Statewide Quality Assurance Report

Florida Department of Children and FamiliesCase Management Services - 2009-2010 Quality Assurance Reportinvolvement with the child welfare system. Assessments of safety and risk are also used toguide decisions when new concerns are identified and before major case decisions are madesuch as reunification. But safety and risk assessments alone are not sufficient for understandingthe range of issues related to the present concerns. There is a need to gather information onbroader issues that will affect each family's ability to resolve concerns that led to theirinvolvement with the child welfare system. It is also critical to gather information on thestrengths, resources, supports, connections, and capacities that will help families nurture theirchildren and keep them safe.Conducting thorough initial and ongoing assessments on the children and families beingserved is a basic child welfare function. Case workers and supervisors should be assessing everyaspect of a case with each contact made, whether the contact is with the child, the parents,caregivers, providers, etc., and in every supervisory discussion, staffing, family team meeting,court appearance or other activity. Assessments should include information gathered from thefamily story, other family members, and professional evaluations. Ongoing, activecommunication and collaboration with the family and the other persons involved are importantto the case worker’s ability to adequately update the family assessment. Good assessmentsimpact all other aspects of case management, service delivery and achieving goals.Improvements in practice related to assessments were noted in each related area exceptupdated family assessments (#7) documented in FSFN. This is in part due to the newrequirement for FY 2009/2010 that the family assessment must be documented in the electroniccase record in FSFN. Documenting the Family Assessment in FSFN has been the subject of ongoingdiscussions. OurKids in Miami has approval to use Structured Decision Making instead ofthe Family Assessment in FSFN.To ensure improvement, local action is needed to guide practice in the development of theinitial family assessments and updated family assessments. In addition, it is critical that prior toa placement change, a multi-disciplinary staffing/assessment is conducted to ensure placementstability of each child in out-of home care and prevent placement disruptions. This staffing isintended to ensure placement moves are made only when necessary and the child’s needs andthe appropriateness of the placement are thoroughly assessed.Office of Family Safety | Page 7