{"report_id":244,"form_id":"22","user_id":81,"organization_id":13,"question_id":"321","question_type":"Free_Text","text_answer":"The agency staff shared that the agency's protocol\/belief is to keep children with families if possible and to help the families be the best they can be. This includes using family connections and kin to develop plans that best support the needs of the family as it is believed that the family is the expert on their children and it is best to give the family the resources to be successful long-term. The staff also noted that when it's possible to keep children with family, it is less traumatic for the child to stay with parents than to be placed. While developing a plan for the family arrangement, a safety plan was created through a Rapid Response Case Planning Conference (RCPC), which was held at the hospital. This meeting included family, friends, agency staff and hospital staff. During this meeting, the agency assesses the family's willingness to implement a safety plan based on family's competency, willingness, and confidence in being able to follow through with the safety plan. Through this process, a safety plan was created that included an additional adult, excluding the mother or mother's partner, to be present with the kids at all time. After-hour staff were utilized (often) to ensure the plan was being followed using unannounced visits, in addition to agency worker's unannounced visits during regular business hours. When there was a break in safety plan, the caseworker immediately had a meeting with friends, family, and the subject child's mother and reiterated that there always had to be two adults with the children and that could not be both the mother and her partner. Subsequently, consultation with a team (supervisor and co-workers) was utilized to evaluate whether there was sufficient evidence to continue the family arrangement. \r\nLastly, the agency staff shared the belief that the court process is traumatizing and utilizes too many staff resources. Also, it was shared that court timelines do not always match up with the family needs (can give families more time to work on case).","created_by":81,"updated_by":81,"updated_at":"5\/26\/2021 10:00:51 am","created_at":"5\/26\/2021 10:00:51 am","id":27136}