Foreword Reviews’ Post

I am both proud and ashamed of how much time I spend helping people who know I understand the child welfare system try to navigate within it. Proud because I'm always glad to pay forward the help and support that was given to me in my past. Ashamed because it is so unnecessary. Systems that are functioning are able to be transparent, have checks and balances on power, and do not actively and intensely punish people who ask questions. When a case is dragged out for years, when communication is non-existent, when policies and procedures are simply ignored, how does your agency put in place guardrails to ensure that a closer look is taken? If you lead or manage in an organization, how would you find out about these types of problems? Before it's a tragedy? Yes, trust. But verify. If you've chosen to work within systems that hold lives in the balance, you've chosen to be held to a higher level of accountability. And teach your staff, especially your ombudsperson and management, that "that's not something I can help you with" IS NOT A COMPLETE SENTENCE. "but I'm going to get you to someone who can" is the acceptable complete phrase. And yes, you'll have folks whose needs can't be met, who won't accept explanation. But, as your unpaid and unofficial 24/7 ombudsperson, the majority of those who reach out are reasonable people who are confused and in pain. And my deepest gratitude goes to all those working within these systems who are committed and honorable and seek justice, I see you and know your work. You make a huge impact.

In The Science of Politics podcast, I discuss a paper on the Child Tax Credit that I co-wrote with Lucas Nunez and Daniel Béland. COVID brought expansions of social welfare programs & increased flexibility. But many of the changes expired. Now Congress is considering a bit of a revival of the child tax credit expansion, but recipients of traditional welfare programs won’t see equivalent gains. Did policymakers learn the right lessons from the successes and failures of COVID-era expansions? Carolyn Barnes finds that remote appointments helped recipients but that some program changes confused them. Mariely Lopez-Santana finds that support for the child tax credit expansion was not as high as for other programs because families were not perceived as that deserving. Even recipients were not converted to program advocates. Policy and Society Journal George Mason University - Schar School of Policy and Government

Discover the vital role of a Court of Protection deputy in safeguarding vulnerable individuals' welfare and finances.  Read more at https://lnkd.in/ecCq-i56 and ensure you're informed. 📝 #courtofprotection #deputyship #legaladvice #solicitors

### Enhancing Child Welfare: The Power of SDA Tools in Reviewing Hotline Calls One major concern for supervisors and managers in child welfare hotline call screening is the fear of missing critical information and inadvertently screening out a call that should have led to an investigation. In Northampton County, PA, an innovative approach is being used—SDA call screening tools are not supporting initial decisions but instead are utilized for supervisory reviews. Given the overwhelming number of cases, it’s nearly impossible for supervisors to review every decision made by call screeners. The SDA tool changes this by alerting supervisors to the 1 in 5 referrals that, although initially filed for no response, may warrant a second look. This enables a more focused and effective review process, and sometimes, it leads to sending a worker out to visit a family to ensure the children are safe. The strength of predictive risk models lies in their diverse applications. Each county or state can adopt the best way to partner with SDA tools to address their unique challenges in ensuring child safety. #ChildWelfare #PredictiveAnalytics #SupervisoryReview #SDATools #ChildSafety #DataDrivenDecisions #SocialWorkInnovation https://lnkd.in/gj9QVqi5

**💡Managing Alert Fatigue in Child Welfare: Leveraging Predictive Risk Models and SDA Tools for Effective Case Management ** In child welfare, the over-saturation of alerts can dilute their urgency. This is called "alert fatigue" and makes it challenging for workers and supervisors to identify and prioritize the truly complex cases. When everything is flagged as high risk, nothing stands out. That’s where predictive risk models come in, helping to focus attention on the most critical cases. In our approach, we use SDA tools to send daily notifications to supervisors, specifically highlighting the 1 in 10 cases that a predictive risk model deems truly complex and risky. We label these cases ✔"Enhanced Support" to indicate that the workers handling them may need additional assistance. This strategy ensures that supervisors are informed and ready to take action without being overwhelmed by excessive alerts. A direct link to the SDA tools in the email allows for quick and thorough case review, streamlining the entire process. #ChildWelfare #RiskManagement #PredictiveAnalytics #SocialWork #EnhancedSupport #SDAtools #CaseManagement #TechnologyInSocialWork #AlertFatigue #ComplexCases

For many poor Americans, the cadres of the welfare state are the primary face of government. From the moment they apply for food stamps, Medicaid, public housing, or welfare, the poor fall into the domain of super-empowered snoops who cannot be turned away. Welfare applicants are subject to physical search, unbounded questioning, a presumption of cheating, and coercive rules that restrict their choices on such things as whether and when to bear children, and how many. Courts have justified these intrusions in the name of child protection,fraud detection,taxpayer savings,prevention of drug abuse,and promotion of whatever policy governs family planning at the time. Boston University legal scholar Khiara Bridges attributes the differences to “the moral construction of poverty”: the idea, consciously or unconsciously held, that poor people are poor because of character failings that pose a threat to themselves, their children, and society. The policing and welfare functions of the state are closely entwined. Both belong to a broader project of discipline and control. “Welfare reform” in the 1990s brought a bipartisan shift toward punitive approaches to public assistance. Welfare bureaucracies built an elaborate system of sanctions for adults who failed to make the transition from welfare to work, with more onerous behavioral checks and a more aggressive approach to fraud detection. As a result, writes UC-Irvine professor of law Kaaryn Gustafson, “The welfare system and the criminal justice system in the United States are becoming ever more tightly interwoven -The Disparate Impact of Surveillance

Building a strong kin-first culture within a child welfare agency can take time. It requires strengthening kin search efforts, constructing clear and consistent messaging, and adopting a data-driven approach to increasing kin placements. Through our work with jurisdictions committed to building kin-first systems, the GPL has developed tools that agency leaders and staff can use to continue to expand their kin-first focus. https://lnkd.in/gtiTXzMF These tools include: · An annotated Family Finding Connections Log to help staff identify potential placement options and build out a supportive network for a child and their potential caregiver.  · A communication strategy worksheet to help leaders and staff design messages that raise awareness about the benefits of kinship care and cultivate buy-in among their teams and external stakeholders. · A customizable kin placement dashboard to help agency leaders use their data to better understand and prioritize specific challenges, monitor the impact of new strategies, and create regular opportunities to discuss kin placement trends. 

Before introducing and implementing new practices or programs in the child and family welfare sector, it’s crucial for organisations to conduct a "proof of concept" evaluation to test whether the idea works in real-world situations. This involves undertaking a rigorous evidence and research review and, wherever possible, trying out the new approach on a small scale to see if it actually helps as intended. Similarly, checking if a practice approach is "fit for purpose" means ensuring it is suitable for the specific needs, context and circumstances you are working with. This helps avoid wasting resources on ineffective methods and ensures the approach and investment is genuinely beneficial to the intended beneficiaries. This is a step many organisations overlook in their implementation journey. Here are some questions to ask yourself when thinking through the proof-of-concept evaluation: · What specific practice approach or program are you considering implementing? · What are the key outcomes you hope to achieve with this practice approach? · Have you encountered any particular challenges or problems in your current practices that you hope the new approach will address? · Do you have any existing feedback or data from children and families about what works or doesn’t work in your current system? · How will the proposed program or practice approach address the challenges you are facing? · What evidence supports the selection of this practice approach to address the needs you have? · Does this practice approach ‘fit’ the practice context? · How do you typically measure the success of your programs and practices? These are the implementation questions Strengths and Solutions Consultancy asked Uniting prior to building and implementing group coaching as part of their internal infrastructure for practice uplift. A very worthwhile activity as the outcomes have exceeded expectations. #StrengthsandSolutionsConsultancy #Uniting #groupcoaching #ToniBolte #DebCornale

This article highlights the challenges that we are currently experiencing. The knock on effect of people unable to access Centrelink to speak to someone about their Centrelink issues means many turn to us at Welfare Rights Centre. We support people throughout NSW who have had adverse Centrelink decisions or are attempting to access benefits critical to sustaining basic necessities. Often this is a matter of navigating Centrelink, and helping people understand their rights. Navigating Centrelink is hard, and can be a frustrating experience for anyone, but when you’re desperate it can be crushing. We are currently urging the government to fund us to continue to support the people who are most vulnerable. Particularly when waiting times to access Centrelink can be so long. https://buff.ly/4ahHif4

Did you catch the "Did You Know" article posted by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) as part of their ongoing rollout of a more structured and transparent CCWIS procurement and modernization oversight program? The questions are geared toward Child Welfare agencies, but the underlying federal regulations apply generally to all systems for health and human services procured with federal financial participation (FFP). In the notification email regarding the publication, ACF noted that issues with Ownership and Use Rights are, "holding up contract approvals and introducing significant project risks." ACF offers a series of recommendations for states, including the following: - Create a diverse and informed procurement team with representation from child welfare, information technology (IT), contract and procurement management, and legal (with experience in IT intellectual property issues) that is available to consult as needed. - Include language in the RFP to ensure the vendor understands if the system is being implemented, developed, installed with FFP, and isn’t exempted by language in 45 CFR § 95.617(c), then the system in its entirety must be owned by the state and shared with federal government and other child welfare agencies to be stored on the CCWIS repository. - Clarify in the RFP that any proprietary component must be identified in the vendor’s proposal. - Clarify in the RFP that there are no exclusions to the provisions of 45 CFR § 95.617, and if there are proprietary components, they must be identified. - Discuss these provisions with your attorneys prior to entering negotiations. - Involve contract and procurement managers and legal staff to the greatest extent possible; do not rely on vendors for contract language. #CCWIS #ACF #Childwelfare