Child Protective Service Worker

Best Practices: Child Protective Services

Christine M. Burrows

Columbia College of Missouri – Hancock Campus

Abstract

A Child Protective Service worker is a career that can be mentally and physically exhausting with emotional upheaval and wonderfully rewarding all at the same time. This paper discusses several “best practices’, their descriptions, and how they are put in use to assist the children who need help and the parents who unwillingly become a part of the Child Welfare system; even though they count on the system to help them better themselves and the lives of their children. Child Protective Service workers require extensive training, vast knowledge, multiple values, and strong ethics to effectively assist this

large population using Evidence-Based Practices, Strength-Based Practices, and Family Centered Practice. These practices all strive to accomplish the same thing; provide the child and their family with the best possible, most successful, long term outcome in the best interest of the child.

Child Protective Services
Becoming a Child Protective Service worker is more than wanting to protect the children who are afraid to use their own voice and ask for help, it is more than aiming for that amazing career you have always wanted, and it is much more complicated than just getting a job.

It’s undoubtedly complex and can take someone strong and passionate, with all their good intentions, and completely break them down and burn them out. Entering this field requires a Human Services worker to not only be prepared for all that it includes, but to be fully educated in the accepted and most effective best practices to produce superior results for the child and their family. This paper will discuss the career choice of a Child Protective Service (CPS) worker and the standard best practices implemented in this

field.
Child Protective Services
The moment someone become a CPS worker, they will be given extensive on-the-job training to gain precise skills in recognizing family characteristics, reading body language, interviewing related parties, documenting cases, researching laws and policy, reviewing past histories, evidence collection and analysis, and will be strictly supervised with a very small caseload.
Once on the job a CPS worker will investigates allegations of neglect, abandonment, abuse, unsafe living condition, and victimization against a child by any person who is responsible for their care, using the training provided, and within a very specific state regulated timeframe to determine if the claims are valid.
A CPS worker will have numerous skills and wear many hats. In addition to what they have learned through higher education and on-the-job training, they are also expected to be knowledgeable and current on behavior, religious and cultural differences, government law and policy, client and personal service, management and administration, and psychology. They also need to have very specific traits to succeed in this field, such as; perception, active listening, critical thinking, problem solving, good judgement, persuasion, concern for others, respect of boundaries, self-control, cooperation, stress tolerance, integrity, independence, and realistic expectations. (Saint-Jacques, Drapeau, Lessard, & Beaudoin, 2006)
Barbee, A. P., Antle, B., Sullivan, D. J., Huebner, R., Fox, S., & Hall, J. C. (2009) write that the reason many CPS workers leave a position is due to “low pay, poor supervision, lack of coworker support, unrealistic expectations, and organizational stress”, therefore, it is very important to be realistic entering this field.
It’s easy to understand how a CPS worker can burn out. He or she will start their career believing they can change the world, but after a short time they will see the worst of the worst, and be revisited by repeat offenders with the same issues; they will feel like they are not making a difference to anyone. What keeps a CPS worker moving forward is, even though they may feel this way from time to time, deep down they know they change the lives of many families and have learned to embrace any success big or small.
Best Practices
What does the term “best practices” mean? Explanations of the term, across the board, imply that it means many different things to different people; generally, it means common ideas, ways of operating, or guidelines that form the most efficient, accepted and adopted ways of creating a positive outcome. However, in the CPS field of Human Services “best practices” means not only this broad definition, but it also encompasses so much more, such as; proficiency in common problem-solving, establishing healthy outcomes, using models that are consistent with positive results to create improved well-being and safety using such values as commitment, respect, integrity, and urgency. All of this is centered around children, families and individuals in organizations that focuses on evidence, strength and family driven practices.
Evidence Based Practice
An evidence-based practice will use tried and true interventions that have been well-researched along with ethics, experience, and client preferences to work together towards services and treatment that deliver the best possible outcome.

It ensures that programs correctly using this practice will benefit more people (socialworkpolicy.org).

Put in use. Using this type of practice demands that parents involved in the CPS service plan remain cooperative and complete treatment in time. Failure to comply can results in the parents losing all their state or county services, put the children at risk of being removed from the home and put into foster care, or worse, the parent completely losing their rights. Cooperation is the key to getting the help needed to avoid court and the loss of their children. The ultimate goal is a healthy family unit and a safe child. (Dawson & Berry,

2002)
Strength Based Practice
A strength-based practice uses tactics and approaches that recognize the strengths of everyone involved to create a positive relationship for the entire family. This method identifies and emphasizes all their positive strengths to allow the family a chance to be an active and complete participant in their service plan.
Put in use. Traditionally and historically a child welfare agency would concentrate on and approach a client based on the deficit, putting a magnifying glass on what is wrong with the family instead of what is positive, creating resistance to the plan. According to Schreiber, Fuller, & Paceley (2013), CPS workers are challenged by the fears of parents under fire, causing them to be reluctant to engage. Incorporating their strengths allows parents to participate with our fear and doesn’t color the experience in a negative way.
Family Centered Practices
Family-centered practices believe that the best place for a child to be is with their family and the best way to make sure that child is in a permanency safe place is to provide a practice that offers the entire family multiple concrete services that support and strengthen them as a whole.
Put in use: CPS workers “serve as a critical focal point for the successful achievement of agency goals and case worker practices that strengthen families” (Blythe, Heffernan, & Walters 2010), so it makes sense that practices which utilize this approach, emphasize it many values and believes. They diligently work with the entire family, placing an emphasis on well-being, strengthen the family’s interactions and relationships, support group solutions, they empower, engage, and partner with the unit through all the planning, decisions, and goal-reaching because “long term results are more likely to be produced when the entire family is affected.” (Dawson & Berry)
Conclusion

References
Barbee, A. P., Antle, B., Sullivan, D. J., Huebner, R., Fox, S., & Hall, J. C. (2009). Recruiting and retaining child welfare workers: Is preparing social work students enough for sustained commitment to the field? Child Welfare, 88(5), 69.
Blythe, B., Heffernan, K., & Walters, B. (2010). Best practices for developing child protection workers' skills: Domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental health training. Social Work Review / Revista De Asistenta Sociala, 9(2), 51-64.
Dunworth, T., Hannaway, J., Holahan, J., & Turner, M. (2008). Beyond ideology, politics, and guesswork: the case for evidence-based policy.
Evidence-based practice: Partnerships to promote evidence-based practice. Retrieved from: www.socialworkpolicy.org/research/evidence-based-practice-2, April 15, 2017
Saint-Jacques, M., Drapeau, S., Lessard, G., & Beaudoin, A. (2006). Parent involvement practices in child protection: A matter of know-how and attitude. Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 23(2), 196. doi:10.1007/s10560-005-0042-5
Schreiber, J. C., Fuller, T., & Paceley, M. S. (2013). Engagement in child protective services: Parent perceptions of worker skills. Children and Youth Services Review, 35(4), 707-715.