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email feedback to bghay@aldenleadership.com These
are the comments received from the 2 National Connections for Case Load Analyis There
indeed is not a lot that we are aware of going on nationally.
Agencies and individuals attempt to use pieces and parts of the overall
methodology, but for a variety of reasons, I am not aware of a single
jurisdiction which continues to do a fully systemic approach as some of your
counties seem to be managing. (Go Ohio!!) A
related issue is that at the last meeting of the editorial board of the Family
Preservation Institute (which is located in this region at New Mexico State, but
the editorial board is a truly nationally representative group of experts),
there was much discussion of the importance of being able to present all of the
necessary facets of a systemic approach (including both family-centered practice
and caseload analysis) to top level administrators in a retreat-type of setting.
There is also concern that the family-centered (Safe and Stable) emphasis
of the Adoption and Safe Families Act is diminishing in many jurisdictions, so
there is interest in careful enunciation of the fact that excellence in child
welfare services requires maintaining BOTH emphases - high levels of expertise
in the techniques of family-centered, strength-based practice along with the
methods of assuring safety and permanency. June
Lloyd U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services Administration
for Children and Families Region
VI
"Regretfully
after some thirty plus years as a formal endeavor, public child welfare or child
protective services continues essentially as an unstructured, variably defined
entity presumably in existence to help people.
The congruence, organization and theoretical or conceptual rationale that
one might expect to exist and glue CPS together is often missing.
And, this state of affairs continues as a result of the constant
bombardment of initiatives which in and of themselves often have little to do
with each other or may even be contradictory.
These influences in the form of federal law, state statutes, research,
practice models, decision making models, training programs, state or county
uniqueness, political climate, economic issues or community values often produce
horses that look like camels. It's
sort of like a chef who is faced with using a recipe the ingredients of which do
not Certainly,
among the many things that are needed in creating a better CPS system is an
ongoing planning effort among child welfare professionals that typifies
excellence and rigor directed by holistic and systemic thinking.
The Ohio Caseload Analysis project is an example of that kind of animal. This
work brings together important needed principles to guide the formation of
effective CPS practice. While the
field continues to struggle from a lack of structure and definition for CPS
intervention, this project seems to have begun with that foundation.
While in most places the connect between administration/management and
the practice approach is not well established, this project has recognized that
as a fundamental necessity. As we
see CPS through the past 30 years still hammered by caseload, demand, personnel
and capacity issues, this project underscores the kind of reality perception
that acknowledges that CPS management and practice models must exist within a
reasonable workload management environment.
There are some basic features that are consistent with an effective
milieu: stability, cohesiveness, control and flexibility.
The Caseload Analysis project seems to promote through concept and design
these features within its approach." Wayne
Holder ACTION
for Child Protection |
