Section 6 Overview

This section is developed to guide Children’s Service Workers in decision making, the provision and documentation of services to children and their families, development of community resources, and their subsequent assessment and utilization. These resources are designed to enhance and augment services to children and their families in need of preventive, protective, and out-of-home care services.

Procedures contained in this chapter incorporate assessment standards (largely based on licensing rules) which reflect the concern of the agency for those children who must live apart from their families during some part of their minority. The purpose of these standards is to protect those children from abuse, neglect, injury, and exploitation, and to assist in treatment and improved social functioning.

It is recognized that such direction cannot be all inclusive; therefore, staff will still need to exercise judgement in individual case situations. In those situations in which staff do not follow the procedures, they will be expected to document the justification for their actions in the individual case record.

With each procedure, and each step within a procedure, it may be necessary for the worker to secure supervisory assistance in order to make a decision. The procedures do not contain a reference to worker-supervisor conferences, but this joint decision-making activity is understood to be an integral part of service delivery to community resource providers.