CPI Practice Application Lab 5: Putting It All...

CPI Practice Application Lab 5: Putting It All Together

March 2015

CPI Pre-Service Curriculum | Lab 5 - TG 1

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CPI Practice Application Lab 5: Putting It All Together

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Time: 6 Hours

Unit Overview: This lab provides an opportunity to practice each

step of the Investigation portion of the Child Welfare Practice Model using a case example.

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Review the Learning Objectives with the participants.

Learning Objectives: 1. Demonstrate the application of the Information Collection Protocol 2. Demonstrate how to complete a Present Danger Assessment, Family

Functioning Assessment and Risk Assessment. 3. Explain and demonstrate how to use the Practice Guidelines during the

investigation process.


Thus far in Pre-Service you have learned about each step, child welfare assessment, and safety decision that makes up the Florida Child Welfare Practice Model. This lab will give you the chance to practice and apply what you have learned using a case example.

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Please turn to PG: 3-5, Safety Methodology Flowchart. You will recognize this flow chart from past modules. This chart can be used as a guide as we continue through this lab to ensure every step of the Florida Child Welfare Practice Model is completed successfully.

Trainer Note: Give participants a moment to review the flowchart before moving on.


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Before beginning the practice portions of this lab it is important to fully understand the difference between violence and domestic violence. Following are the definitions used in the Practice Guidelines.

Trainer Note: The following definition is located in the Practice Guidelines,

Child Protective Investigations under Inter-agency Consultation: Domestic Violence

Violence refers to aggression, fighting, brutality, cruelty, and hostility. Physical aggression in response to acts of violence may be a reaction to or self-defense against violence.

When violence includes dynamics of power and control it is considered “domestic violence”. Domestic violence is a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate, frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame hurt, injure, or wound someone.

As a Child Protective Investigator why do you think it is important to know the difference between violence and domestic violence?

Endorse:

• Influences how danger threats emerge • Changes the way you approach and engage a family


• Effects safety planning. For domestic violence two separate safety plans must be developed; one with the perpetrator of domestic violence and one with the parent who is a survivor of domestic violence.

We are now going to practice applying the knowledge you have gained throughout the past weeks using the Lee Family.

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I want you to imagine it is your first day after successfully completing Pre-Service training. You receive an email stating that you have been assigned as the primary Child Protective Investigator to a new intake.

After learning about the assignment what should your next step be?

Endorse:

Begin the Pre-Commencement process outlined in the Practice Guidelines.


Lab Activity 1: Pre-Commencement

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Materials: • Safety Methodology Practice Guidelines, Investigations: Pre-

Commencement Investigation Activities • PG: 6-9, Lee Intake • PG: 10, Pre-Commencement Activity • PG: 11-12, Pre-Commencement Chronological Notes

Trainer Instructions: Part 1:

• Instruct participants to read the Lee Intake and use their Practice Guidelines to determine what Pre-Commencement activities need to be completed. They can create this list on the Pre-Commencement Activity page in their participant guide.

• Allow 20-minutes for this activity.

• Debrief as a large group. Ensure participants address calling the reporter, assessing prior reports for patterns, assessing criminal history for patterns, and talking to other professionals including the last CPI and the Family Success worker.


Part 2: • Instruct participants to read the notes in the participant guides labeled

Pre-Commencement. Next ask for a volunteer and role play the pre-commencement consultation with the trainer as the CPI Supervisor and the volunteer as the CPI.

Trainer Note: Another option for this activity is to have participants separate into groups of two to role play the pre-commencement consultation with one participant as the CPI and one participant as the CPI Supervisor. If done this way provide 20 minutes for participants to plan and complete the role-play. After the role-play debrief their experiences as a large group. When debriefing ensure the participants discussed where they would make contact with the family, how they would engage, and their concerns regarding present danger.

Pre-Commencement Notes 1/11/2015 at 8:30 AM Reviewed NCIC, FCIC and DJJ history from the Florida Abuse Hotline and pulled local information from the Comprehensive Case Information System (CCIS) Amelia Lee: Arrest history found -2005 possession of cannabis under 20 grams (occurred when minor) Anthony Williams: Arrest history found - November 2014 misdemeanor simple battery Request faxed to police department requesting any police reports involving the family. Reviewed DCF history on the family. No prior history found for Anthony Williams as a child. Amelia Lee does have a history as a child. Between 2003 and 2009 there were four prior reports with verified findings of family violence threatens child listing Amelia as a child victim. Each of these involved violence between Amelia’s mother and her step-father. In 2007 Amelia and her siblings were removed and placed in relative care after Amelia got pushed against a wall and choked by her step father when she tried to step in during a physical altercation between him and her mother. Amelia’s mother completed a case plan and Amelia was reunified with her mother in 2008. One prior report on the parents as caregivers. In November 2014 a report was received with Amelia Lee as a Parent/Caregiver (PC), Anthony Williams as a Parent/Caregiver and Alleged Perpetrator (AP-PC), and Alex Williams as a


victim child (V). Maltreatment was family violence threatens child. The allegations were that Mr. Williams hit the mother with a baby wipes container and then damaged the home by tearing the house apart. The mother and father admitted the father hit with Ms. Lee with a baby wipes container while Ms. Lee was changing Alex’s diaper. This caused a mark to the mother’s shoulder. They denied Mr. Williams meant to throw the container and denied he threw anything else. The police reported that there were many things thrown around and broken when they arrived. The father was arrested and after his release from jail left the home for a couple of weeks. When the investigation closed the family was back together and had obtained family counseling from Family Success. The report was closed with not substantiated findings of family violence threatens child. 1/11/2015 at 9:15 AM Contacted reporter. Confirmed allegations. 1/11/2015 at 9:30 AM Made telephone contact with Child Protective Investigator, Nicole Byrd, who was assigned to the last report. When she investigated the report the parents denied any other violent episodes and said that Mr. Williams did not mean to hit Ms. Lee with a baby wipes container, but accidently dropped the box on her. Ms. Lee did make Mr. Williams leave the home for a couple of weeks after the argument, but then allowed him to return because she wanted them to be a family. Ms. Byrd believes that the father intentionally threw the container at Ms. Lee and was concerned about the incident. Ms. Byrd was concerned about domestic violence because Mr. Williams controls the finances and Ms. Lee has minimal contact with people outside of the home. Ms. Lee provides most of the care for Alex and they appeared positively attached. CPI Byrd also observed good interactions between Mr. Williams and Alex. Although, Mr. Williams does not spend much time with Alex between working long hours and hanging out with friends. Ms. Lee and Mr. Williams expressed wanting better communication and obtained in-home family counseling from Edna Peters at Family Success before the Investigation was completed. 1/11/2015 at 10:15 AM Telephone call to Edna Peters with Family Success at (850)776-3343. She became involved with the family in early December 2014. She was supposed to provide family counseling, but only the mother, Amelia Lee, would engage in services. Mr. Williams told her he did not need help and Amelia was the one with the issues. Ms. Peters has been providing Ms. Lee with individual counseling and domestic violence education. Ms. Lee has told her that Anthony Williams has been verbally and physically aggressive in the past, but


Ms. Lee would never go into details about the prior incidences. When Ms. Peters checked her voicemails this morning she found a message from Ms. Lee last night asking if Ms. Peters could pick up her and Alex. You can hear Mr. Williams in the background saying: “Alex is not going nowhere I can promise you that. I’ll kill you if you try to take him. I wish you would take the baby and be gone all day and night. You better hide, but I’ll find you anyway. You can believe that.” Mr. Williams is controlling of Ms. Lee. He does not give her access to his checking account and she has to ask him for money when she needs things. She also does not have regular access to a phone as they only own one and Mr. Williams takes it with him whenever he leaves the home. He claims this is because he does not trust Ms. Lee and thinks she will use up all of the minutes on the phone. Based on what happened last night Ms. Peters believes that things are escalating and Mr. Williams is becoming more violent.

Activity STOP

Now that we have successfully prepared to commence our case and completed a pre-commencement consultation we are going to move on to commencement and assessing for Present Danger.

Lab Activity 2: Assessing for Present Danger

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Materials: • Safety Methodology Practice Guidelines, Investigations: Assess

Present Danger and Take Immediate Actions • PG: 13-15, Commencement Notes • PG: 16-17, Present Danger Assessment

Trainer Instructions:


Part 1: • Have participants split into groups of 3-5 depending on class size.

Instruct participants to read the Commencement Notes and use their Practice Guidelines to complete the Present Danger Assessment.

• Allow 45-minutes for this activity.

• Debrief as a large group. This should include going through the danger threats to ensure all groups chose the correct danger threat and having groups present the written portion of their Present Danger Assessment.

Commencement Notes

1/11/2015 at 11:25 AM Case commenced at domestic violence shelter, Hands of Hope, in Tallahassee (confidential address). Contact made with mother, Amelia Lee, and eight month old Alex Williams. CPI introduced herself and let Ms. Lee know about the open investigation. CPI went through Rights and Responsibilities Pamphlet and Ms. Lee reported being familiar with DCF and the investigative process due to a recent investigation with DCF. Ms. Lee provided the following information:

• Last night there was an argument between her and the father, Anthony Williams.

• Argument started because Anthony got paid yesterday and bought a video game instead of diapers.

• Anthony got really mad when she tried to leave with Alex. • He got a steak knife from the kitchen and threatened to kill her if she

left with Alex. She was holding Alex when this happened. • Alex was not harmed, but was crying during the incident. • Tried to call Edna Peters from Family Success to pick her up and left a

message when she didn’t answer. • Was able to call police after Anthony calmed down a little and put

down knife • Does not normally call the police, but was scared because Anthony was

very mad and didn’t want Alex to get hurt since Anthony had a knife. • Had police drive her to Hands of Hope. Did not tell the police Anthony

threatened her because she did not want him to be arrested again like he was in November.

• There has been violence throughout their relationship together, but not sure how many times things have become violent.


• Can’t remember any of the details of the incidences of violence that occurred before Alex were born.

• In late 2013 Anthony decided to move to Tallahassee to live closer to his mother.

• Thought about moving to Tallahassee, but she stayed at her mother’s home in Miami because she was born there, has always lived there, and wasn’t ready to move in with him yet.

• Did not break up, but only able to talk to each over the phone. • When found out was pregnant decided to move to Tallahassee a

month before giving birth so she could live with Anthony so her son could have a mom and dad in the home.

• Although the pregnancy was not planned they were not using birth control and both were happy and excited about their first child.

• Things were going well for a while after moving to Tallahassee, but then he started calling her names, saying mean things, and yelling at her again.

• Anthony arrested in November 2014 because the police said he hit her in the arm with a wipes box. Was sitting on the floor changing Alex’s diaper when the wipes box hit her. Anthony did not intend to hit her with the wipes container, but it slipped out of his hands.

• Was not planning to contact the police. • Someone else called them and then Anthony was arrested because she

had a mark on her arm from the box hitting her. • Kicked him out of the home for a couple of days, but wants Alex to

have a family with a mother and father so she let him return. • When asked why she kicked him out if he didn’t purposefully hit her

with the container she said she was just upset from the argument. • Felt bad he got arrested because it really wasn’t that big of a deal. • Last night was the first time he threatened to kill her. • Anthony works for Twins Towing Company. • Anthony has a checking account, but her name is not on it and she

does not have access to the money in the account. • Anthony gives her money, but wants to know what she is going to buy

before giving her money for things. • Since being back with Anthony she does not talk to her mother, other

family, or friends in Miami very much. • Does not have a phone so hard to keep up with them. Anthony has a


phone but takes it to work with him and does not let her use it often as he doesn’t want her using all of the minutes.

• She didn’t know anyone in Tallahassee before moving here and stays home taking care of Alex so hasn’t been able to meet many people.

• Hard to get around because has no car or home is not in the city bus zone. Anthony has a car and will sometimes drive her around if he is going somewhere.

• Anthony has friends in the neighborhood and will often go play basketball with them after work, leaving her home with Alex.

• This causes them to argue a lot because she wants him to come home after work to spend time with her and Alex.

• Loves being a mother and Alex is the light of her life. • Alex is a very good baby, is sleeping through the night, and only cries if

he is hungry, upset because you took something from his like a toy, or needs his diapers changed.

• Alex has Medicaid, is getting services from WIC. • Sees Dr. Hall, is very healthy, and has all of his vaccinations. • There was a lot of violence in her home growing up and does not want

Alex to go through what she did, but wants to continue being a family with Anthony.

• Will be staying at Hands of Hope for now, but eventually wants to work out things with Anthony so that she, Alex, and Anthony can live together again.

• Not sure when she will return home. Alex was observed to be a chunky eight month old who is starting to get his teeth in. He was very interactive, smiling at his mother, and babbling. He sat on Ms. Lee’s lap during some of the visit, but also played on the floor. He sat on the floor, then crawled to a nearby plastic toy, grabbed it with both hands and started chewing on it. At one point during the visit Ms. Lee held both of Alex’s hands so he could stand and bounce. He was laughing and Ms. Lee was laughing and smiling back at him. Ms. Lee interacted with Alex constantly, talking to him. Whenever she would say his name he would turn around and look at her. When he crawled too far away from where she was sitting she would go and pick Alex up and bring him back.


Activity Stop

Now that you have completed the Present Danger Assessment and found present danger what is your next step?

Endorse:

Establish a Present Danger Plan CPI Pre-Service Curriculum | Lab 5 - TG 21

Based on the dynamics within this family how many Present Danger Plans are necessary?

Endorse:

• Two safety plans due to domestic violence • One present danger plan should be completed with the

father who is perpetrating the domestic violence and one present danger plan should be completed for the mother who is a survivor of the domestic violence.

Lab Activity 3: Present Danger Plan

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Materials: • Safety Methodology Practice Guidelines, All Staff: Safety Planning • PG: 18, Present Danger Planning Notes - Amelia Lee • PG: 22-23, Present Danger Planning Notes- Anthony Williams • PG: 19-21 and 24-26, Blank Present Danger Plans


• Instruct participants to read the notes in their participant guide labeled Present Danger Planning Notes- Amelia Lee. Next have participants split up into groups. Instruct each group to develop a Present Danger Plan with the survivor of the domestic violence, Amelia Lee, using their Practice Guidelines. Before they begin remind participants that they can choose to develop an in-home safety plan, an out-of-home safety plan, or a combination of an in-home and out-of home safety plan


based on their assessment of the level of intrusiveness needed to manage the danger threat.

• Allow 30 minutes for this activity.

• Debrief by having groups present the Present Danger Plans they came up with. When they are presenting make sure they followed the safety planning rules outlined in the Safety Practice Guidelines.

Present Danger Planning Notes - Amelia Lee

Continuation of visit with the mother, Amelia Lee: CPI related her concerns regarding Alex’s immediate safety due to the escalation of Mr. Williams’s violent and threatening behaviors. Ms. Lee said she is also concerned which is why she is at Helping Hands. CPI explained to her that due to the safety concerns a Present Danger Plan was necessary to keep Alex safe and control for Mr. Williams’s dangerous behaviors. She agreed to participate in the Present Danger Plan. Contacted Edna Peters with Family Success who agreed to be a safety service provider in the Present Danger Plan. She agreed to come to Helping Hands to assist in coming up with the plan. Contacted Helping Hands director, Meghan Woods and Ms. Lee’s counselor, Jennifer Dull, at Helping Hands. They both agreed to participate in the Present Danger Plan.

Part 2:

• Instruct participants to read the notes in their participant guides labeled Present Danger Planning Notes- Anthony Williams. In their same groups instruct groups to use their Practice Guidelines and develop a Present Danger Plan with the perpetrator of the domestic Violence, Anthony Williams. Again remind participants that they can choose to develop an in-home safety plan, an out-of-home safety plan, or a combination of an in-home and out-of home safety plan based on their assessment of the level of intrusiveness needed to manage the danger threat.

• Allow 30 minutes for this activity

• Debrief by having groups present the Present Danger Plans they came

up with. Ensure that all groups came up with a form of an out-of-home safety plan for Mr. Williams due to his refusal to participate in a safety


plan. Also make sure they followed the safety planning rules outlined in the Safety Practice Guidelines.

Present Danger Planning Notes- Anthony Williams

1/11/2015 at 2:00PM Attempted a home visit to 2367 Meramec St Tallahassee where the father Anthony Williams resides. Made a joint response with law enforcement due to Mr. Williams’s recent violent behaviors. There was no response to CPI’s knocking so she left a card and walked down the street to 2302 Meramec St where the paternal grandmother, Ann William’s resides. Ms. Williams was at home and reported her son, Anthony, should be home soon. She reported the following information:

• She heard Amelia left with Alex last night, but not sure what happened. Thinks Amelia should return with Alex to the home and work things out with Anthony.

• Knows that the parents argue sometimes, but denied any concerns of violence. Her son is not a violent person and she does not know why he was arrested for battery in November.

• She adopted Anthony and his brothers when he was still very young. • Growing up he was always well behaved and did well in school. • Anthony is very devoted to being a father. • She was happy when Amelia moved to Tallahassee to be closer to

Anthony. Ann moved to Tallahassee from Miami in 2013 and convinced Anthony to join her in 2014.

• He is a great father and is very attentive towards Alex. Alex smiles and lights up when his father walks into the room.

• Amelia is a great mother and is very responsive towards Alex. For example, when Alex cries she immediately picks him up and comforts him. It is clear she loves him.

• Alex is a very happy baby and barely ever cries. He is active and you have to watch him because he can crawl fast.

• Anthony is a hard worker and often has to work on weekends and late nights towing cars at his job.

After talking with Ms. Williams CPI noticed that there was a car at Mr. Williams home. CPI returned to Mr. Williams’s home and made contact with him, letting him know about the report and going over the Rights and


Responsibilities Pamphlet with him. Mr. Williams wanted to know why DCF was involved and CPI told him a report had been received with allegations of family violence threatens child. Mr. Williams provided the following information:

• Very upset about the report. DCF needs to stop harassing him and his family.

• He has never in his life been verbally or physically threatening towards Amelia.

• Does not know why Amelia left with his son last night. • Amelia did get upset and was yelling at him because he had bought a

video game. Then she called the police for no reason and took off with his son.

• His son was crying during the fight, but that was because Amelia was yelling so loud.

• Denied ever threatening to kill Amelia or ever pulling a knife on her. When confronted about the recording on Edna Peters phone he said that must have been someone else’s voice because it wasn’t him.

• If he had been threatening Amelia then the police would have arrested him last night.

• Later he claimed he did tell Amelia if anyone tried to take Alex from him he would have to do something and would even kill for “his son”. He denied he meant this as a threat towards Amelia and just wanted to let her know he is protective of his son.

• The incident in November where he was arrested was a misunderstanding by the police. He believes the charges will be dropped as no jury would find him guilty.

• Amelia and Alex need to come home now. He knows they are at some homeless shelter and that makes no sense when they have a perfectly nice home to live in with him.

• He works many additional hours at his job just so he can afford a home where Amelia and Alex could live.

• He was raised without a father and wants to be there 100% for his son • Always wanted kids and was very excited when Amelia told him she

was pregnant. • Loves his son and takes great care of him so makes no sense for DCF to

be at his home. • Amelia is a caring person and is also a great mother and takes good

care of “his son”.


• This is the first relationship for both parents. They normally get along great together and they are meant to be together

• CPI summarized concerns relating to prior DCF report, reports on his ongoing violent and threatening behaviors, and the threats made last night.

• CPI informed Mr. Williams there are concerns for Alex’s immediate safety due to the violence in the home.

• He expressed Alex is safe with him and Amelia and the things CPI is saying are all made up lies.

• He refused to participate in any safety planning. • Amelia and Alex need to come home and DCF need to stay out of their

business.

Activity Stop

Now that we have Present Danger Plans in place how would you proceed with this case?

Endorse:

Continue with information collection by obtaining additional information from both parents and collateral sources

Lab Activity 4: Information Collection and Impending Danger

Display Slide 5.9

Materials:


• Safety Methodology Practice Guidelines, Desk Reference: Information Collection Domains and Information Sufficiency

• Safety Methodology Practice Guidelines, Desk Reference: Danger Threats, Impending Danger Examples

• Safety Methodology Practice Guidelines, Child Protective Investigations: Determining If there Is Impending Danger

• PG: 27-34, Information Collection Notes • PG: 35, Write Your Domain • PG: 36-39, Blank FFA

Trainer Note: When pointing out the blank FFA inform the class they will be

using this FFA for the next four activities. Trainer Instructions:

• Have participants read the Information Collection notes and then split them up into four groups. Assign each group a domain(s) and have them fully write up their domain on the “Writing Domain” worksheet using all of the information they have been provided thus far on the Lee/Williams family. This write up should include a professional analysis of the domain they are assigned and groups should follow the guidance outlined in the Florida Safety Methodology Practice Guidelines.

• After they have fully written their domain(s) tell participants to use the

information they have written to determine if the danger threats associated with their assigned domain(s) are active in the Lee/Williams household or not.

• Trainer Note: Depending on your class you may choose to split up domains further. For example, you could assign one group Adult Functioning for Amelia Lee and one group Adult Functioning for Anthony Williams.

• Give participants 2 hours for this activity. Make sure to walk around the room to answer questions while the groups are working

• Debrief by having groups present their completed domains to the class. Make sure the completed domains fully incorporate the information they have been provided, that they are sufficient, and that they support their decision on whether or not the impending danger threats associated with their domains are active or not.


Information Collection Notes 1/12/2015 at 9:00AM Injunction Hearing in front of Judge Ricks. Both parents were present and both were provided with attorneys. The injunction was granted regarding Mr. Williams. Alex is to remain in Ms. Lee’s care with the safety plan in place. DCF requested supervised visitation at the Visitation Center due to a knife being involved in the last incident and this was granted. At no time is Ms. Lee able to supervise the visitation. CPI made contact with Mr. Williams after the hearing to set up visitation. Mr. Williams insisted that he wanted no visitation with Alex unless Alex is living in home with him. He does not care if Amelia is there or not, but Alex needs to be with him. CPI let him know that at this time he only has supervised visitation at the visitation center and if he decides he wants to visit he can call CPI to set it up. 1/12/2015 at 2:00PM Telephone call to Family Success worker, Edna Peters. She has already talked to Ms. Lee who is still willing to still cooperate with the safety service providers, but hopes that Anthony will do what he needs to do quickly so they can be a family again. Ms. Peters said that she is concerned about the violence, but thinks both Ms. Lee and Mr. Williams are very attentive parents. She has seen both interact with Alex and they both talk to him, play with him, and quickly respond to him. Mr. Williams got down on the floor to play with Alex during her first visit. Whenever Alex cries Ms. Lee immediately turns her attention to him and tries to fix whatever is wrong. 1/13/2015 at 5:00PM Called Helping Hands and spoke to staff member, Meghan Woods. Ms. Lee and Alex are still staying at Helping Hands and are doing well. 1/14/2015 at 10:00AM Received information from Tallahassee Police Department regarding police reports on Ms. Lee and Mr. Williams. They have received three calls:

• November 2, 2014 they responded to the residence after getting a call from an anonymous neighbor about an altercation between Ms. Lee and Mr. Williams. When law enforcement arrived Ms. Lee came running up to the police car appearing distraught and fearful stating “he hit me again”. When the officer was in the home he observed the home to be in such a state of disarray it appeared that there had been many items thrown and Ms. Lee had a mark on her arm from where a


wipes container hit her. Mr. Williams was arrested • December 9 2014 they responded to the residence after receiving a

call from an anonymous neighbor stating that they could hear screaming from the home. When law enforcement arrived Ms. Lee stated she was concerned for Alex’s safety. She reported she attempted to leave the residence with Alex due to the arguing. When she made the attempt Mr. Williams threatened to drive his truck into the lake behind their home with Alex in it if she continued trying to leave. When police responded Mr. Williams told them he was just joking. No one was arrested and Ms. Lee and Alex went to the paternal grandmother’s home for the night.

• January 10 2015 they responded after a phone call from Ms. Lee stating she was trying to leave the residence. When they arrived Ms. Lee would not say what happened, but stated she wanted to leave the residence and asked for the police to drive her and Alex to Helping Hands.

1/14/2015 at 2:00PM Made contact with the mother, Amelia Lee and her child, Alex Williams at Helping Hands. Ms. Lee conveyed the following information:

• Things going well at Helping Hands. Has been a challenge to live with so many other people and wants to move on with her life by getting a more permanent place as soon as possible

• Has been following the safety plan and has not had any in person contact with Mr. Williams as she always has Alex and that would be breaking the safety plan. Has been talking to Mr. Williams some on the phone

• He really wants her to come home with Alex, but she is not going to because she knows this breaks the safety plan

• Met Anthony her sophomore year in high school and immediately knew she liked him. He was her first boyfriend and the only relationship she has had

• Although the relationship with her and Mr. Williams is not always good sometimes it is her fault.

• She is willing to stand up for herself, but if she would not talk quite so much he wouldn’t be so angry and say mean things to her

• They often fight over Anthony spending money on things other than Alex and their bills.


• They also argue because Anthony works long hours and then will go out and hang out with his friends or play basketball instead of coming home to her and Alex.

• Dropped out of High School in 10th grade because she was suspended so many times for being disrespectful and defiant. She also got caught with marijuana that she was holding for a friend.

• She tried marijuana once, but didn’t like the way it made her feel. Never used any other drugs

• Was hanging around a bad crowd in high school that got her in a lot of trouble, but she realized this after she dropped out of school and stopped hanging with them.

• After high school she got her GED and began to work as a cashier at a gas station

• Continued doing this until she moved to Tallahassee to be with Mr. Williams

• After moving here was going to look go back to school to become a dental hygienist, but Anthony did not want his son in daycare so he told her to just stay home to take care of Alex.

• Enjoys being a stay at home mother, but also wants to be able to support herself so is going to look into going back to school.

• Her childhood wasn’t always a happy time. • Her father left when she was very young and she has had no real

contact with him since then. • Her mother remarried soon after her father left and her step-father

was very abusive towards her mother. They were always fighting verbally and there were multiple times her step-father attacked her mother.

• Her mother left a couple of times, but would return when her step-father would call and say sorry and that he loved her.

• She and her siblings were removed after she intervened during a fight between her mom and step-father. Her step-father jacked her up on the wall and choked her.

• Regrets intervening because if she had stayed in her room she would not have been removed.

• Lived with Aunt during this time, but did not get along well with her Aunt. She was happy when her mother got her back a year later.

• Her mother divorced step-father last year, but the fights continued


until they got divorced. • She was the oldest of her siblings by four years so she has a lot of

parenting experience she attained watching over them. • As a teenager she was responsible for cooking dinner, getting them

ready for school and helping them with homework. • Although she was a “bad kid” and really defiant and disrespectful to

everyone around her she has grown out of that. Life is much easier when you are kind an respectful to others.

• Never really was disciplined as a child. Does not know if discipline would have worked on her since she was so disrespectful.

• Does not know how she is going to discipline Alex. She does not know if she will be able to discipline him as she doesn’t like to see him upset.

• Has not talked to Anthony about how he plans to discipline Alex. • Thinks it is important for Alex to know the difference between right

and wrong, but does not know what method she will use to teach him this.

• Denied any mental health issues or substance issues for her or Anthony.

• Whenever she is stressed she takes long walks as this calms her down and brings peace. Anthony does the same thing when he is stressed or upset which sometimes helps him calm down.

• When asked about the incident where police were called in December she said that Mr. Williams did threaten to drive his truck into the lake with Alex in it.

• At the time she was scared and left for a couple of days with Alex, but now she does not believe that Anthony was serious as he would never hurt Alex or her.

• Looking back she does not think that Mr. Williams meant it either when he threatened to kill her. He was just upset and talking, it wasn’t a serious threat.

• CPI let her know she also pulled the police report for the incident in December where it stated she appeared fearful and there were many things thrown around the home, aside from just the wipes container that hit her.

• Ms. Lee said police lie and all Anthony did was accidently drop the wipes container on her.

• Anthony is a great dad and Alex is very attached to him. He smiles and


starts jabbering as soon as Anthony comes home. • Anthony doesn’t really feed or change Alex’s diapers as she does this,

but Anthony will get on the floor and play with Alex. During the visit Alex was very active and crawled around the room. Ms. Lee had to get up and grab him multiple times when he left her line of sight. When he started getting fussy she pulled out some crackers as a snack and gave Alex one at a time. She tried to encourage him to say words by saying mama slowly and then saying cracker every time she gave him one. While she was holding Alex in her lap he pulled her hair. She reacted by loudly saying ouch causing Alex to begin crying. She immediately put her hair back in his hand and told him it was okay. She said that Alex has not been sleeping as well and thinks this is because he is not used to being around so many people. 1/15/2015 at 6:30PM Made contact with the father, Anthony Williams, at CPI’s office. He reported the following:

• Wants to see Alex, but he refuses to be supervised as he is not a threat to his son and has done nothing wrong.

• Has only been in one relationship and that was with Amelia. They have been together for four years.

• Due to all of the arguing and the lies Amelia has told about what occurred on January 10 he is no longer interested in a relationship with her, but wants her to move back to his home with Alex so Alex can be around both parents.

• He is not interested in being able to see Alex during short visitation periods. If he can’t see him 100 percent of the time then he does not want to see him at all.

• When it was pointed out that he was not seeing him 100 percent of the time before removal due to his work schedule and hanging out with friends he said he is not going to see his son until he is back in his custody where he should be.

• The only thing that stresses him out is Amelia and he deals with that by walking to cool off after an argument or not coming home after work.

• They wouldn’t have issues if she would stop getting on him about how he is spending the money he makes.

• She also gets upset when he goes out with his friends after work to play basketball or hang out instead of coming home to her and Alex.

• When asked about the police report in December where he threatened


to drive his truck into the lake with Alex in it he said “the baby is still here and the truck is still here so obviously I didn’t drive it into a lake.”

• There was no serious threat and his words were taken out of context. • What he meant was if anyone was chasing after him in a car trying to

take his son from him he would do whatever he needed to do, even if it meant driving into a lake.

• He said the police knew he wasn’t serious which is why they didn’t arrest him when they arrived on scene.

• He just wants to protect his son and he can’t do that if Amelia takes Alex away from him.

• He was removed from his mother at birth, but doesn’t know why. • Was adopted by his foster mother, Ann Williams. • His adoptive mother was very loving and caring and he plans to model

most of his parenting off of what she did No violence, drug, or alcohol in his house growing up.

• Graduated from High School. Before finding out Amelia was pregnant he was planning to go to get a basketball scholarship to college, but he gave up those dreams to work full time so he could financially care for his family.

• Life would be easier if he had gone to college, but he cares more about his family than getting a degree right now.

• When growing up he lost privileges when he got in trouble, but he never really got in trouble so he rarely needed to be disciplined.

• Right now Alex is too young to discipline. Has no idea how Amelia or him plan to discipline Alex or what age they will start to use discipline

• Alex is a very happy baby. • He was able to describe the developmental milestones Alex has made

so far, including crawling and sitting up on his own, and said he can’t wait until Alex starts to talk.

• He loves making a sound and getting Alex to repeat the same sound. • Denied any mental health or drug issues for him or Amelia. • Believes since he is the one working he should be the one managing

the money. When Amelia asks he gives her money for things like grocery’s and baby supplies.

• They can only afford one phone. • Does let Amelia use it, but he doesn’t want her using all of the minutes

on it so he only allows her to use it sometimes and does not leave it


with her when he goes to work. • He denied that he has limited her access to her friends and family in

Miami, if she wanted to talk to them she just needed to ask and if they had enough minutes he would let her.

• Mr. Williams denied that Amelia had ever spent their money unwisely or used an abundance of minutes on the cell phone, but said that this is because he is keeping track of it.

• Amelia is a very caring mother and she takes great care of Alex. • Amelia does most of the daily care for Alex such as changing diapers,

feeding, and getting up in the middle of the night when needed. • He does play with Alex a lot and will change diapers if he has to. • He cares a lot for Alex and wants him to have a good happy life. • He denied that any threats he has made have effected Alex. He said he

was just joking and even if he wasn’t Alex does not understand what he is saying anyway.

• When CPI reminded him Alex was crying during the last altercation in January he said babies cry sometimes.

• Regarding visitation Mr. Williams stated that CPI could set it up, but he was not visiting his son until he was back under his roof.

1/16/2015 at 4:50PM Telephone call from Edna Peters. She has continued to make daily contact to check on Amelia Lee and Alex. She has seen them twice this week and has called them every day. Ms. Lee has been downplaying the past violent behaviors Mr. Williams had exhibited, but Ms. Peters believes the safety plan is still working. 1/17/2015 at 11:30AM Telephone call to Helping Hands staff, Jennifer Dull. Ms. Lee continues to stay with Alex at the shelter. They are doing well and there have been no issues. Spoke with Amelia Lee, mother. She reported things are going well and that she has not spoken to Anthony since the last time she saw CPI. She said that Ms. Peters has been contacting her daily to check on her and Alex and everything is going fine at Helping Hands. She is going to go on Monday to look at possible daycares to put Alex in as she is planning to find a job. 1/19/2015 at 3:30 Telephone call to Happy Children Pediatrics where Alex is a patient of Dr. Hall’s. Nurse Judy Pendz reported Alex has been brought by his mother,


Amelia Lee to all of his scheduled appointments. He is meeting all of his developmental milestones and has received all of his needed immunizations. 1/19/2015 at 4:00PM Telephone call to maternal grandmother, Liz Lee, at (305)567-4980. She reported the following:

• Has not met her grandson Alex yet. Has talked to Amelia a little bit, but Amelia does not call often and does not have a phone of her own to be contacted on.

• Amelia said Anthony keeps the phone because he doesn’t want Amelia using up all the minutes.

• This does not make sense to her as Amelia doesn’t have a history of talking excessively on the phone.

• Before moving up to Tallahassee Amelia lived with her and they were very close so it has been hard not to talk to her frequently.

• Has seen Amelia and Anthony together in the past and seemed to get along well.

• Has never seen them argue and Anthony has never become violent or threatening towards Amelia in her presence.

• Amelia did call her last week and told her that Anthony had threatened to kill her.

• Amelia saw domestic violence between her ex-husband and her growing up.

• Does not want Amelia and Alex in that situation and has told her daughter she will do whatever she can to help.

• Knows Amelia is a great parent because she is a very caring and loving person.

• Even though Alex is her first child she was always very helpful with her siblings including helping them dress, feeding them, and babysitting them.

• In her teenage years Amelia did have an attitude towards adults a lot, but has calmed down since she got past the teenage years.

• Amelia did get arrested once as a juvenile after getting caught with pot, but does not believe she ever had an issue with drugs.

• She was hanging out with a bad friend group in high school and that’s when she got caught with the pot.

• Amelia stopped hanging out with those friends after dropping out of High School.


• Is concerned about Amelia’s and Alex’s safety right now based on what she has heard about Anthony’s behaviors.

1/19/2015 at 5:15PM Field visit to speak with neighbors surrounding the family home at 2367 Meramec St. Lucas Green resides at 2365 Meramec St. He states the neighborhood is quiet except for the family living at 2367. They are always fighting and he has seen the male yelling at the female multiple times. He called the police once sometime before Christmas because the yelling was so bad and he was concerned things were going to turn physical. Other than that he does not really speak with his neighbors. Attempted to speak with neighbors at 2363 and 2362 Meramec St, but no one answered the door. 1/21/2015 at 5:40PM Telephone call to Helping Hands staff, Meghan Woods. Ms. Lee is still staying at Helping Hands with Alex. They are doing well and there have been no issues. Spoke with Amelia Lee, mother. She reported things are fine. Has not started looking for a daycare yet or job, but she is planning to start soon. Does not need anything else at this time. Has not spoken with Antony at all recently.


Activity Stop

Since we have assessed that there is impending danger active within this household is this enough information to assess Alex as being unsafe?

Endorse:

No, you must first assess the Caregivers Protective Capacities for both Amelia Lee and Anthony Williams before assessing that Alex is unsafe.

What categories are the caregiver protective capacities split up into? When assessing the capacities why is it important to know which category you are assessing?

Endorse:

• Behavioral, Cognitive, and Emotional

If you are assessing behavioral then it is about how the CPI Pre-Service Curriculum | Lab 5 - TG 45

person acts, cognitive is about how they think, and emotional is about how they feel. If you are assessing a behavioral capacity it should not matter how the caregiver thinks, but whether or not they can act on their knowledge.

Lab Activity 5: Assessing Caregiver Protective Capacities

Display Slide 5.10

Materials:

• Safety Methodology Practice Guidelines, Desk Reference Guide: Caregiver Protective Capacities

• Safety Methodology Practice Guidelines, All Staff: Assess Caregiver Protective Capacities

• PG: 36-39, Blank FFA from previous activity, Parent/Legal Guardian Protective Capacities Analysis


• Have participants assess the Caregiver Protective Capacities for both the mother, Amelia Lee and the father, Anthony Williams using the information in the Family Functioning Assessment

• Allow the participants 30 minutes to complete this activity.

• Debrief by going through each Caregiver Protective Capacity and

coming to an agreement on whether or not the parent possesses the capacity. When going through the capacities make sure that the class understands the difference between the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional capacities.


Trainer Note: When debriefing, if you choose, you can place the caregiver protective capacities on a whiteboard or flip chart and mark the classes answer.

Lee/Williams Caregiver Protective Capacities Answer Key

Behavioral Protective Capacities

Amelia Lee Anthony Williams

Controls Impulses Yes No Takes Action Yes Yes Sets Aside Own Needs for Child Yes No Demonstrates Adequate Skills Yes No Adaptive as a Parent/Legal Guardian

No No

History of Protective No No Cognitive Protective Capacities Is Self-Aware No No Is Intellectually Able Yes Yes Recognizes Threats No No Recognizes Child’s Needs Yes No Understands Protective Role No No Plans and Articulates Plans for Protection

No No

Emotional Protective Capacities Meets Own Emotional Needs No No Is Resilient No No Is Tolerant Yes No Is Stable No No Expresses Love, Empathy, Sensitivity to the Child

Yes Yes

Is Positively Attached with child No No Is Aligned and Supports the child

No No

Activity Stop

You have found that there is Impending Danger. Based on this and the Caregiver Protective Capacities assessment you completed do you believe Alex is safe or unsafe within this household?


Endorse:

Unsafe

Since Alex was found to be unsafe a safety plan is needed. How will you determine if an in-home or out-of-home safety plan should be put in place?

Endorse:

The Safety Analysis Criteria

Lab Activity 6: Safety Analysis and Safety Planning

Display Slide 5.11

Materials: • Safety Methodology Practice Guidelines, All Staff: Safety Planning • Safety Methodology Practice Guidelines, Desk Reference: Safety Plan

Sufficiency Criteria • PG: 40, Safety Analysis Narrative • PG: 36-39, Blank FFA, In-Home Safety Analysis and Planning • PG: 41-42, Safety Planning Narrative • PG: 43-45 and 46-48, Blank Safety Plans


• Instruct participants to read the Safety Planning Narrative and then complete the Safety Analysis and Planning section of their FFA based on the information they have received. Remind participants if any of the safety analysis criteria are answered with no then they need to write


the conditions of return for Alex.

• Allow 30 minutes for this activity.

• Debrief as a large group. Ensure participants answered the safety analysis criteria correctly and that their Conditions of Return statements are not case plan tasks, but rather what conditions need to look like for an in-home safety plan to be able to manage the danger within the home.

Safety Analysis Narrative 1/23/2015 at 3:00PM Telephone call from Edna Peters. She went to Helping Hands this morning to see Amelia Lee and Alex, but they were not there. She went by the father’s home and saw Ms. Lee walking out of the front door with Alex. She approached Ms. Lee who admitted that she has been seeing Anthony with Alex. Ms. Peters is currently at Helping Hands with Alex and Ms. Lee. 1/23/2015 at 4:00PM Field visit to Helping Hands Shelter. Made contact with Meghan Woods, program director. She stated that Amelia and Alex have been gone a lot the last couple of days, but Amelia said it was because she was looking for a job and daycare. Made contact with Amelia Lee and Alex Williams. Alex was sleeping in his pack-n-play during most of the visit. CPI asked Amelia if she had been having contact with Anthony. She admitted that since Tuesday 1/20 she has been having daily contact with Anthony and she has been bringing Alex with her. She does not think that it is fair that Anthony does not get to see his son without supervision as Anthony would never hurt Alex. She said that all of this has been blown out of proportion and she would never have told anyone that Anthony was threatening her if she knew this is what would have happened. She just wants to be a family with Anthony and Alex. CPI reminded her of threats and violent actions Anthony had taken against her in the presence of Alex, but she said she does not think that Anthony was serious when making threats and she does not believe he will become violent towards her again. While still at Helping Hands CPI called the father, Anthony Williams, to ask him about the visits between Alex, him, and Amelia. He stated that he is at work and does not have time to talk to CPI right now. Before hanging up he said that DCF is not going to destroy his family and if Amelia chose to bring Alex to see him that is her choice not DCF’s to make.


Part 2:

• Instruct participants to read the Safety Planning Narrative and then split up into groups to create safety plans that will control for the Impending Danger within this household. Remind the class that normally the safety plan would be completed during a safety plan conference with the family.

• Allow 30 minutes for this activity. • Debrief as a large group. Ensure that the safety plans created control

for the impending danger and that groups understand why Alex could not be placed with his paternal grandmother.

Trainer Note: This is a good place to discuss what the local protocol in your area is regarding contacting the CBC when a foster placement is needed.


Lee Safety Planning

Safety Plan Narrative

1/23/2015 at 4:30 PM While still at Helping Hands with Amelia Lee and Alex Williams CPI called to staff case with her supervisor, Charles Newton. Went through the safety analysis questions. Answered no to three of the safety analysis criteria and based on this an out of home safety plan decided to pursue 1/23/2015 at 4:40 PM Called DCF Attorney Amy Laws and let her know about the change in circumstances and the need for a removal from the parents. Ms. Laws stated the Shelter Hearing would take place in the morning. CPI made contact with Ms. Lee and let her know about the removal. She was upset and said she wanted Alex to go with his paternal or maternal grandmother. She does not have any other family or friends that Alex could go live with. 1/23/2015 at 4:50 PM Telephone call to Mr. Williams regarding the shelter hearing tomorrow. He was also very upset and said DCF is continuing to destroy his family. He would like Alex placed with his paternal grandmother. He does not have any other family or friends that Alex could go live with. 1/23/2015 at 5:00PM Telephone call to Edna Peters with Family Success to let her know about the removal. She stated that she would be willing to supervise the mother’s visitation with Alex. 1/23/2015 at 5:20PM Telephone call to maternal grandmother, Liz Lee, at (305)567-4980, regarding placement of her grandson, Alex Williams. She does not have the time or ability to care for Alex due to his young age at this time. 1/23/2015 at 5:30PM Telephone call to Ann Williams, Paternal Grandmother, at 850-643-0987 to speak with her about taking placement of her grandson, Alex. She stated that DCF has no reason to remove Alex in the first place as he is fine with his parents and she does not understand why this is happening. She heard that Mr. Williams has supervised visitation and she thinks that is ridiculous as he is not a threat to Alex. CPI attempted to explain the concerns regarding the violent and threatening behaviors exhibited by Anthony Williams, but Ms.


Williams continued to deny that anything was wrong. She said it is all lies. She would like placement of her grandson. 1/23/2015 at 6:00 PM Telephone call to CPIS Charles Newton regarding placing Alex with his Paternal Grandmother, Ann Williams. CPI related what Ms. Williams told her. Although Ms. Williams wants placement CPI does not believe she recognizes the danger threat as being an issue. CPI does not think Ms. Williams will abide by a safety plan because she strongly disagrees with the removal and the fact that Mr. Williams has supervised visitation. CPIS Charles Newton agreed and the decision was made not to place Alex with Ms. Williams as she is not aligned with DCF and she is not able to protect Alex from the danger threat. Since there are no other known relative or non-relatives that are able to take placement of Alex he will be placed in foster care.


Safety Plan – Anthony Williams


Safety Plan – Amelia Lee


Activity Stop

We have determined Alex is unsafe which means the family will receive ongoing Case Management Services. A Risk Assessment still needs to be completed before closing your investigation.


Lab Activity 7: Risk Assessment

Display Slide 5.12

Materials:

• Structured Decision Making Guide (Located in CPI Participant Guide, Module 7 page 17-34)

• PG: 49-50, Blank Risk Assessment


• Split participants into groups and have them complete the Risk Assessment. Ensure participants remember to use the SDM Guide to reference definitions while completing the assessment.

• Allow the participants 30 minutes to complete this activity.

• Debrief by going through Risk Assessment to make sure each group

came up with the correct answers.


Activity STOP

Before closing your investigation you must first transfer the family to case management services. What document can you use to ensure you have sufficient information before requesting a Case Transfer Staffing?

Endorse:

The Sufficient Information for Case Transfer document located in the Florida Safety Methodology Practice Guidelines Desk Reference Guide.

Display Slide 5.13


Congratulations! You have successfully used what you have learned

to walk through the investigation process!


CPI Practice Application Lab 5: Putting It All...

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