Public child welfare agencies have four primary functions. These include the provision of family-centered services, child-protection services, adoption, and foster care. Some of the families using services offered by the child welfare agencies are complex in regards to their family attributes. Assessments of family attributes before the provision of family-centered services remain critical in the clinical judgment of officers in the child welfare agencies. The procedure observed during the assessment process is equally vital since families tend to display several complexities in terms of their attributes, and this may warrant the determination of services needed with respect to the attributes of individual families (Vial et al., 2020).
In the assessment stage, I will use four main domains, as discussed by (Johnson et al., 2008). These include initial determination of family's social interaction patterns, prevailing parenting practices, history or background of the parents or guardians, and problems experienced by the family in getting access to necessities like income, adequate housing, food, and medical services. These elements are vital in the assessment procedure since they help the child welfare officers to gather information systematically, and use it to evaluate the needs of the children and caregivers of individual families. The social interaction patterns will impact the probable interventions by highlighting ways in which the family communicates, accomplishes tasks, and also provide information on the norms and values respected by the family. The prevailing parenting practices will provide information on the existence of high-risk parenting activities and behaviors linked to neglect and abuse of children. For instance, if there has been previous exposure of children to activities related to drug abuse, then child welfare officers may make arrangements for corrective interventions specific to drug abuse. The history and background of parents will provide information on culturally appropriate approaches that can be adopted while providing services to the needy family. For instance, Hispanic families will only receive services that align with the Hispanic culture. Lastly, the domain of problems experienced by the family will provide information on the basic needs the respective family has been missing. For instance, in terms of food, if the children have been missing certain diets with essential nutrients needed for growth. These four domains are vital in the assessment stages since they offer information that is unique to the needy families prior to enrollment in the child welfare systems.
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Unit 2 Discussion Two
Family Group Decision-Making (FGDM) represents an umbrella term for interventions, which involve the assembly of families together to come up with decisions pertaining to ways of caring for their children and implementation of a plan of services. In any FGDM meeting, the parties engage in discussions, which bring the child to the attention of child welfare officers, highlight the strengths of the involved family systems, and the changes needed to ensure the safety of the child (Berzin et al., 2008). This discussion focuses on Mary, a ten years old child who is a victim of maltreatment. The parents are divorced, and her mother's boyfriend (Louis), who resides in a different home, takes advantage of her by abusing her sexually by touching her private parts (Schott & Weiss, 2015).
Family Group Decision-Making (FGDM), in alignment with family-centered therapy, is a crucial intervention in bringing Mary to the attention of officers from child welfare agencies. The adults, including Mary's parents, Josephine's boyfriend, and Mary's teachers, can be invited for a group meeting to discuss the way forward regarding Mary's physical, social, and psychological health. In the planning stage of the FGDM, several aspects are completed. These include ensuring the safety of the child, defining the roles of participants, and resolving any existing matters or conflicts, all of which are crucial towards the child's better care in the future. For instance, Mary will not be escorted to and from the school by Louis for her safety, the teachers will make sure a newly assigned person picks her from school, and any misunderstanding between Josephine and her boyfriend regarding Mary will be resolved. By bring the parties involved in Mary's life together, FGDM will ensure that the family and the community are involved formulating a workable plan for Mary's recovery and care thereafter. Family Group Decision-Making, in conjunction with family-centered therapy, observes the family culture. Therefore, the child will be taken care of as per the dictates of the family's culture. In this case, Mary will be cared for according to the Latino culture. Additionally, FGDM allows for the family to implement their workable plans in regards to their children's care. It also allows the child to mention what he or she desires during care. As such, Josephine and her boyfriend can raise their views on how they would want Mary to be taken care of, and Mary will also be given a chance to air her views (Berzin et al., 2008). These philosophies attached to FGDM are all put together to ensure efforts of the child welfare services are in the best interest of the affected children and their families.
References
Berzin, S., Cohen, E., Thomas, K., & Dawson, W. (2008). Does family group decision making affect child welfare outcomes? Findings from a randomized control study. Child Welfare, 87, 4, 35–54.
Johnson, M., Stone, S., Lou, C., Vu, C., Ling, J., Mizrahi, P., & Austin, M. (2008). Family Assessment in Child Welfare Services: Instrument Comparisons. Journal of Evidence-Based Social Work, 5, 57-90.
Schott, E., & Weiss, E. L. (2015). Transformative social work practice. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2015.
Vial, A., Assink, M., Stams, G. J. J. M., & van, P. C. (2020). Safety assessment in child welfare: A comparison of instruments. Children and Youth Services Review, 108.
