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Department of Social and Health Services
Re-inventing Child Welfare Service Case Management
The Children's Administration, Child Welfare Service (CWS) Program provides both
placement prevention and permanency planning services to children and families
when parents are unable to safely care for their children. CWS social work requires
intensive case management for both the parents and the children, and can
sometimes overwhelm a single assigned CWS worker. These social workers are
consistently challenged with how best to prioritize and balance the extensive service
and support needs of parents while also ensuring children’s needs are met. As a
result, children residing in out-of-home care may not be visited by his/her social
worker as frequently as desired and services such as Early Periodic Screening and
Development Testing, physical and mental health assessments, and/or treatment
may also be delayed.
A CWS Unit located on the coast in Aberdeen, Washington developed and tested an
innovative case management model to improve service delivery for both children and
parents. The CWS Unit carries cases as a team. Social workers either have a
specialized caseload of all parents or children. All cases are staffed so the entire unit
will be familiar with each case. As a result, children, parents, caregivers, and service
providers are receiving improved service delivery. With this approach, more than one
social worker can provide information on a case when contacted by customers.
Results
! Achieved 100% compliance with completion of Early Periodic Screening &
Development Testing and annual physical examinations for children.
! Face-to-Face visits between children and social workers increased from once
every 90 days to every 30 days; a threefold increase.
! Increased foster parent satisfaction regarding social worker participation in
children's lives and response to foster parent concerns.
! Increased comprehensiveness of children's written individual safety and service
plan.
Team Name: Aberdeen Extreme Team
Team Members: Nancy Timms, Karen Papp, Terri Navarre, Dorothy Delateur,
Melissa Wittmayer, Sean White, Karen Furth-Fletcher
CONTACT: Anita Jones, (360) 902-7868
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