity 1, Safety Capacity 2, Permanency Capacity 1, Permanency Capacity 2, Well-Being Capacity 1, Well-Being Capacity 2, and Well-Being Capacity 3). This Toolkit is solely meant to be a resource for the work groups in conducting the assessment of the capacities.
Difference between Services and Practices
This Toolkit provides descriptions and categorizations of services and practice. Thus, one must understand the clear difference between a service and a practice. A human service is something someone provides to another person to address a human need. For example, a doctor provides an annual physical examination to a patient. A service can also be something provided in partnership with a client—for example, marriage and family therapy. On the other hand, a practice is the philosophical approach to achievement of outcomes. A child welfare practice often has more to do with how you provide a service because a child welfare practice has a value or principle base. For example, family engagement is a practice. Family engagement has a value base: the best way to successfully provide a service to a client is to show respect for the client. Family engagement also has a principle base: the best way to ensure that the service provided to a client is effective is to genuinely engage the client as a partner in the selection, design, and implementation of the service.
Descriptions of Child Welfare Services
Adoption-Competent Mental Health Professionals
Description: Providers that offer creative services, training, initiatives, supports, and treatment practices and collaborations—which can emerge among child welfare, mental health, and Medicaid systems—to address the complex mental health needs of adopted children and their newly formed adoptive families.
AdoptionResourceCenter
Description: A center that provides quality, lifelong support, and offers workshops, trainings, and educational resources to all adoptive families, children, and youth. Additionally, the center can be an informational referral mechanism about adoption in the community.
Adoption Services Resource and Information Directory
Description: A directory where community residents and adoptive families can find out about existing benefits, services, and programs for adoptive families and the procedures for obtaining or using them. It can be a stand-alone directory or a subcomponent of a comprehensive directory covering child welfare.
Adoption Subsidy
Description: Provision of a monthly financial care subsidy to the adoptive family, as well as medical care for the adopted child, usually until the child is emancipated.
Adoption Support
Description: Services provided to an adoptive family with one-time costs of completing and finalizing the adoption.
Adoptive Children Support Groups
Description: Service, led by professionals, which provides participants a forum to discuss feelings and concerns about a range of issues related to being an adopted child or youth. The goals of these groups are to foster open communication in a supportive environment that provides participants with a sense of community and enhances overall coping with the various demands of being an adopted child or youth. Additionally, the support group provides an excellent source of information and resources for the adoptive family.
Adoptive “Family-Friendly” Residential Treatment Centers
Description: Placement of a child or adolescent who has been removed from his/her adoptive home due to mental, behavioral, or substance abuse issues into a “adoptive family-friendly” residential facility for treatment of the issue.
Adoptive Parent Support Groups
Description: Service, led by professionals, which provides participants a forum to discuss feelings and concerns about a range of issues related to being an adoptive parent. The goals of these groups are to foster open communication in a supportive environment that provides participants with a sense of community and enhances overall coping with the various demands of being an adoptive parent. Additionally, the support group provides an excellent source of information and resources for the adoptive family.
Before- and/or After-School Programs
Description: Educational and recreational services for children before and/or after the school day hours. The purpose is to provide safe, supervised activities for children, and the program supplies support—and in some cases respite—for family caregivers. Core services may include homework help, therapy, enrichment activities, and/or transportation home. For older children, core services may include life and socialization skills building, pre-employment skills and link to part-time work where appropriate, tutoring, computer time, field trips to enhance life experiences, sports and artistic activities, community service, free time, and/or snack/dinner.
Behavioral Aides
Description: Professional or paraprofessional aides who provide in-home services to parents who are having difficulties managing the behavior of their child or children to teach and mentor more effective behavioral discipline or management skills. They may also work with the child, teaching behavior modification techniques.
Case Management Services
Description: A procedure to plan, seek, and monitor services from different social agencies and staff on behalf of a client. Usually one agency takes primary responsibility for the client and assigns a case manager, who coordinates services, advocates for the client, and sometimes controls resources and purchases services for the client. Case management is seen as an increasingly important way of limiting problems arising from fragmentation of services, staff turnover, and inadequate coordination among providers.
Cash Assistance
Description: Assistance in the form of emergency cash to help address a family crisis, for example, to purchase food, make a utility bill payment, obtain clothing, or other emergency needs. This assistance may also be in the form of cash vouchers—a certificate permitting the recipient to purchase up to a specified amount from a designated provider.
Child Abuse and Neglect Outreach/Education
Description: Education of and outreach to community stakeholders and mandated reporters (for example, teachers, clergy, etc.) about child abuse and neglect—indicators of maltreatment, reporting requirements, services available, etc., in an effort to prevent abuse and neglect or provide early intervention before the problem worsens.
Child Abuse and Neglect Report/Hotline
Description: A communications system that provides for immediate and direct telephone contact between a person who is concerned that a child in the community may be abused or neglected and a professional in the public child welfare system who is trained to receive and screen such calls.
Child and Adolescent Day Treatment
Description: Community-based mental health services for children and adolescents to prevent institutional placement. Also known as “day school.”
Child Care Assistance
Description: Assistance to families in securing and using child care to avoid a family crisis, for example, so a parent can obtain or retain employment. Child care may be provided free of charge or on a reduced sliding scale.
Child Care Resource Directory
Description: A directory where community residents can find out about existing child care resources, services, and programs as well as information regarding cost and location. It can be a stand-alone directory or a subcomponent of a comprehensive directory covering child welfare.
Child Dental Care
Description: Provision of general dental care services to children who have Medicaid or are not covered by insurance, and services are provided on a sliding scale.
Children’s Health Insurance Programs
Description: Assistance in accessing state medical insurance for children whose lower income parent(s) do not qualify for Medicaid, either through the State’s CHIPs program or any other insurance program that may be available, for example, through the school system.
Children’s Justice Centers or Child Advocacy Centers
Description: One-stop, child friendly environments where law enforcement, medical, and CPS staff investigate child sexual abuse and/or severe physical abuse, eliminating the need for multiple interviews of child victims. The Centers may also conduct outreach, training, and other child welfare prevention/education services.
Child Welfare Reunification/Permanency Casework Services
Description: Casework services provided to reunite a child or children safely with the family. Family reunification is defined as a planned process of reunifying children in foster care with their birth families. It aims to help each child and family to achieve and maintain, at any given time, their optimal level of reconnection, from the full re-entry of the child into the family system to other forms of contact, such as visiting, that affirms the child’s membership in the family. At any point during the child’s foster care placement, the most appropriate or optimal level of reunification should be identified and actively pursued.
Child Welfare Mediation
Description: Mediation services, accessed through and under the supervision of the juvenile court, as an alternative to court adjudication of disputed issues in child welfare cases. Mediation is intervention in disputes between two parties to help them reconcile differences, find compromises, or reach mutually satisfactory agreements.
Clothing Assistance
Description: Assistance to families to help them secure needed clothing, for example, back-to-school clothes, winter coats, clothes for job interviews.
Community Services Information and Referral Line
Description: A center and/or telephone line where community residents can find out about existing benefits, services, and programs and the procedures for obtaining or using them, and that helps people find other appropriate resources and sources of help.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (C.A.S.A.) Volunteers
Description: A program in many state court systems in which qualified volunteer citizens are appointed to advocate on behalf of individuals, usually young people. CASA volunteers have helped youths by scrutinizing the work of child welfare workers, lawyers, guardians ad litem, and others who are involved in the case. They also help by advocating solely for the child rather than other interested groups and by providing case continuity when many others involved tend not to stay with any given case to its resolution.
Crisis Nurseries
Description: Twenty-four hours, seven days a week drop-in child care for parents who are stressed and fear they will maltreat their children.
Crisis Stabilization Services
Description: Services to adults and families in crisis who are at imminent risk of child maltreatment to return them to pre-crisis functioning. These can include 24-hour services used for short-term emergencies.
Domestic Violence Shelter Care
Description: Shelter care provided to women, with their children, who have experienced domestic violence.
Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT)
Description: A mandate in Medicaid that requires states to conduct regularly scheduled examinations (screens) of all Medicaid-eligible recipients under the age of 22 to identify physical and mental health problems. If a problem is detected and diagnosed, treatment must include any federally authorized Medicaid service, whether or not the service is covered under the state plan. If problems are suspected, an "interperiodic" screen is also required so the child need not wait for the next regularly scheduled checkup.
Early Intervention Services for Special Needs Children
Description: Early intervention includes a variety of services and supports that help young children, age birth to three, with special needs. This service is guaranteed by Federal law under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Educational Services for Children
Description: Services provided to children to meet their educational needs. Services can include educational testing and counseling and tutoring, based on academic need. The purpose of tutoring services is to provide remedial education services to children. The subject areas include, but are not limited to, reading, math, English/language, the sciences, and foreign languages.
Emergency/Temporary Homeless Shelters/Programs
Description: Homeless shelters or programs designed to house individuals or families due to a lack of shelter. These shelters or programs are designed to provide shelter on a short-term basis.
Emergency (or Planned) Kinship Placement
Description: Temporary placement of children with a relative in an emergency situation because of or to prevent child maltreatment.