This strength-based training is for supervisors and workers in agencies
committed to family-centered practice. Participants develop techniques
to identify strengths. They also learn to use basic systematic tools to
analyze family and community dynamics, in order to understand the current
family situation and the family's possibilities for the future. Risk is
explored as an ongoing consideration, with strength identification and
assessment presented as the mechanisms for determining and working with
short and long-term risk stabilization. The integration of solution-focused
and family-systems approaches are explored, with considerable attention
placed on applying assessment information to a measurable case plan. This
skill-based training involves spending considerable time practicing assessment
on participants' case examples.
This training focuses on major areas that must be considered in the assessment
of immigrant and refugee families. Some of the issues explored include:
reasons for immigration, immigration status, language issues, cultural
taboos, literacy level, educational attainment, and trauma. Participants
develop skills to identify strengths, and learn to use basic systematic
tools to analyze family and community dynamics in order to understand
the current family situation and the family's possibilities for the future.
Decisions about safety, risk and well-being are not made just at intake/investigation,
but must be reevaluated throughout the service agreements with families.
While evaluating safety and well-being should be an ongoing process, there
are points along the service continuum (now clearly defined by ASFA) that
demand a formal reassessment with justification for decisions made. This
workshop examines risk and the modifiers to risk that impact both child
safety and well-being, and which must be considered in any decision-making
process involving children--whether it be removal, leaving the children
in the home or in kinship care, reunification, or other forms of permanency
(such as adoption, legal guardianship or long-term foster placement).
In addition to assessing risk accurately, direct service staff and supervisors
must be able to evaluate and justify a family’s safety plan based
on assessment facts. This practical hands-on training addresses these
important issues, and allows time for practicing the skills/concepts introduced.
A critical component of achieving child safety, well-being and permanency
is the ability to accurately assess what the impact of family violence
and abuse has been on the child(ren). Equally important are the effect
of placement and the decision "if or when" to refer the child
for treatment. This training explores the recognition of attachment disorder
and loss/grief issues in children and their behavioral indicators. The
practical hands-on workshop also provides some specific tools and methods
of evaluating both the impact of family violence/abuse on the child, and
the development of an appropriate response.
This training was designed specifically for Child Protective Service Agencies
that are trying to move toward a differential response system of investigation.
The goals of a family-centered investigation include: joining and engaging
the family, making decisions on safety based on a differential assessment
of the family situation, and developing a measurable safety plan. While
information on the specific incident that brought the family to the attention
of the agency is important, the focus of the investigation must include
the family’s willingness and ability to provide a safe environment
for the child (ren) in the immediate and long-term future. Investigators
must be able to efficiently use some basic assessment tools that will
allow them to make accurate decisions, and this training helps them do
so.
This workshop will help participants create a holistic assessment of youth
that incorporates not only the "problem" behavior but also the
techniques to identify strengths and resiliency factors. Integration of
solution-focused and family-systems approaches will be explored, with
considerable attention placed on applying assessment information to a
measurable case plan.
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