Family violence services advocate Family violence services advocate/youth worker and family services intake/investigator and family services case worker Tribal public health Tribal law enforcement/domestic violence detective Representatives from survivors’ group of battered women involved with CPS Practice assessment coordinator Advocacy organization A legal advocate Advocacy organization A advocate Advocacy organization B support group facilitator Representatives from organizations working on behalf of culturally distinct or other communities overrepresented in CPS CPS supervisor CPS case worker CPS case worker Representative from batterer intervention program Police officer assigned to domestic violence response unit agent representing battered women in CPS cases assessment coordinator
The Greenbook, as it came to be known, set forth a framework, principles, and more than sixty specific recommendations for the three primary systems that become involved when domestic violence and child maltreatment intersect: child welfare, domestic violence advocacy and services, and dependency courts. The Greenbook’s guiding framework and principles call for collaboration between community institutions to “establish responses to domestic violence and child maltreatment that offer meaningful help to families.” Among the guiding principles are: Providing for the safety, and stability for children and families Keeping children in the care of their non-offending parent(s) whenever possible, in large part by making adult victims safe and stopping batterers’ assaults Creating a community service system with many points of entry and fair and capable service to people of diverse backgrounds Designing a differential response that does not require opening a child protection investigation or finding of maltreatment to access help Discussion questions: Review the principles. To what extent do these principles currently guide our work as CPS caseworkers? As advocates? How do we know if what we’re actually doing reflects these principles? What are the barriers to putting these principles into practice? Information the Greenbook initiative, the experiences of the demonstration sites, and related tools and resources can be found at: http://www.thegreenbook.info/ or through the Resource Center on Domestic Violence: Child Protection and Custody at www.rcdvcpc.org. “The Greenbook,” Effective Intervention in Domestic Violence and Child Maltreatment Cases: Guidelines for Policy and Practice, by Susan Schechter and Jeffrey L. Edelson (principal authors), is at: . Also, see Bringing the Greenbook to Life: A Resource Guide for Communities, Leigh Goodmark and Ann Rosewater, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, May 2008. Access at or through the Resource Center on Domestic Violence: Child Protection and Custody: www.rcdvcpc.org.
core policy for child welfare workers, runs 260 pages. The Kansas Prevention and Protective Services Policy and Procedure Manual (2015) is 683 pages. The practice assessment is concerned with aspects of CPS policy that are specific to domestic violence-related cases, as well as issues of disparity that are so closely interconnected with the safety and well-being of battered mothers and their children. The assessment team does not have to consider every aspect of large and often complex policy documents that cover everything from the response to reports of child abuse and neglect to foster care and adoption. It will, however, pay attention to how agency policy seeks to organize its overall response in ways that reduce disparity. To identify the relevant policies, begin with CPS members of the assessment team and information developed during the mapping process (Toolkit 2). What guides CPS workers in domestic violence-related cases? Is there a domestic violence-specific supplement or section or policy? For example, the Oregon Department of Human Services has a specific set of guidelines, Child Welfare Practices for Cases with Domestic Violence (2015). The Minnesota counterpart is Guidelines for Responding to Co-Occurrence of Child Maltreatment and Domestic Violence (2012). Preparation Identify any domestic violence-specific policies or guidelines for CPS workers. Collect general policies governing CPS screening, assessment, and case management. Collect policies specific to cultural diversity and access and to addressing disparity. Decide whether the full team or a smaller work group will conduct the review. Provide a set of policies to each team member who will be reviewing them. Note: Policies can be paper copies or in an electronic format/PDF file. An electronic format is particularly helpful for searching general CPS policies to find specific references to domestic violence-related policy and procedure. Process Use the policy analysis checklist (Appendix 4.1). Read the policy and complete the checklist. Tip: If working with a paper copy, assign a different color to each of the four sections and highlight content accordingly: (1) principles, (2) procedures, (3) monitoring, and (4) addressing disparity.
Option 3: All team members complete a full review of two case records and discuss them together in order to become familiar with the process and develop a common base for the analysis. Then the team works in groups of two or three, with a different set of cases assigned to each group. This approach can be a way to include more cases in the review while still providing a level of common grounding for the process and ensuring that at least two members of the larger team are familiar with any one case. Because all members lack a rudimentary understanding of each case, however, discussions can be more challenging and incomplete. Prepare case records, worksheets, instructions, and any applicable policies and protocols that the team will need (see Toolkit 1, Planning and Coordination). Review the instructions and become familiar with the case-record analysis worksheet that will be used to guide the analysis (see Appendix 4.3). Process Review the case record analysis worksheet and process with the assessment team. Option: If an analysis of the forms used by CPS has not already been completed, assign team members to identify and list all forms in the case record, analyze them (using the worksheet in Appendix 4.2), and report back to the team. Read the first assigned case record without stopping to take notes on the worksheet or jumping into the analysis. Read as if you were reading a story of the events. Let the words do the talking. Highlight what catches your attention in relation to the overall response. Work through the case record a second time, paying close attention to whether or not and how it reflects the practices listed on the worksheet (use one worksheet per case). If sections of the worksheet have been divided among the team (see Option 2 above), pay primary attention to the sections assigned. Check off all practices that are evident in the call, report, or record. Note what is missing. Use the column to record additional observations, questions, examples related to the case, and the practitioner’s response. Repeat the steps outlined above with each case record. Review and discuss each case with the full team.