Transcript of 2012 Indian Child Welfare Summit Tribal State Justice to Strengthen Indian Families Jackie Crow Shoe...
- Slide 1
- 2012 Indian Child Welfare Summit Tribal State Justice to
Strengthen Indian Families Jackie Crow Shoe Differential Response
and Indian Country
- Slide 2
- Goals for this Session 2 Describe Differential Response (DR),
find & its movement throughout United States & into Indian
Country Discuss Core Elements of DR Discuss Six Principals of
Partnership Share correlation between Native values & those of
DR Provide arena to gain greater awareness about DR & foster
opportunities for networking & developing supportive
connections among participants
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- What is Differential Response? Photo Courtesy of Jackie Crow
Shoe Alternative(s) to child protection investigative response Sets
aside fault finding Usually applied to reports that do not allege
serious imminent harm Focuses less on investigative fact finding
& more on assessing & ensuring child safety Seeks safety
through family engagement & collaborative community
partnerships Allows & encourages agencies to provide services
without formal determination of abuse or neglect 3
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- On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being Ive had no exposure and 10
being I am directly involved with the work, please rate your level
of experience with Differential Response. 4
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- Murky Waters: What makes it so difficult to understand
Differential Response? 5 Different terminology Different
definitions Different models Different services Different service
providers Continuous evolution of practice Limited & growing
presence in Indian Country
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- 6 History of Child Welfare and Purpose of Differential
Response
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- Purposes of Differential Response and Child Protection CPS was
established to respond to all reports of suspected child
maltreatment, but numbers overwhelm available resources Systems
either screen out or do not open for services more than half of
reports, & in so doing, many children are vulnerable 7 Photo
Courtesy of
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- Purposes of Differential Response in Child Welfare
Investigatory practice is often adversarial & alienates parents
DR: way to respond to reports (screened in) at earlier stage by
engaging families in non- adversarial process of linking them to
needed services 8
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- Acknowledging the historical legacy of Child Protection System
intervention 9 Historical experiences have resulted in distrust
& oppression boarding schools, loss of languages &
homelands. Disproportional number of Native children in child
welfare system Doing to, rather than doing with. DR is based on
doing with Photo Courtesy of Jackie Crow Shoe
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- Core Elements of Differential Response 10
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- Core Elements of Differential Response 1. Use of two or more
discrete responses to reports of maltreatment that are screened in
& accepted 2. Assignment to response pathways determined by
array of factors 3. Original response assignments can be changed 4.
Ability of families who receive non-investigatory response to
accept or refuse to participate in differential response or to
choose investigatory response 11
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- Core Elements of Differential Response 5. Establishment of
discrete responses codified in statute, policy, protocols 6. After
assessment, services are voluntary for families who receive
non-investigatory response (as long as child safety is not
compromised) 7. No substantiation of alleged maltreatment &
services are offered without formal determination that child
maltreatment occurred 8. Use of central registry is dependent upon
type of response 12
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- Six Principles of Partnership 1. Everyone Desires Respect 2.
Everyone Needs to be Heard (and Understood) 3. Everyone has
Strengths 4. Judgments Can Wait 5. Partners Share Power 6.
Partnership is a Process 13
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- On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being no Core elements are currently
used and 10 being all eight of the core elements are currently and
consistently used, please rate the level in which the eight core
elements are being used in child welfare work in your community.
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- Comparing Investigatory Child Protection Models and
Differential Response 15
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- Differences between Differential Response and Investigatory
Response Focus on establishing safety not blame Safety through
engagement of family strengths & community resources Parent as
partner using collaborative practices Non-judgmental, honest &
attentive responses Child safety addressed within context of family
well-being Services not surveillance [Loman, 2005] 16
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- Factors Determining Response Statutory limitations Each county
or tribe can determine criteria Severity of allegation History of
past reports Ability to assure safety of child Willingness &
capacity of parents to participate in services 17
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- Similarities between Differential Response and Native core
values Differential Response Native shared core values, beliefs
& behaviors 18 Move from agency expert driven compliance
approach to safety focused partnership with families &
communities Focus on securing child safety through family
engagement Recognizing & applying family & community
strengths & resources; honoring family wisdom about their
circumstances, strengths & needs, as well as culture Consistent
with ICWA Autonomy & respect for others Cooperation/group
harmony Child-rearing/extended family value. Children are at the
center of community Generation of age/wisdom/tradition
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- Differential Response and Casework Practice Protecting Children
From Harm Building Safety Around Children 19 Photos Courtesy of
Jackie Crow Shoe
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- Differential Response and Casework Practice Engagement
practices: Communicate with families strategically Avoid surprise
visits Ask parental permission to see children Stay separate from
law enforcement or partner as needed Be transparent in purpose
& process Honor family decisions unless they compromise safety
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- Differential Response and Indian Country 21
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- Differential Response: Minnesota State supervised county
administered system More than 11 years of implementing Differential
Response or Minnesota refers to it as Family Assessment Response 87
Counties 11 Tribes ICWA initiative began in 2005 with legislative
approval for two Tribes White Earth & Leech Lake to provide
services to tribal children. In 2011 Tribes were providing
differential response at 85% & 80% In 2011, 69% of all CP cases
statewide went to Family Assessment Response Minnesota 23
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- Minnesota Tribes Lessons learned to date: Active family
involvement is crucial in partnering, & driving service
planning & decision making Community partnerships are most
effective ways to protect children Families & community
stakeholders need to be engaged early in process Communication
among/across jurisdictions is vitalestablish vehicles for regular
contact Assessment is ongoing & cumulative as trust builds this
needs to be recognized & honored Evaluation is important, &
should begin as soon as possible Gathering information for
evaluation should be mindful of existing data collection systems in
Indian Country. Increasing capacity in this area is critical.
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- St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, Akwesasne, New York State of New York
passed Legislation in 2007 to allow FAR (Family Assessment
Response) St. Regis applied for FAR training through statewide
initiative & was accepted in Phase 2 Began implementing Family
Assessment Response in 2009 Mission: To strengthen, support, &
protect Akwesasne families in all stages of life for seven
generations. 25
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- Montana Tribes: Crow, Ft. Peck, & Northern Cheyenne Initial
training on DR in 2010 Developed policy statement for demo projects
Addressed major issues: 1. Intake/referrals, 2. Assignment of cases
to response, 3. Assessment process 4. Coordinating resources
Detailed next steps 26
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- Montana Tribes: Lessons Learned to Date Work with what you have
& build on it, as each program & each tribal community is
distinct DR can be tailored to fit your community, rather than your
community needing to be tailored to fit DR Adapting to change takes
time for staff & community, which is important consideration in
implementation planning Identify barriers & address them Obtain
commitment of supervisor, staff & resources to work together
Celebrate all steps toward DR implementation, no matter how small
27 Photo Courtesy of
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- On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being no changes would be needed and
10 being the whole system needs to be overhauled, please rate the
level of reform that would need to occur in your system if your
community chose to offer Differential Response. 28
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- Presenter Contact Information 29 Jackie Crow Shoe:
crowshoe@q.comcrowshoe@q.com (952) 486-2730