Mountains and Plains Child Welfare Implementation CenterMaria Scannapieco, Ph.D.

Professor & DirectorCenter for Child Welfare

UTA SSWNational Resource Center Family–Centered Practice and

Permanency Planning Gary Mallon, Ph.D.Executive Director

April 2009

Approach to Practice FrameworkApproach to practice supported by the Children’s

Bureau, which includes:Child focused Family-centeredIndividualized to meet specific needs of the children

and familiesEnhanced to strengthen parental capacityCommunity-basedCulturally responsiveOutcome orientedCollaborative(National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organization Improvement, 2008)

Approach to PracticeA conceptual map and organizational

ideology that promotes safety, permanency, and well-being of children, youth and families

Explains how an agency will work internally and with partners, family members, and others in the child welfare system

Clear, written explanation of how an agency successfully functions

Approach to PracticeMakes clear the link connecting the agency’s

policy, practice, training, supervision, and quality assurance with its mission.

Guide to daily interactions among workers, children, families, stakeholders, and community partners working together to achieve defined outcomes

Approach to Practice ElementsAgency mission, vision, and valuesPractice principlesStandards of professional practiceStrategies, methods, and tools to integrate all

the above elements

Approach to Practice Examples Utah Child and Family Services:

Approach to Practice (www.hsdcfs.utah.gov)Quality outcomes are most often realized

when children and families are engaged with a service organization offering an array of services by qualified and committed staff. It is the aim of our approach to practice to create such an environment - staffed by the best child welfare professionals in the nation

Approach to Practice ExamplesApproach to Practice PrinciplesThe Approach to Practice Development Team worked hard

to incorporate the suggestions that came from our staff and our community partners into the following set of principles.

Principle One - Protection. Children's safety is paramount; children and adults have a right to live free from abuse.

Principle Two - Development. Children and families need consistent nurturing in a healthy environment to achieve their developmental potential.

Principle Three - Permanency. All children need and are entitled to enduring relationships that provide a family, stability, belonging, and a sense of self that connects children to their past, present, and future.

Approach to Practice ExamplesPrinciple Four - Cultural Responsiveness. Children

and families are to be understood within the context of their own family rules, traditions, history, and culture.

Principle Five - Partnership. The entire community shares the responsibility to create an environment that helps families raise children to their fullest potential.

Principle Six - Organizational Competence. Committed, qualified, trained, and skilled staff, supported by an effectively structured organization, helps ensure positive outcomes for children and families.

Principle Seven - Professional Competence. Children and families need a relationship with an accepting, concerned, empathetic worker who can confront difficult issues and effectively assist them in their process toward positive change.

Approach to Practice ExamplesApproach to Practice Skills DevelopmentA set of key practice skills has been formulated from the

Approach to Practice Principles to "Put Our Values Into Action." The training on the approach to practice will provide for the development of these practice skills. These basic skills are:

Engaging. The skill of effectively establishing a relationship with children, parents, and essential individuals for the purpose of sustaining the work that is to be accomplished together.

Teaming. The skill of assembling a group to work with children and families, becoming a member of an established group, or leading a group may all be necessary for success in bringing needed resources to the critical issues of children and families. Child welfare is a community effort and requires a team.

Approach to Practice Examples Assessing. The skill of obtaining information about the salient events that

brought the children and families into our services and the underlying causes bringing about their situations. This discovery process looks for the issues to be addressed and the strengths within the children and families to address these issues. Here we are determining the capability, willingness, and availability of resources for achieving safety, permanence, and well-being for children, youth and families.

Planning. The skill necessary to tailor the planning process uniquely to each child and family is crucial. Assessment will overlap into this area. This includes the design of incremental steps that move children and families from where they are to a better level of functioning. Service planning requires the planning cycle of assessing circumstances and resources, making decisions on directions to take, evaluating the effectiveness of the plan, reworking the plan as needed, celebrating successes, and facing consequences in response to lack of improvement.

Intervening. The skill to intercede with actions that will decrease risk, provide for safety, promote permanence, and establish well-being. These skills continue to be gathered throughout the life of the professional child welfare worker and may range from finding housing to changing a parent's pattern of thinking about their child.

Mountain and Plains Approach to Practice Self-AssessmentWhat is your Agency’s “mission statement”?How do you ensure that all levels of staff in

the organization know the Agency’s mission statement?

What is your Agency’s vision?How do you ensure that all levels of staff in

the organization know the Agency’s vision?

Mountain and Plains Approach to Practice Self-Assessment

Mountain and Plains Approach to Practice Self-Assessment

Mountain and Plains Approach to Practice Self-AssessmentWhat efforts has the Agency made to ensure

that stakeholders and community members are aware of your approach to practice?

What are the strengths of your approach to practice?

What areas of your approach to practice have been most difficult to implement or sustain in your agency? What areas need improvement?

What are the barriers that prevent achieving improvement in the approach to practice?

Questions ?Suggestions?