{"report_id":272,"form_id":"22","user_id":81,"organization_id":13,"question_id":"319","question_type":"Free_Text","text_answer":"An interpreter not being used during a meeting with a prospective kin placement option for the subject child's sibling was influenced by the worker not knowing when this family was arriving from another state. While interpreter services could be made available on an as-needed basis, typically the contracted interpreters preferred 24 hour notice. As a result, the worker believed that 24 hour notice was necessary when scheduling interpreter services. Due to there being an open criminal investigation, agency practice was that they would defer to the law enforcement (LE) investigation. All prior contact with the family was facilitated by LE, therefore LE provided all interpreter services through their investigation resulting in the worker not having to coordinate that activity. Additionally, the investigator was assisting the ongoing worker with facilitating the court process as there was an agency need to get cases transitioned to case management so the ongoing worker could assume the case management duties. This resulted in additional case responsibilities due to the worker needing to complete her investigation as well as also assist the ongoing worker with the court process. \r\nThe transition period between investigation and case management resulted in multiple workers and supervisors being involved in the case. This supported the worker's assumption that the family had already been informed of the purpose of the meeting as well as the information they were going to discuss. As a result, the investigator utilized a bilingual family member to translate during the meeting. \r\n\r\nWhen Out of Home Placement (OOHP) occurs, such as for the subject child's sibling in this case, there is a push by Local, State and Federal policies to place with kin whenever possible. Additionally, OHHP court cases are prioritized over not court cases by the local agency and require defined timelines for documentation as well as court scheduling. As a result and to ensure the agency was keeping the process moving, the worker was making the best of her circumstances to facilitate a meeting prior to the court hearing without an interpreter as the information needed to be conveyed to the prospective kin to secure the placement and ensure their understanding prior to court. Further impacting the worker moving forward was that the worker's understanding was that the family had already been told this information through an interpreter, facilitated by a co-worker, prior to the meeting before court.","created_by":81,"updated_by":81,"updated_at":"5\/26\/2021 11:04:21 am","created_at":"5\/26\/2021 11:04:21 am","id":29103}