RE: collaboration be adversaries

["Frank Vandervort" <vort@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Dr. Clark-Duff,

I have been trying to access the full text of your dissertation and 
for some reason it does not come up. I am wondering if you have any 
advice for accessing it?

Also, have you published any papers regarding this?

Thank you,
Frank Vandervort


At 10:44 PM 3/19/2009, you wrote:
>Sheri,
>
>You may be interested in my PhD research on a statutory child 
>protection service's voluntary 2 week home based family assessment 
>and caseplanning program with families at high risk of child removal.
>
>My evaluation assessed child protection outcomes for 100 families 
>who participated in this program vs 100 families who met all the 
>referral criteria but did not participate in the assessment.
>
>The program uses an ecological approach - assessing the child in the 
>context of the family and the family in the context of its 
>community. It also relies on interagency collaboration- in the 
>assessment process and in delivering the services recommended by the 
>assessment.
>
>The assessment process engages the parents in the process of 
>identifying the personal and family issues that were underlying the 
>child protection issues in their families, and determining what sort 
>of assistance would help them to address these issues in order to 
>provide a safe environment for their children.
>
>The assessment team produces a comprehensive report that provides a 
>"snapshot" of the family's child protection history, current family 
>circumstances, parent alcohol and drug history and mental health 
>issues, developmental history of each child, comments from local 
>services (school, local doctor, child care provider, family support, 
>AOD, Mental health etc) ,  strenghs and concerns and a set of 
>recommendations.
>
>Parents receive a copy of this report, prior to a case conference 
>that attempts to put the recommendations into action.  Because the 
>parents have been part of the process, although they may be 
>confronted by some aspects of how their family looks on paper, they 
>tend to be less likely to reject the recommendations, and have a 
>greater likelihood of engaging with the recommended services 
>(because they assisted in identifying what was needed) and staying 
>engaged, leading to better child protection outcomes.
>
>In fact, in many cases where the recommendation was for supervision 
>orders, or even short term placement while the parents attended 
>detox or treatment, they did not contest the order, because they saw 
>it as being in the best interests of the children and ultimately of the family.
>
>The child protection outcomes indicate that, even as statutory child 
>protection workers, it was possible to engage many of these parents 
>if they were approached with respect and absolute honesty throughout 
>the process.
>
>Three years after the assessment, the 100 assessed families had 
>significantly better outcomes in terms of family outcome, children's 
>outcome and more families with less intrusive, or no, legal 
>orders.  As a group, they had fewer child protection reports and 
>substantiated reports (compared with the three years before 
>assessment and with the Comparison Group), and fewer instances of 
>all the children in the family being in out of home care.
>
>If you would like more information about the research, it is available on:
><http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:2618?expert=creator:"Clark-Duff,+Janet";>http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:2618?expert=creator%3a%22Clark-Duff%2c+Janet%22
>
>The abstract is attached.  Hope this is of interest.
>
>Janet Clark-Duff
>
>
>Dr Janet Clark-Duff
>B.Soc.Stud. M.A. PhD.
>Casework Consultant,
>Child Protection and Family Assessment Specialist.
>Mob 0401 918 055
><mailto:jclarkduff@xxxxxxxxxxx>jclarkduff@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
>
>
>----------
>From: dfmcmahon1@xxxxxxx
>To: child-maltreatment-research-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: collaboration be adversaries
>Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:36:56 -0500
>
>State policy in child welfare makes much of the notion that 
>solutions are found by means of collaboration between family and the 
>agency and invokes the concept, widely stated (at least) in, say, 
>systems involving children with special health care needs, special 
>education, and so on that "parents are experts." Yet parallel to 
>casework are the legal proceedings--deprivation adjudications, 
>custody petitions, and so on. I'm sure different prosecutors (which, 
>when you come down to it, is what they are) take different 
>approaches to their work, but what certainly can happen is that as 
>long as parents exercise their right to have their case heard in 
>court they are subject to a difficult tearing-down process, in which 
>the very person who most represents the agency in casework is also 
>the person whose information is used as the weaponry (possibly with 
>considerable sharpening efforts by the prosecutor).
>
>Any comments, study, papers, or anything else on this topic and how 
>it impacts the concept of collaboration? Government publications do 
>tend to focus on the fact that whatever the court outcome or other 
>clear legal requirements for parents happens to be, those must be 
>taken seriously--but shy away from the issue of how destructive that 
>process can be, and what agencies can do to lessen the destructive impact.
>
>I was involved in a case in which the agency made the wise decision, 
>after the parent prevailed in a TPR proceeding, to change 
>caseworkers so the reunification ordered by the court could proceed 
>without resentment.
>
>Sheri McMahon
>
>
>----------
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Frank E. Vandervort
Clinical Assistant Professor of Law
University of Michigan Law School
Child Advocacy Law Clinic
313 Legal Research Building
625 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1215
(734) 763-5000