Florida Safety Decision
Making Methodology
Leadership Transformation
Training for PASCO & PINELLAS
COUNTY Sheriff’s Office
Workshop Introduction
• Context for the Training
• Background on the Family Functioning
Assessment
• Training related to Implementation of Florida
Safety Decision Making Methodology
• Fidelity of the Family Functioning Assessment
– Philosophy of practice
– Intervention purpose and framework
– Conceptual and criteria basis for practice and
decision making
– Process, practice and outcomes
Participant Introductions
1. Name
2. Agency
3. What’s your role with
transformation ?
4. What is the one-thing you
are looking forward when
your agency rolls out this
year ? (From what you have
heard)
Baseline Knowledge
Assessment
Not a Test 
Where is Florida now & where do
we need to be?
“Storming the Castle Theory”
How TRANSFORMATION will get us there
Safety Intervention: Storming
the Castle
»Culture of Agency and Staff
Perception
»Hotline and CPI
»Ongoing Case Management
»Engagement with Families
»Information Collection
»Safety Planning
»Case Planning
Module 2
Florida Safety Decision Making
Methodology: Conceptual Framework
Module 2 Learning Objectives
Participants are able to:
• Define the Florida Safety Decision Making
Methodology.
• Define indicators of success for the Florida
Safety Decision Making Methodology
• Define the Family Functioning Assessment
through describing the intervention purpose
and objectives of the Family Functioning
Assessment.
Session 1
Florida Safety Decision Making
Methodology: Safety Intervention Model
Session 2
Purpose and Conceptual Framework for
Family Functioning Assessment
Family Functioning Assessment
(FFA - Investigation)
Purpose
Practice Objectives
Identify families in which
children are unsafe and in
need of full ongoing Case
Management protective
services (whether non-judicial
or judicial/court ordered)
 Determine children who are unsafe
 Protect children who are unsafe
 Establish and manage safety plans
 Verify the occurrence of
maltreatment
 Identify problems associated with
impending danger & caregiver
protective capacities
 May refer families for community
based supports (prevention/family
preservation/diversion) for children
determined to be “safe”
Focus of the Family
Functioning Assessment
Focus
– Center of attention of
the assessment
FFA vs. Incident Focused
FFA
Incident Focused
 Effectiveness related to
evaluating safety
 Information collection focused
on family functioning
 Caregiver protectiveness – child
needs orientation
 Maltreatment is symptomatic of
problem
 Concerned with factual
information
 Understanding impending
danger and caregiver
protectiveness
 Effectiveness related to
reconciling guilt
 Effectiveness related to proving
an allegation of maltreatment.
 Information collection focused
on incident
 Perpetrator – victim orientation
 Maltreatment is the problem
 Concerned with evidence
 Validating maltreatment
Module 3
Essential Skills (FSDMM) and Family
Centered Practice
Module 3 Learning Objectives
Participants will:
• Review the core tenets of Florida’s Family
Centered Practice Model and understand
how the model has been updated to
incorporate the Florida SDMM.
• Review application of core tenets through
case observation.
Family Centered Practice
•
•
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•
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Demonstrate respect and courtesy
Demonstrate genuineness and equity
Respond promptly
Continually seek to engage
Act and respond with the family as the primary
source of information
Provide support and encouragement
Demonstrate professionalism
Enable and promote participation and
involvement
Provide necessary information
Demonstration of Respect &
Courtesy
• Engagement with family
• Demonstrate empathy & engagement
by the agency
Demonstration of Genuiness &
Equity
• Engagement with family
• Investment in family outcomes
• Understanding to seek resolution
Responding Promptly
• Attention & Engagement with the
family
• Family feels connected
Constantly Seeking to Engage
• Without the family, practice cannot
proceed.
• Information & decision-making will be
insufficient.
• The family is our customer we should
continually seek to engage the family.
Act & Respond with the family as
the Primary source of Information
• Families are the experts on their family.
Provide Support &
Encouragement
• Child welfare is intrusive
• Support & encouragement reinforces
empathy & understanding by the CPI
Demonstrate Professionalism
• Explore who we conduct out business
• How we present to families?
• How we maintain our professional
objectivity?
Enable and Promote
Participation & Involvement
• Families participation and involvement
is critical.
• Change will not happen without it.
Provide Necessary Information
• Knowledge is power
• Keeping families informed
Session 2
Essential Skills
5 Essential Skills
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Engagement
Teaming
Safety Assessment
Safety Planning and Identification of
Family Needs
• Safety Management
Conclusion of Module 3
Module 4
Pre-Commencement and Commencement:
Assessment of Present Danger
Module 4 Learning Objectives
Participants are able to
• Define and discuss pre-commencement activities
associated with responding to Hotline Intakes.
• Discuss the significance of pre-commencement
activities for responding to Hotline Intakes.
• Discuss and evaluate supervisory and front line staff
pre-commencement activities associated with
responding to Hotline Intakes.
Session 1
Information Collection
Protocol Definition
Information Collection Protocol: Pre-Commencement
Pre-Commencement Demonstration: Large Group Activity
Pre-Commencement Demonstration: Small Group Activity
Information Collection
Extent of
Maltreatment
Disciplinary
Practices/Behavior
Management
General Parenting
Practices
KNOW
THE
FAMILY
Adult Functioning
Surrounding
Circumstances
Child Functioning
Information Collection
Protocol
• Agency policies, intervention
standards, procedures, and agreement
along with the state of art translated
into a uniform and systematic approach
that describes how an activity/process
will be carried out.
Information Collection
Protocol: Pre-Commencement
Protocol is being incorporated into
Florida Administration Code (FAC)
65c-28, 65c-29, 65c-30
Effective July 1, 2013
Pre-Commencement
Demonstration
What that looks like?
Session 2: Present Danger
Assessment
Child Safety
Danger Threats and Definitions
Present Danger
Impending Danger
Conceptual Framework for Present Danger
Identifying Present Danger
Initial Contact
Confirming Present Danger: The Role of the Supervisor
Safe
• Safe: A child can be considered safe when
there is no threat of danger to a child within
the family/household or when the caregiver
protective capacities within the household can
manage threats of danger.
• Unsafe: A child is unsafe when there is a
danger threat to a child within a
family/household and the caregiver protective
capacities within the household are insufficient
to manage the threat of danger, thus requiring
protective intervention (action).
Danger Threat: Present
Danger
• Present danger is an immediate,
significant and clearly observable family
condition occurring in the present tense,
already endangering or threatening to
endanger a child. It is important to
understand that the primary criterion that
qualifies present danger is what is
happening that endangers a child is
happening now; it is currently in process
of actively placing a child in peril.
Danger Threat: Impending
Danger
• Impending danger is associated with a child living or being in a
position of continual danger’ Danger may not exist at a
particular moment or be an immediate concern, but a state of
danger exists. Impending danger is not necessarily active in the
sense that a child might be hurt immediately like is true of
present danger. When a child lives in impending danger one
can expect severe harm as a reasonable eventuality.
• Impending danger refers to threats to a child’s safety that exist;
are insidious; but are not immediate, obvious, or active at the
onset of DCF intervention.
• Impending danger refers to threats that eventually are
identified and understood upon more fully evaluating and
understanding individual and family conditions and
functioning.
Danger Threat Guide
Danger Threat: Assessment of Present
Danger
Reading and Debrief
Conceptual Framework for
Present Danger
• Present Danger?
–If what is being stated is
true, does it equate to
Present Danger?
FFA Intervention Standards:
Initial Contact
• Diligence in Response
• Assessment of Present Danger
• Time to Respond
– 4 Hours
– 24 Hours
Identifying Present Danger at
Initial Contact
Rules to live by
 Don’t assume parents know what you do.
 Be able to clearly articulate what your agency does, and be able to
describe your purpose.
 Remain neutral—don’t minimize but don’t feel the need to defend.
 Don’t make promises.
 Listen and allow for emotion. Begin engaging the family
 Avoid (at this point in the interview) getting bogged down by being
preoccupied with the specifics of the referral.
 Elicit help from the parents--they are the authority figures in their
home.
Initial Contact Consultation:
Identifying and Justifying
Present Danger
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What is the status of information collection? Who has the CPI/Case Manager
interviewed or contacted?
Can the CPI/Case Manager clearly describe the conditions that they believe endanger
the child?
What is the condition of the child and how does the child’s condition fit with the
definition of present danger?
What is the condition of the caregivers and how does the caregiver condition fit the
definition of present danger?
Based on what the CPI/Case Manager is describing, does the danger seem currently
active, vivid, and reasonable?
Is the CPI/Case Manager describing a family circumstance and/or aspect of caregiver
functioning that is currently and/or actively threatening child safety?
Does the CPI/Case Manager feel compelled to take action immediately to assure the
protection of the child? And if so, why?
If the CPI/Case Manager were to take no action based on what is being considered
during consultation, what can be anticipated to occur with respect to the concerning
family conditions and potential effects on the child?
Session 3
Present Danger Plan
Present Danger Plan
Definition
An instantaneous (same day), short-term, sufficient
strategy that provides a child responsible adult
supervision and care to allow for the completion of
the family functioning assessment.
Purpose
To suspend what is going on long enough to
support continuing the family functioning
assessment.
What Present Danger Plans Must
Must Do:
Immediate
• Must be in motion and confirmed before
worker (CPI/Case Manager) leaves the home.
Short-Term
• Must control danger threat from the present
until sufficient information can be gathered and
analyzed to determine the need for forming an
ongoing safety plan.
Present Danger Plans Must Be
Sufficient
Sufficient
• Identification of present danger to a child;
• Confirmed to manage present danger: description of
how the plan will work;
• Confirmation of person(s) responsible for protection;
trustworthiness, reliability, commitment, availability,
alliance to plan;
• Willing parents to cooperate with the plan;
• Evaluation of home if child is released or placed with
other, or if family-made arrangement is opted;
• Estimated time frames of plan and oversight.
Conclusion
Module 4
Module 5
Information Collection and Documentation
Module 5 Learning Objectives
Participants are able to:
• Further define, discuss, and develop the six domains of
information collection for staff.
• Define and discuss the application of the information collection
protocol for information collection.
• Evaluate staff interviews, utilizing essential skills associated
with the Florida Safety Decision Making Methodology, for
information collection through case application.
• Analyze, evaluate, and justify determination of sufficiency of
information collection and documentation when applied to
case application.
Session 1
Information Collection: Six Domains
Characteristics and Common Errors Influencing Information
Collection and Decision Making
Family Functioning Assessment Information Standard
Determining Information Collection Sufficiency: An Exercise
Information Collection
Extent of
Maltreatment
Disciplinary
Practices/Behavior
Management
General Parenting
Practices
KNOW
THE
FAMILY
Adult Functioning
Surrounding
Circumstances
Child Functioning
Family Functioning
Information Standard
There is hardly anything so necessary as
the ability to distinguish between that
which is important and that which is not.
– William Barclay
Information Collection
Protocol
Reading
Information Collection as
Competency
 I know what I must learn about a family. I know what
information I must collect on each case I am assigned.
 I understand the purposes or reason for needing to
know this information.
 I demonstrate the ability to gather the information.
 I demonstrate the awareness that everything I do before
and during information collection influences the
quantity and quality of the information I will collect.
 I can discuss and write about the information I collected
logically, succinctly, and in a way that justifies my
conclusions
Engaging Families:
Application of Essential Skills
and Field Assessment
Documenting Information Collection
Session 2
Florida Family Functioning
Assessment
FFA Documentation
Conclusion
Module 5
Module 6
Assessment of Impending Danger and
Caregiver Protective Capacities
Module 6 Learning Objectives
Participants are able to:
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Defend and compare the concepts of safe and unsafe.
Illustrate and justify the application of the danger threshold.
Evaluate family conditions as danger threats utilizing the danger
threshold.
Assess and justify the identification of danger threats at impending
danger through case application.
Discuss caregiver protective capacities.
Interpret the significance of caregiver protective capacities to
inform safety decision making.
Illustrate the application of the concept of caregiver protective
capacities.
Analyze safety decision making utilizing the concepts of danger
threats and caregiver protective capacities.
Session 1
•
Assessment of Impending Danger
• Definition of Safety
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•
•
Impending Danger
Criteria
• Danger Threshold
Qualifying the Danger Threshold Criteria
• Identifying Family Conditions that meet the Danger Threshold
• Impending Danger Threats
Safe
• Safe: A child can be considered safe when
there is no threat of danger to a child
within the family/home or when the
caregiver protective capacities within the
home can manage threats of danger.
• Unsafe: A child is unsafe when there is a
danger threat to a child within a
family/home and the caregiver protective
capacities within the home are insufficient
to manage the threat of danger, thus
requiring outside intervention.
Definition of Impending
Danger
• A state of danger in which family behaviors,
attitudes, motives, emotions and/or situations
pose a threat which may not be currently
active but can be anticipated to have severe
effects on a child at any time
– Commonly may not be obvious at the onset of
CPS intervention or occurring in a present context
but can be identified and understood upon more
fully evaluating individual and family conditions
and functioning.
– Child lives in a general state of danger within a
family that requires safety intervention to
prevent severe harm.
How to Judge When a Family
Condition is Impending Danger
Threshold Criteria:
Observable
Imminent
Out of Control
Severity
Vulnerable Child
Safe Child:
Negative Family
Conditions are able to
be
controlled/managed
by the family that do
not result in unsafe
children.
Unsafe Child:
Negative Family
Conditions have
crossed the
Threshold and are no
longer able to be
managed/controlled
by the Family.
Differentiating Family
Conditions:
Danger Threshold Criteria
Observable
Out of Control
Severe
Imminent
Vulnerable Child
Qualifying the Danger Threshold
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What Must We Know?
How long have family conditions been occurring?
(Duration)
How often do the family conditions happen?
(Consistency)
What is the extent of the family conditions?
(Pervasiveness)
What stimulates/contributes to the family conditions?
(Influence)
What is the impact on the family? (Impact)
How likely is that family conditions will continue?
(Continuance)
Impending Danger Threats
Handout
Session 2
Caregiver Protective Capacities
Caregiver Protective
Capacities
Caregiver protective capacities are personal and
care giving behavioral, cognitive and emotional
characteristics that specifically and directly can
be associated with being protective of one’s
young. Caregiver protective capacities are
personal qualities or characteristics that
contribute to vigilant child protection.
Caregiver Protective
Capacities
Reference Handout
Behavioral Protective
Capacity
Specific action, activity, performance
that is consistent with and results in
parenting and protective vigilance.
Cognitive Protective Capacity
Specific intellect, knowledge,
understanding and perception that
results in parenting and protective
vigilance
Emotional Protective
Capacity
Specific feelings, attitudes, identification
with child and motivation that results in
parenting and protective vigilance.
Caregiver Protective
Capacity
Discussion
Conclusion
Module 6
Module 7
Safety Planning: Impending Danger
Module 7 Learning Objectives
Participants are able to:
• Discuss the purpose of a safety plan in
response to impending danger.
• Justify the concepts of safety planning and
treatment services.
• Justify the need for a safety plan in response
to impending danger through the use of the
safety planning analysis.
• Evaluate case information to justify the
development of a safety plan to control for
impending danger.
Session 1
Plans That Form Intervention
Safety Plan
Safety Plan vs Treatment/Case Plan
What is a Safety Plan?
Criteria for a Safety Plan
Definition of In-Home Safety Actions
Actions Within Safety Plans
Scope of a Safety Plan
Responsibility for Safety Management and Sufficient Safety Planning
Controlling for Danger
What and
When
Present Danger Plan
Safety Plan
Initial Contacts
Conclusion of Family
Functioning Assessment
Why
Control safety
Control safety
What
Present danger
Impending Danger
Purpose
Manage Present Danger
while completing the
Family Functioning
Assessment
Manage Impending Danger
while allowing case
management services to
occur
When
First Contacts
Conclusion of Family Functioning
Assessment
Why
Control safety
Control safety
What
Present Danger
Impending Danger
Purpose
Manage Present
Danger while
completing the
information
collection and
Family Functioning
Assessment
process
Manage Impending Danger while
allowing safety management and
full case management services to
occur
Requires safety
management and
vigilant monitoring
Requires:
Safety management and vigilant
monitoring
Case management and case
planning
Ultimate Responsibility for Safety Management: AGENCY
Safety Plan: Same Template; Different
Purpose
Safety Plan vs Case Plan
Safety Plan
Case Plan
Why
Control safety
Treatment
What
Danger
Caregiver Protective
Capacities
Purpose at
conclusion
of FFA
process
Manage Impending
Danger while allowing
case management
services to occur
Enhance Caregiver Protective
Capacities
Creating a Strategy for Maintaining
Child Care: The Scenario
• It has been determined by your doctor
that due to the severity of a recent
medical condition it is going to be perhaps
several months until you are feeling up to
par. Due to this illness, you are generally
unable to consistently attend to primary
and essential parenting responsibilities on
your own. (i.e., feeding, bathing, dressing,
supervision, structure, etc.)
What is a Safety Plan?
• A written arrangement between
caregivers and the agency that
establishes how impending danger
threats to child safety will be managed
• Must be implemented and active as
long as threats to child safety exist and
caregiver protective capacities are
insufficient to assure a child is
protected
What are the criteria for
Safety Plans?
• Must control or manage Impending
danger.
• Must have an immediate effect.
• Must be immediately accessible and
available.
• Must contain safety services and
actions only.
• No promissory commitments.
Definition of In-Home Safety Actions:
Taking Control of an Out-of-Control
Family Condition
• Active and intentional efforts made by
DCF (CPI or Case Manager), the family,
informal and formal resources that will
assume the responsibility for assuring
that a child’s basic needs and safety
needs are met.
Actions within Safety Plans
• Safety Categories:
– Behavioral Management
– Crisis Management
– Social Connection
– Resource Support
– Separation
What is the Scope of Safety
Plans?
• Use of in-home, out-of-home, combination of
actions.
• Clarification of the role of parents (caregivers) in
the plan.
• Protective role of others.
• Specification of the safety services from a
limited to extensive perspective.
• Use and responsibility of the family network and
professionals.
• Parent (caregiver) access to child.
• Identification and rationale for different kinds of
separation.
• Anticipated time limits that govern separation.
Developing Sufficient Safety
Plans
Once threats to child are identified, the
responsibility for assuring safety
management rests with DCF!
When is a Safety Plan
Sufficient?
A safety plan is sufficient when it is a well
thought-out approach containing the most
suitable people taking the necessary
actions, frequently enough to control
danger threats and/or substitute for
diminished caregiver protective capacities.
Purpose for Safety Planning
Analysis
• Analyze the relationship between
specific pieces of information for
determining the degree of
intrusiveness and the level of effort
necessary for assuring that a DCF safety
plan will be reasonably effective in
protecting a child.
Safety Analysis Questions
Safety
Analysis
Question #1
•The parents/legal guardians are willing for an
in-home safety plan to be developed and
implemented and have demonstrated that they
will cooperate with all identified safety service
providers.
Safety
Analysis
Question #2
•The home environment is calm and consistent
enough for an in-home safety plan to be
implemented and for safety service providers to
be in the home safely.
Safety
Analysis
Question #3
•Safety services are available at a sufficient
level and to the degree necessary in order to
engage the way in which impending danger
is manifested in the home.
Safety
Analysis
Question
4
•An in-home safety plan and the use
of in-home safety services can
sufficiently manage impending
danger without the results of
scheduled professional evaluations.
Safety
Analysis
Question
5
•The parents/legal guardians have a
residence in which to implement an
in-home safety plan.
Safety Planning Determination
Meeting: Focus Points
• Focus on how to manage the safety factors—
know and understand.
• Identify action areas that match up with
danger threats.
• Consider actions/services within action areas
that seem relevant.
• Apply the 4 – Ws and the Big H.
• Based on the group analysis, judge sufficiency.
• Complete the safety plan.
• Be prepared to explain and justify your safety
plan.
Developing the Safety Plan
Case Application
Florida Case Review
Small Group Exercise
Conclusion
Module 7
Module 8
Completing the Investigation
Module 8 Learning Objectives
• Participants are able to:
• Apply the Child Maltreatment Index for
Maltreatment Finding
• Define and illustrate the purpose of the risk
assessment for investigation completion.
• Evaluate the application of the risk assessment
through case application.
• Evaluate the investigation closure for
appropriateness.
• Assess the actions necessary for case transfer to
community based care and ongoing safety
management.
Session 1
Maltreatment Finding
Definition of Maltreatment
“Maltreatment” means a specific type
of injury or harm
Determining the Finding
Finding:
• The determination as to whether there is a preponderance of
credible evidence supporting the reported harm or threat of harm
for each alleged maltreatment.
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•
•
VERIFIED. This finding is used when a preponderance of the
credible evidence results in a determination that the specific harm
or threat of harm was the result of abuse, abandonment or
neglect by a parent or caregiver.
NOT SUBSTANTIATED. This finding is used when there is not a
preponderance of credible evidence to support that the specific
harm or threat of harm was the result of abuse, abandonment, or
neglect by a parent or caregiver.
NO INDICATORS. This finding is used when there is no credible
evidence to support the allegations of abuse, abandonment, or
neglect by a parent or caregiver.
Risk Assessment
Safe Children:
• provides a measure for identifying
families for prevention services.
Unsafe children:
• Risk assessment does not determine
families for case management
services, regardless of risk level.
Session 2
Case Transfer
Case Transfer Sufficiency
Checklist to Guide Transfer Process
Case Transfer Meeting
Purpose and Outcomes
Conclusion
Module 8
Training Conclusion
POST ASSESSMENT
Thank you & Have an Inspirational Day!