	Child Protective Services

Introduction

Administration and Management

Service Delivery Administration Standards

Service Standards

PA-CPS 8: Service Planning and Monitoring

Families participate in the development and ongoing review of a strengths-based service plan that is the basis for delivery of appropriate services and support.

Interpretation: When the case involves an Indian child, resources available through the tribe or local Indian organization should be considered when developing the service plan.

NA The agency does not facilitate service planning.

PA-CPS 8.01

Service planning is family centered, and includes, as appropriate:

the child;
family members;
additional service providers; and
tribal representatives.

Interpretation: Service planning is conducted so that the family retains as much personal responsibility and self-determination as possible.

Generally children age six or older are to be included in service planning, unless there are clinical justifications for not doing so. Extended family members and significant others can be involved in service planning, when appropriate, and with the consent of the family. The agency can facilitate participation by, for example, helping arrange transportation, and including them in scheduling decisions.

Service planning procedures are adapted as needed in cases involving domestic violence to promote safe, healthy, and active participation of all family members. For example, in some instances, the agency may determine that meetings involving both the perpetrator and the survivor would pose a safety risk or would limit the participation of the survivor and would not be appropriate.

Research Note: Literature suggests that involving family members in service planning can empower caregivers, increase investment in and commitment to the plan, and ensure providers and family members are working towards the same goals. While the efficacy of involving people who can play an effective informal support role has not been established formally, an approach known as family group conferencing is sometimes used to positive effect in child welfare programs.

PA-CPS 8.02

During service planning, the worker and family discuss:

the family’s strategies to change behaviors and conditions that led to the abuse or neglect;
services and supports available to address the effects of maltreatment and to prevent future maltreatment;
maintaining or strengthening family relationships and informal social networks;
the family's cultural needs and the role that cultural or tribal traditions can play in addressing presenting concerns;
how the agency can support the achievement of child safety, child and family well-being, and permanency;
benefits and consequences of family participation in planned services; and
expectations and potential consequences of non-compliance with the service plan.

PA-CPS 8.03

An individualized service plan developed with each family is based on the assessment and includes:

agreed upon goals, desired outcomes, and timeframes for achieving them;
services and supports to be provided, and by whom;
timeframes for evaluating family progress; and
the signature of the parents and the youth, if developmentally appropriate.

Interpretation: The agency should recognize the value of incorporating culturally-grounded interventions into the service plan, and include traditional practices or customs of the child’s culture, tribe, or faith-based community to the greatest extent possible and appropriate.

Research Note: Research has shown that despite the availability of information from assessments, workers often base service decisions on other factors, including availability of services, labels, and the type of maltreatment.

PA-CPS 8.04

Individuals with disabilities who have limited ability to make independent choices receive help with making decisions and support to assume more responsibility.

PA-CPS 8.05

Service plans are completed within timeframes established by the agency.

PA-CPS 8.06

The worker and a supervisor, or a service or peer team, review the case at least quarterly to assess:

service plan implementation;
appropriateness of safety and permanency plans;
progress toward achieving service goals and desired outcomes; and
continuing appropriateness of the agreed upon service goals, and the need to keep the case open.

Interpretation: Workers should assess the family’s progress following each visit and review the case when necessary. The case review is sometimes referred to as an administrative review, a supervisory review, a case conference, or a staffing.

Experienced workers may conduct reviews of their own cases. In such cases, the worker's supervisor reviews a sample of the worker's evaluations as per the requirements of the standard.

Interpretation: When the case involves an Indian child, a representative from the tribe or a local Indian organization should receive timely notification of case reviews, be given an opportunity to participate, and be informed of any changes made to the plan. The case review should include an assessment for compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act.

PA-CPS 8.07

The worker and the family regularly review progress toward achievement of service goals, and sign revisions to service goals and plans.

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	PURPOSE: Child Protective Services protect children from abuse and neglect and increase child well-being and family stability.

RELATED FILES


	SERVICE One or more organization-operated programs or activities that have a common general objective and deploy the organization's material and human resources in a planned and systematic manner. An organization that publicly promotes or identifies itself in writing as offering a service, is licensed to deliver a service, assigns personnel and/or space to a service, or allocates financial resources to a service is considered to offer that service.


	FAMILY Two or more people who consider themselves family and who assume obligations, functions, and responsibilities generally essential to healthy family life. Child care and child socialization, income support, long-term care, and other caregiving are among the functions of family life. The definition of "family" will rest with an individual's indication of who plays a family member role, including current or former foster family, adoptive family, extended family members, fictive kin, or significant others. Organizations that believe family is the central constellation in a child's life, and that family attachments are of primary importance for human development, will strive to work with professional staff to develop a common understanding of "family."


	SERVICE PLAN A written plan of action based on the assessment of consumer needs and strengths that identifies problems, sets goals, and describes a strategy for achieving those goals and engaging in joint problem solving with the consumer. Also known as a "treatment plan".


	CASE A general term used to designate clients (including individuals, families, and groups) served by an organization for purposes of monitoring the provision of services. A foster care case is generally based on the placement of an individual child, although casework for the child may include services to the child's family. A child protective services case is based on an entire family household if a family assessment model is used; otherwise a case is defined as a child.


	INDIAN CHILD As defined in the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), "Any unmarried person who is under age eighteen and is either (a) a member of an Indian tribe or (b) eligible for membership in an Indian tribe and is the biological child of a member of an Indian tribe." For purposes of compliance with ICWA, the definition provided in the Act shall apply. For purposes of access to services and resources, other more inclusive definitions may apply (e.g. Indian Education Act, tribal definitions, etc.).


	INDIAN ORGANIZATION As defined in ICWA, "Any group, association, partnership, cooperation, or other legal entity owned or controlled by Indians, or a majority of whose members are Indians."


	PLANNING The process of specifying objectives, evaluating the means for their achievement, and exercising deliberate decision making about appropriate courses of action.


	ASSESSMENT An evaluation, which utilizes professional expertise and skills in the collection and analysis of data to understand and describe the nature of service needs of an individual, family, or group. Assessment, as in needs assessment, is also used to determine priorities of program planning and service development for the organization as a whole. See also DIAGNOSIS.


	PARENTS Parents can include: birth, foster, kinship, and adoptive parents. Please see service standards for more specific information about use of this term.


	PRACTICE Established actions or ways of proceeding in the regular performance of organizational duties. Policies and procedures often guide practice.


	CULTURE The customs, habits, values, skills, technology, beliefs, and religious, social, and political behaviors of a group of people in a specific period of time.


	COMMUNITY A specific group of people living in the same locality and who may share a common culture, values, and norms. Communities can also be defined by race, religion, ethnicity, age, occupation, political status, tribal affiliation, interest in particular problems or outcomes, or other common bonds. The term "community" encompasses worksites, schools, tribes, residential neighborhoods, business districts, recreational areas, and health and human service sites.


	RESEARCH For purposes of COA accreditation, all forms of internal or external research involving persons served except internal program evaluation and outcomes research, or educational projects performed by students and interns that are part of their professional training.


	APPROPRIATENESS The degree to which a particular service, placement, treatment, intervention, or activity is: best suited to an individual's needs; not excessive, unduly intrusive, or restrictive; anticipated to be effective in achieving the desired and specified outcomes; and adequate or sufficient in quantity to address the problem.


	SERVICE GOALS Broad, issue-oriented statements that reflect the realistic achievements to be accomplished in the short or long term. Goals are achieved through the accomplishment of specific quantifiable objectives.


	CASE REVIEW A regular and periodic examination of a consumer's service needs, service delivery goals and objectives, intervention plans, prognoses, and the timelines required to achieve them. The direct service provider and supervisor frequently conduct the case review, but it may also involve others, as in an interdisciplinary or inter-organizational case conference. The client, or the parent or legal guardian in the case of a minor, are included in his/her periodic case review by the team.


	SAMPLE A portion or representative percentage of a greater whole.


	EVALUATION The review and assessment of organizational operations, programs and services.