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This project focused on improving worker interventions with children and families in protection services. Recommendations were made to enhance clinical application and shift towards more positive engagement. A comprehensive Position Paper was produced, linking best practices to improved outcomes. Next steps included presenting the paper to key groups and moving into Phase II of the project.
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A Collaborative Child Welfare Approach for Ontario(Enhancing Positive Worker Interventions With Children And Their Families In Protection Services: Best Practices and Required Skills) September 2005
Original Purpose of this Project • To explore the current clinical “well being” of the practice of social work in the field of child welfare and to make recommendations for enhancing its clinical application in Ontario. • To explore individual worker interaction with clients who are either being investigated or with whom there is a need to develop a service plan and an ongoing relationship. • To more clearly understand the perceived shift in child protection services to more risk focused, adversarial approaches. • It is important to note that this Project always held the child’s safety and well being as the paramount goal of intervention.
Description of Project • Project Committee formed • Conducted a literature review • Conducted a survey of front-line and supervisory workers • Met with key informants • Developed key recommendations about effective clinical intervention • Examined the use of recording and the development of a comprehensive assessment and treatment plan. • Explored the potential for training
Project Outcomes • We have produced a comprehensive Position Paper, that identifies the preferred approaches/best practices for the positive engagement of child protection clients and links best practices to improved outcomes for children receiving child protection services. • We see this Position Paper assisting with the development of a more positive agency culture, wherein new and existing child welfare staff can develop professional “helping” social work skills and approaches.
Next Steps • Present an Overview of the Position Paper to the Zone Chairs/LD Section Executive and Other Key Constituent Groups. • Come Forth with a Recommendation/Motion for Hopeful Approval by the LD Section on September 19, 2005. • Move to Phase II of the Project.
Recommendation/Motion The following motion was unanimously passed at the Zone Chairs/LD Section Executive Meeting held in Toronto on September 09, 2005: Be it Resolved that, upon recommendation by the Zone Chairs/LD Section Executive, the Local Directors’ Section: • support in principle the ongoing development of a collaborative approach to child welfare, as identified in the Phase I Provincial Project Position Paper, and • approve the formation of a Phase II Provincial Project Team/Task Force to develop a distillation of the Position Paper that evaluates and prioritizes the recommendations, develops a vision, and identifies implications for training, operations and resources.