Office of Children, Youth & Families Division of Child Welfare

Transcription

1 Office of Children, Youth & Families Division of Child Welfare Child Protection in Colorado and the Intersections with Early Intervention *** State Preschool Special Education & Child Find Meeting March 7, 2014 Presented by Lorendia Schmidt, CAPTA Administrator (o) (c) After today s workshop Have basic information about child protection in Colorado Understand Colorado s child protection continuum of care Understand when child protection refers to Early Intervention Explore current collaboration between Early Intervention and Child Welfare: What works well? What needs improvement? Next steps for collaboration 2 1

2 Behind the Scenes of Child Protection State Statute & Rules Terminology Deciding to Assess Assessment Process Results of an Assessment 3 Common Terminology Referral Assessment (aka Investigation) Intake Case On-Going CAN (Child Abuse & Neglect) RP (Reporting Party) PRAN (Person Responsible for Abuse or Neglect) DR (Differential Response) RED Team (Read Evaluate Direct) 4 2

3 The Basis for Invovlement Colorado Children s Code (Title 19) State statutes defining abuse, neglect, mandated reporters, composition of the Child Protection Team, and legal requirements. The WHAT! Volume VII Rules and regulations for assessing for child abuse and neglect, having an ongoing dependency and neglect case, etc. The HOW! 5 Deciding to Assess County enters all referrals into statewide database (Trails) RED Team Process: Read Evaluate Direct Team decision-making process to determine whether or not the referral meets the criteria for further assessment Review previous involvement with child protection Screen-Out: referral does not meet criteria for further assessment Assignment for Assessment: referral meets criteria Specific allegations of child abuse/neglect Provides info to locate child Victim is under the age of 18 Allegations have not been previously assessed 6 3

4 The Assessment Face-to-Face interview or observation of the child out of the presence of the alleged PRAN Identify all children, caregivers and/or other people in the home and interview as appropriate Interview alleged PRAN Completed in conjunction with law enforcement when necessary Complete the Safety Assessment & Risk Assessment Safety Assessment: 15 standardized safety concerns, protective capabilities of the caregivers, general parenting practices, guides workers to develop safety plan OR remove the child Risk Assessment: evaluates risk of future child abuse/neglect, aids in determining need for case services 7 Conclusion of the Assessment Findings Founded: preponderance of evidence that incident of child abuse/neglect occurred Inconclusive: some likelihood that abuse/neglect occurred, but evidence was not obtained to make a founded report Unfounded: there is clear evidence that incident of abuse/neglect did not occur Next Steps Close after assessment Referral for communitybased services File a D&N Open a voluntary case so that child protection can provide services 8 4

5 So what is DR? The option of two responses High-Risk Assessment (HRA) Investigative response for high risk cases (sexual abuse, egregious/severe child abuse/neglect, institutional abuse) Determination of a PRAN Determine victim A finding is made Family Assessment Response (FAR) Low to moderate risk Family engagement Discuss safety concerns and future risk with family and extended support network Solution-focused No findings are made Services provided on a voluntary basis 9 Continuum of Care Prevention Colorado Community Response (Office of Early Childhood) SafeCare (Division of Child Welfare) Nurse Family Partnership (Division of Child Welfare) Intervention Assessment and referral to community services Differential Response Cases Services (Out-of-home placement, Family preservation, Kinship Care) Post-Adoption Services 10 5

6 Referrals to Early Intervention Referrals from Prevention Activities Optional Community specific programs/activities Referrals from HRA or FAR Assessment Optional Based on concerns seen by family or child protection worker CAPTA referrals Required by Federal Law and State Statue All children under the age of 5 with founded cases of child abuse/neglect Under age three: CCBs Over three, under five: Child Find, physicians, CCBs, etc. 11 Who are these families? 30% primary caregiver under the age of 25 40% have one caregiver 30% have three or more children 30% of caregivers have a history of abuse 54% of families have substance abuse concerns 30% have poverty issues 50% have domestic violence concerns 55% have mental health concerns All data taken from CSU s Applied Research in Child Welfare2011 report found here:

7 Family s Perspective Feelings of powerlessness, hopelessness, loneliness Community stigma May be facing criminal charges in addition to child welfare involvement Families may be separated Uncertainty Feelings of shame, grief Quickly overwhelmed 13 Intersections An area of growth and improvement for Colorado Child welfare is required to refer to Early Intervention Early Intervention has it s own requirements for responding to referrals Early Intervention workers are mandated reporters of child abuse/neglect Early Intervention services could decrease the need for child welfare involvement 14 7

8 Current Collaboration What works well? What needs improvement? Next Steps? 15 8