Normative agency practice encourages keeping children with their families when possible while using family connections and kin to develop plans that best support the needs of the family, which supported an in-home family arrangement being made for the children following the critical incident.  In addition to the in-home family arrangement, a safety plan was also created through a Rapid Response Case Planning Conference (RCPC), which was held at the hospital.  The safety plan was created using family, friends, agency and hospital staff and included using an additional adult to be present with the children at all times.  After hour staff, as well as agency staff (during business hours) conducted unannounced home visits in order to ensure there was an approved adult with the children, which supported the in-home safety plan and family arrangement that was created.  Additionally influencing an in-home safety plan and family arrangement being made was the fact that there is a push from state statute (260C.181 Subd. 2) and DHS guidance to utilize least restrictive placement options prior to placement if possible.

Lastly, agency staff belief that the court process is traumatizing and utilizes too many staff resources. The relationship between the local agency, law enforcement, and the county attorney's office played a role in supporting an in-home safety plan being created.  Specifically, law enforcement did not place the children on a 72-hour hold and the county attorney's office did not support out-of-home placement for children.  Furthermore, the local agency has a trauma informed agency culture, which supports creating less trauma to children by keeping them with their families when at all possible and this, in turn, reduces adversarial relationships with families when trying to complete case plan goals.