3.2 Completion of the Family-Centered Services Assessment Process
The entire FCS assessment process will be completed within thirty (30) days from the date the case is assigned to the completion of the Written Service Agreement. This will include, at minimum, the completion of the CD-14, CD-14A, and CD-14B. The assessment should be updated when necessary throughout the treatment plan process.
3.2.1 Tools for Completing an FCS Family Assessment
The CD-14 Family Assessment Packet is comprised of the following tools:
- CD-14 – FCS Family Assessment
- Safety Assessment or Safety Re-assessment
- CD-14A – Family Functioning Assessment/Re-assessment
- Risk Assessment or CS-16E - Re-assessment
- CD-14B – Written Service Agreement
- CD-14C – Formal/Informal Provider Contact Sheet
- CD-14D – Termination of Services/Aftercare Plan
3.2.2 Identifying Formal/Informal Provider History
A review of formal/informal providers and supports can be very useful in assessing the family’s current situation and identifying resources for the treatment plan development. The CD-14C Formal/Informal Provider Contact Sheet should be a running document that can be attached to the front of the case file. It can be used as a reference when a family has multiple open cases. The worker should be documenting resources available to the family or providers involved with the family currently or in the past. This is a running list of informal providers the family has identified such as relatives or neighbors; or training, counseling or rehabilitation history the family has attempted or completed.
3.2.3 Case Identifying Information and Household Members
The Children’s Service Worker shall enter household member information to the CD-14 and attach the SS-63 form, or copy, to the front of the CD-14 packet to document the names, birthdates, race, and address of the household members.
3.2.4 Identifying Children with American Indian Heritage
The worker will identify American Indian Heritage for children listed on the report, including specific tribe.
3.2.5 History with the Agency
Prior to making contact with the family the worker should document on the CD-14 a brief description of prior reports of abuse/neglect, as well as a summary of concerns identified in unsubstantiated reports. Due to expungement criteria for unsubstantiated reports, incident numbers will NOT be listed. Workers should use such phrases as “Concerns have been identified in the past that include.”, rather than stating “These concerns were from prior reports” in their documentation.
3.2.6 Reason for CD Involvement
To help track the case history, the Children’s Service Worker shall identify its origin, i.e. whether from a CA/N investigation, initial Family Assessment, self-referral, court order, etc. This should not be a definition of the problem, but rather how the Division became involved with the family.
Other agencies and community systems which were involved with the family immediately prior to, or during, the referral process should also be listed.
Enter additional information provided by the reporter or other collateral. A brief description of prior reports of child abuse/neglect should also be given, including a summary of concerns identified in unsubstantiated reports. Due to expungement criteria for unsubstantiated reports and reports substantiated prior to August 28, 1999, the incident numbers will not be listed here. Phrases such as “Concerns have been confirmed in the past that include…”, rather than stating these concerns were from prior reports.
3.2.7 Family’s Perception of CD Involvement
The Children’s Service Worker shall allow all family members to state their opinions about the presenting (and underlying) problems. Encouraging this ventilation of opinions signals respect of the family and the importance of their cooperation. The Children’s Service Worker should key into who is being blamed for the family discord and how the family perceives its relationship to outside systems. The worker will document in the CD-14 the family’s perception/relationship toward CD involvement. (Example: family was hostile/cooperative or family considers CD an asset/intrusive/indifferent…etc.)
3.2.8 Assessment of Safety
Assessment of child safety is always a primary concern of the division and continues to be assessed through out the life of an open case. Workers should always be alert to changes in the family circumstances or household composition that pose a threat to the safety of the child. If changes in circumstances cause concern for the safety of a child a Safety Assessment or if appropriate, a Safety re-assessment should be conducted and concerns should be addressed.
The safety assessment is used to guide decisions about the removal of a child(ren) from his/her parent/caretaker. It also guides decisions on whether or not the child(ren) may remain in the home, the need for interventions to eliminate the threat of immediate harm, or if the child(ren) must be protectively placed.
3.2.9 Description of Family System
The CD-14 includes family-centered services tools for engaging and diagramming families, such as the genogram and the ecomap.
By using the various methods of diagramming, the Children’s Service Worker and family may learn something about the relationships within the family, the location of the family's boundaries, and the variety and quality of the family's connections to outside systems. In addition to assessment, the use of these diagramming methods may be useful as:
- Helpful additions to the case recording, since they give a clear quick view of the family; and
- Tools for organizing information to assist in the case planning and preparation for services.
3.2.10 Study of the Presenting Problem (Optional Techniques)
It is often useful for the Children’s Service Worker to study the family's presenting problem. The presenting problem is usually the behavior that brought the family to the attention of the Division.
Timelines - Used to identify "critical events" experienced by the family. By plotting these events on a linear line, this method can help determine the onset of the presenting problem, what was going on before and after the onset.
"Sequences of behavior" - This technique allows the Children’s Service Worker and family to see how the presenting problem is embedded in sequences of family behaviors. It can help gain insight into how these repetitious sequences serve an underlying purpose for the family and assist the worker and the family in identifying appropriate points of intervention to interrupt dysfunctional patterns.
3.2.11 Assessment of Risk
The SDM risk assessment tools are only used for families in which there are children in the home.
By completing the risk assessment, the worker obtains an objective appraisal of the likelihood that a family will maltreat their children in the next 18 to 24 months. The difference between risk levels is substantial. High risk families have significantly higher rates of subsequent referral and substantiation than low risk families, and are more often involved in serious abuse or neglect incidents.
When risk is clearly defined and objectively quantified the agency can ensure that resources are targeted to higher risk families because of the greater potential to reduce subsequent maltreatment.
3.2.12 Collateral and Other Information
The Children’s Service Worker should include other pertinent information about the family, including information obtained from relevant collateral sources and other professionals involved with the family. Collateral contacts may include therapists, school personnel, childcare personnel, parent aides, home health professionals…etc.
It may be necessary to check with these sources to verify information that is provided by the family. Information obtained from collaterals may contradict the family's account of the presenting problems. Inconsistencies may not be intentional lies by the family but merely their understanding or version of reality and should be viewed as such. This comparison may provide insight into the accuracy of the family's perceptions that are listed previously.
In addition to the providing the worker and the family with differing perspectives on the strengths and needs of the family, collateral sources also assist the worker in meeting minimum contact standards as well alerting the worker to changes in the family dynamics that may give the worker cause for concern.
Use Form SS-6, Authorization for Release of Information, when necessary.
3.2.13 Assessment of Family Functioning
The (CD-14A) Family Function Assessment/Re-assessment is a comprehensive family functioning assessment tool which assists the worker in processing information gathered during the family assessment process. Workers may draw from the following methods of collection to rate family function items addressed on the CD-14A.
- Direct interview of family members individually and/or together;
- Information collected from family members through activities such as drawing genograms and ecomaps;
- Personal observation of the family members and their interactions at home or in the community;
- Examining written materials such as case records, school reports, etc.;
- Collateral contacts with other agencies or individuals involved with the family; and
- Referring the family members for an evaluation by a qualified examiner.
The worker may use the CD-14A to compile and organize information that was previously collected, or use it as a reference tool when working directly with the family. The CD-14A provides a systematic and comprehensive way to address significant areas of family functioning that have direct impact on the risk for future occurrences of child maltreatment.
The CD14A addresses family functioning under general domains (example: basic needs, caregiver ability, educational/vocational, physical health, mental health, substance use, family interaction, criminal/legal and child well being). Sub-factors are addressed under each domain. The worker rates each sub-factor according to the positive or negative impact on the family’s overall functioning.
3.2.13.1 Discrepancies in Family Functioning Ratings
Staff may find that what the worker considers a serious need in a particular sub-factor may be considered by the family to have no impact or even a strength. Differing opinions in regard a particular sub-factor can provide an excellent opportunity for discussion and may ultimately lead to the discovery of underlying causes to dysfunctional behavior.
Ratings for sub-factors may also differ from worker to worker or between worker and supervisor. Again these present excellent discussion points for the worker and the family to engage in a process that will in the long run lead to better goals and family buy in.
If there is a question as to whether to consider a sub-factor adequate because it does not impact the family or a strength because there is no history, (example: No substance abuse or criminal history) consider the following:
- Does it have a significant impact on how the family functioning is functioning now?
- How could this factor be used to build on in the service plan to promote positive change?
Workers should keep in mind that family functioning assessment process should ultimately lead to an effective and meaningful Written Service Agreement.
3.2.14 Family Strengths and Competencies
No assessment is complete without a thorough evaluation of a family's strengths, capacities, and accomplishments.
Sometimes it is easy to become so problem-oriented that the Children’s Service Worker and family fail to recognize what the family is already doing well. Children’s Service Workers should look for, and acknowledge, the strengths observed within the family members and system. This should be done in an ongoing manner. Often these strengths have been over-looked or hidden. Operating from this perspective inspires hope, reinforces the family's own problem-solving, and encourages family empowerment. The identified strengths provide areas for the Children’s Service Worker and family to build upon in the treatment plan.
3.2.14.1 Relabeling
One way to help identify family strengths is through relabeling (sometimes called reframing). Relabeling is a process in which a person's point of view is changed, usually from a negative to a more positive viewpoint.
Relabeling is done by identifying and describing behavior from a different perspective and by recognizing that most things can be seen legitimately in at least two ways. We all experience reality differently; what we say about something reflects our attitudes and feelings about it. By altering the meaning we attribute to a behavior, one can change the person's perspective and his/her responses to the behavior.
For instance, a father's hostile or resistive behavior toward the Children’s Service Worker could be relabeled as his protectiveness of his family. By recognizing the protectiveness, the Children’s Service Worker may be more apt to elicit cooperation. A child who is said to be argumentative could be relabeled as independent and a free-thinker. Once the behavior is relabeled, his/her parents may react differently to the child's behavior.
NOTE: The Children’s Service Worker is cautioned not to relabel abusive behavior. This could be perceived as acknowledgment that abusive behavior is acceptable and it may minimize the perpetrator's responsibility for the abuse.
3.2.14.2 Guidelines to Formulate a Relabeling Statement:
- Identify the individual's behavior that is to be relabeled. This is usually a behavior that, when described, carries a negative connotation;
- Relabel the behavior by identifying a way it can be perceived as helping the family. The relabeling statement should contain a "ring of truth" and build upon the idea that most things can be legitimately seen at least two ways;
- Inquire into how the individual's behavior impacts upon other family members and how they usually respond to the behavior;
- Tie the relabeling statement of the individual's behavior to the family system. Once the individual's behavior is relabeled, consider how the family interactions that surround the identified behavior could now be looked at differently. Relabel the interactions in such a way that the family members could react and interact differently;
- Decide if the family will perceive the relabel as helpful, and if they will accept it. The family should be able to feel support and view themselves differently; and
- Present the relabeled behavior or action and reframe in a tentative manner (i.e., "I wonder if...", or "Have you considered that...").