Effective Family Engagement for Positive Outcomes

1. Alternative Response in CPS Baltimore, Maryland September 5, 2014 Family Engagement Breakout Presentation Melissa Proctor, MSW, LCSW Family Engagement Liaison Casey Family Programs mproctor@casey.org

2. Factors in Goal Achievement Hubble, M., Duncan, B., & Miller, S. (1999). The Heart and Soul of Change. Washington, D.C.: APA Press

3. Family Engagement Research • Wampold and Bhati (2004) have claimed that a positive therapeutic relationship explains as much as 60% of a treatment’s success.

4. Family Engagement Research Multiple studies show that effective family engagement; -reduces chances that parents will lose custody of their children, -hastens family reunification, -increases the likelihood that parents will receive the services they need, and, -results in fewer subsequent reports of child maltreatment. **from National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections

5. Family Engagement Research • What does research tell us about the importance of building relationships? It says: • The best predictor of positive outcomes for children in child protection cases is relationships. • Relationship between the worker and other professionals (foster parents, therapists, etc) and the family. • Relationships between professionals. • Child safety is compromised when the various professionals are not “on the same page”. • **from Scott County MN Signs of Safety presentation

6. Tonier Cain video • When you think about good family engagement – what sticks out to you in this video – opportunities, missed opportunities, successes, etc. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFPAq7Bszac • Full 55 minute video available at healingneen.com. Watch it!!

7. KEY PRACTICE – relationship building • WORKER ATTRIBUTES/BEHAVIORS - • Be non-judgmental • Treat the family as experts • Be creative and open-minded with interventions/services • Be knowledgeable and helpful with resources

8. KEY PRACTICE – relationship building • WORKER ATTRIBUTES/BEHAVIORS – • Give them time • Be straight-forward and transparent • Be a real person • Advocate and educate • Believe in the parent! Lend your ego!

9. Rise Magazine video • Describe what worker traits you believe might make a difference in your relationship with these specific parents and how that might, in the best case scenario, positively impact the children. • Discuss how AR (vs. investigation) might have impacted these cases differently. • Point out specific things you notice about one of these parent’s service providers that you feel is excellent family engagement and explain why.

10. Video link http://www.risemagazine.org/featured_stories/I_hope_my_judge_sees_the_good_in_me.html?utm_source=Rise+August+21+2014&utm_campaign=RISE+8%2F21%2F2014&utm_medium=email

11. Other Family Engagement Approaches KEY PRACTICE – relationship building - Motivational Interviewing and Solution-Focused Questions - Safety Organized Practice tools – 3 Columns, 3 Houses, Safety House KEY PRACTICE – building safety and support networks • Family Finding & Engagement– Seneca search • Family Safety Circle – Safety Organized Practice • Parent Partners and Parent Support Groups KEY PRACTICE – shared decision-making • Family Group Conferencing • Icebreaker Meetings

12. KEY PRACTICE – relationship building - MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING - P.A.C.E.- • Partnership •  working together with mutual respect • Acceptance •  absolute worth, accurate empathy, support autonomy, • affirm with attention, and verbal valuing • Compassion •  looking out for families’ best interests • Evocation •  elicit ideas and potential plans from families instead of providing them • **from Early Head Start National Resource Center

13. KEY PRACTICE – relationship building - MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING – O.A.R.S - • OARS: • • Open-ended questions • (but not too many in a row) • • Affirmations • (labeled praise for adults, especially around • past successes, noticing strengths) • • Reflections • (active listening) • • Summaries • (long, organized reflections) • **from Early Head Start National Resource Center

14. KEY PRACTICE – relationship building • SOLUTION-FOCUSED QUESTIONS – • Miracle Questions • Exception Questions • Coping Questions • Scaling Questions

15. Safety Organized Practice – 3 Columns

16. Safety Organized Practice – 3 Houses

17. Safety Organized Practice – Tia’s 3 Houses

18. Safety Organized Practice – Safety House Overview: This is your house in the future where you always feel safe. Inner circle: Who lives with you in this house and what do you want everyone in your safety house to do to make sure that you are always safe? Outer circle around the house: Who do you want to come visit and when they come to visit, what do you want them to do to help make sure you are safe? Red circle to the side: Who shouldn‘t be allowed in? The roof: What kind of rules will a house like this need to make sure you always feel safe? The path: If the beginning of the path means that you are feeling really worried that (known danger) would happen again and the end of the path is where your Safety House exists and you’re not feeling worried at all, where are you now? What do adults need to do so you could be one step closer to this house?

19. Rules of the SAFETY HOUSE Who lives in my Safety House (and what do they need to do to help keep me safe)? Who do I want to visit? And what do they need to do to help keep me safe? Safety Path (scaling) Who don’t I feel safe with?

20. Created by 10-year-old “Zoe” and Sonja Parker as part of planning for Zoe’s reunification.

21. KEY PRACTICE – Building Safety & Support Networks • Family Finding & Engagement– Seneca search • Family Safety Circle – Safety Organized Practice • Parent Partners and Parent Support Groups

22. KEY PRACTICE – Building Safety & Support Networks Family finding – often involves submitting searches to locate the extended family members, who have become distanced from the parents and children, to engage them around providing safety and support.

23. KEY PRACTICE – Building Safety & Support Networks • Safety Networks: • A good network has 8-10 members, working together to assure child safety. • The network is important in maintaining child safety and quickening the departure of CWS from the family’s life. The goal is that the network will continue to be responsible for child safety and well-being long after CWS closes (“It takes a village to raise a child”). • **from Scott County MN Signs of Safety presentation

24. KEY PRACTICE – Building Safety & Support Networks

25. KEY PRACTICE – Building Safety & Support Networks -Parent Partners – parents who have successfully ended their involvement with child welfare supporting currently involved parents to help them navigate the system, locate and secure resources, advocate for their needs and work effectively with CWS and other service providers. -Parent Support Groups – provide the same benefits as parent partners through regular group meetings.

26. KEY PRACTICE – Shared Decision Making Family Group Conferencing – a family led process that allows the agency to present concerns and the larger family group to meet alone to develop their own plan to address those concerns and plan for the support and safety of their family.

27. KEY PRACTICE – Shared Decision Making Family Group Conferencing video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB4ON_6m95Q&list=PL0IJGrObfCRKkAFmYj3sDMJM8mI6ArjLU

28. KEY PRACTICE – Shared Decision Making Icebreaker Meetings - meetings between birth parents, foster parents and workers that occur shortly after placement to create a positive working relationship based on shared respect, information, support and planning.

29. KEY PRACTICE – Shared Decision Making Icebreaker meeting video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k2U7_rjOWo

30. Family Engagement Resources --National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections – Family Engagement, a web-based practice toolkit http://www.nrcpfc.org/fewpt/ --Child Welfare Information Gateway – articles and resources on family engagement https://www.childwelfare.gov/search/search_results.cfm?csrfToken=1e302bb81166bc9e2c705a2b13363d314129&q=family+engagementhttps://www.childwelfare.gov/search/search_results.cfm?csrfToken=1e302bb81166bc9e2c705a2b13363d314129&q=family+engagement --UC Davis Training Academy, Motivational Interviewing in Child Welfare Services – introductory guide to using MI in practice http://humanservices.ucdavis.edu/Academy/pdf/131211.pdf

31. Family Engagement Resources ---UC Davis, Northern California Training Academy, Safety Organized Practice Resource Library – tools and resources on Safety Organized Practice http://safetyorganizedpractice.blogspot.com/p/resource-library.html ---Seneca Center, Nation Institute for Permanent Family Connectedness – information, tools and resources on family search and engagement http://www.familyfinding.org/ ---UC Davis Resource Center, information and training resources on Parent Partners http://humanservices.ucdavis.edu/Resource/Parent/index.aspx

32. Family Engagement Resources ---Child Welfare Information Gateway – information and resources on parent support groups https://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/programs/types/support_groups_resources.cfm ---Kempe Center, National Center on Family Group Decision Making – articles, tools and resources on FGDM http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/medicalschool/departments/pediatrics/subs/can/FGDM/Pages/FGDM.aspx ---Annie. E. Casey Foundation, Resources for Holding Icebreaker Meetings Between Birth and Foster Parents – information, resources, toolkit for Icebreaker Meetings http://www.aecf.org/blog/resources-for-holding-icebreaker-meetings-between-birth-and-foster-parents/