Welcome back to our fall series as we continue sharing key concepts and reflections from our Issues in Brief titled: Poverty, Neglect, and Child Protection Reform. We will summarize the key points from each section of the brief and encourage you to think deeply about each week’s topic and the question(s) for reflection.
This week in our Poverty, Neglect, and Child Protection Reform series we further explore the introduction and wide use of Differential Response in the Child Protection System following the TANF reduction of financial assistance to families.
Key Points:
Risk Assessment and Track Assignments: Child Protective Services (CPS) faces the challenge of determining which families should be assigned to different service tracks (e.g., traditional investigative vs. alternative response) based on risk levels. Ideally, these assignments should follow comprehensive assessments of risk factors, child safety, and family conditions.
Importance of Comprehensive Assessments: Thorough assessments are crucial for identifying immediate safety threats, long-term risks, and specific vulnerabilities of children (e.g., age, disabilities). They also help in understanding the protective capacities within families and communities that can be strengthened to mitigate risks.
Current Assessment Practices: Research indicates that many CPS agencies do not use evidence-based risk assessment tools effectively. Often, decisions are based on limited information from a single referral call without in-depth family contact, leading to potential inaccuracies in track assignments.
Impact of Ideological Influences: The "family-friendly" ideology may result in less rigorous investigations for lower-risk families, potentially missing serious safety threats. This approach can deter caseworkers from conducting the necessary in-depth assessments and fact-finding.
Consequences of Inaccurate Track Assignments: Inappropriate track assignments have led to higher rates of re-referrals, child morbidity, and deaths due to maltreatment, especially in states that heavily favored alternative response models. This was evident in places like Minnesota.
Tensions Among CPS Caseworkers: Competing ideologies about the best approach for serving families create confusion and tension among caseworkers. The push for a more family-friendly approach can compromise CPS’s ability to protect children at high risk of serious harm or death.
Reflection Questions:
How can CPS agencies balance the need for a family-friendly approach with the imperative to ensure rigorous risk assessments and accurate track assignments, especially in cases where children may be at high risk of harm?
Continue joining us each week this fall to learn more about the intersections of Poverty, Neglect, and Child Protection Reform. Download the full Issues in Brief at: www.cmprc.org/poverty-neglect
Share your thoughts by emailing us at info@ihs-trainet.com or responding to our social media posts on this topic.
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