Family/Whānau
Caregiver Assessment
and Approval
Engaging with families to
achieve better outcomes for
children and young people
What the workshop looks like
Today’s workshop gives us an opportunity for:
>
>
>
>
>
Further discussion and questions about the new family/whānau caregiver
assessment and approval process
Deciding how we’ll undertake family/whānau searching
How to undertake a family/whānau caregiver assessment
Using the Three Houses and Core Needs of Children to inform/guide
discussions during the family/whānau caregiver assessment hui
Development of a site action plan – where to from here for staff?
When children and young people
can’t stay with their parents
>
>
>
>
As a companion to the new family/whānau caregiver assessment process, a key
information has been developed to guide social workers in situations when it is
not safe for the child to remain with their parents but where a safe placement
can be located for them without Child, Youth and Family needing to secure
custody through the Family Court
Even when a child is not in the Chief Executive’s custody Child, Youth and
Family still has a responsibility to ensure the people taking on the care of the
child or young person are the people who will best met their needs and keep
them safe
This key information outlines the minimum requirements for assuring safety as
well as ideas on how to manage concerns and support the placement
This key information will be discussed in more detail later in this workshop
The new family/whānau caregiver
assessment process
These parts will be familiar to you as we already do them:
>
Safety checks – Police, CYRAS, TRIM, ID, referees, medical, home visit
>
Assessment report
>
Approval delegations for convictions
These parts of the process are new:
>
Family/whānau caregiver assessment hui
>
Stronger focus on supporting the placement
>
Roles of the child’s social worker and caregiver social worker
>
Self-assessment for prospective caregivers
>
Provisional approval
Which assessment process?
From March 2012 Child, Youth and Family will have distinct caregiver
assessment pathways for non-family/whānau (Ways to care) and family/whānau
It will usually seem really clear which assessment process best fits a particular
situation, but in others it may be more difficult. When unsure consider the following:
> Do the child or young person’s parents think of the prospective caregiver as
family/whānau?
> Does the child or young person think of the prospective caregiver as
family/whānau?
> Use your professional judgement, consult with your supervisor and record the
rationale for your decision
Key Information: Which caregiver assessment process do I use?
provides more guidance.
Family/whānau assessment hui
>
Brings together the prospective family/whānau caregivers, other family
members (including the child or young person and their parents) and the child or
young person’s social worker to discuss the suitability and capability of the
prospective caregivers to provide safe care
>
Is held as a stand-alone meeting or following another family gathering (e.g.
family group conference)
>
Largely replaces the existing interview process (although additional interviews
are completed outside of the hui when concerns or sensitive issues arise)
>
Information for medical and referee checks is gathered during the assessment
hui
>
The Three Houses can be used to guide discussions and help everyone to stay
focussed on safe care for the child or young person
THE THREE HOUSES
Extended family/whānau support
(paternal and maternal)
Knowledge of child’s needs
(understanding of the child)
Previous experiences
(prospective caregiver’s own
background and of providing care)
Family/Extended Family
Knowledge of child’s needs
(understanding of the child)
Previous experiences
(prospective caregiver’s own
background and of providing care)
Family/Extended Family
How will the care
arrangement be supported
(e.g. any training, material
needs, special needs of the
child or young person,
contact with other
family/whānau members)
Support needs, agencies
Extended family/whānau support
(paternal and maternal)
NEXT STEPS
Community – including work
STRENGTHS
Friends/Peers
Community – including work
VULNERABILITIES
Adapted by OCSW for use with
prospective family/whānau caregivers
(April 2010, Child, Youth and Family)
Supporting the placement
>
>
>
>
A support package for the placement is developed during the assessment hui
which will identify what will help the prospective caregivers best support and
care for the child or young person
This support package is written up and included in the caregiver assessment
report
The support package is reviewed as part of the review of the child’s case plan
(see the Caring for Children and Young People policy) i.e. every three months
Caregiver reviews continue as per the Caregiver Support and Review policy
Roles and responsibilities
>
>
>
>
>
>
Family/whānau caregiver assessments are led by the child or young person’s
social worker
Someone other than the child’s social worker facilitates the family/whānau
assessment hui
The child or young person’s social worker writes up the assessment report
The caregiver social worker provides ongoing support to the caregiver from the
point of approval
Depending on their availability, the caregiver social worker can become involved
in the assessment process at an earlier stage (i.e. to attend the assessment hui
and/or assist with completion of assessment tasks)
Roles around who completes which tasks in an out-of-area caregiver
assessment situation are clearly defined
Self-assessment for prospective
caregivers
> As part of the assessment process, the prospective family/whānau caregiver
completes a self-assessment which helps identify their strengths and needs as
well as their expectations and responsibilities as caregivers for Child, Youth and
Family
> The prospective caregiver is provided with a copy of the Caregiver Handbook at
the beginning of the caregiver assessment process and given whatever
assistance they require in order to complete their self-assessment
> The family/whānau member will not be considered for approval until they have
returned their completed self-assessment
Provisional approval
>
>
>
>
>
>
Replaces ‘emergency approval’
Only occurs in exceptional situations where a family/whānau member has been
identified as the best placement for a child and there is a need for this
placement to occur with some urgency
Requires completion of safety checks – Police, CYRAS, ID and home visit – and
supervisor approval
Provisional approval is not granted if the family/whānau member’s criminal
history or CYRAS record suggests the placement may not keep the child safe
The family/whānau assessment hui is held within 5 working days of provisional
approval
Full approval will be granted within 20 working days following the assessment
hui
After today …
This policy comes into effect from March 2012
This workshop will help you become more familiar with the policy, key information
documents and resources and also determine who will do what on site.
Let’s take a closer look …
Swim lanes diagram
Decision
Process
Safe caring for children and young people
Report of
concern
CFA / Investigation
--------------------------------------------Intervention
Safety
assessment
Full
assessment
Alternative
care needed
Family/whānau
agreement
Family group
conference
Court
Key Documents
Process
Placement
needed
Assessment
of safe care
arrangements
(when no custody
to the CE)
KI: Identifying safe
care solutions
when children and
young people can’t
stay at home
Caregiver
assessment
(custody to the
CE)
Police, CYRAS/
TRIM, home visit,
discussion with
prospective
caregivers
Family/whānau
caregiver
assessment and
approval policy
Police, CYRAS/
TRIM, referees,
medical, home visit,
assessment hui, selfassessment, other
interviews
Non-family/
whānau caregiver
assessment and
approval policy
Police, CYRAS/
TRIM, referees,
medical, home visit,
interview/s, 3 day
training
The family/whānau documents
The family/whānau caregiver assessment and approval policy
Key Information:
> Identifying safe care solutions for children and young people when they can’t
stay at home
> Which caregiver assessment process should I use?
> Undertaking the family/whānau caregiver assessment
> Incorporating the core needs of children and young people into the caregiver
assessment process
Resources:
> Self-assessment for caregivers
> Family/whānau caregiver assessment report
> Family/whānau caregiver assessment flowchart
Needs of children and young people
in care
>What do children and young people coming into care need?
>What are we looking for from family/whānau caregivers
Specifically think about knowledge and qualities you would want to see
>How will we evidence this?
Completing the assessment hui
> Understanding the difference between the assessment hui and other
meetings
> Who will we invite to the assessment hui and how will we find them
> How we will use the Three Houses in the assessment hui
Practice Session
> The Core Needs of Children – case study
Working collaboratively
The assessment process is led by the child or young person’s social worker,
irrespective of whether they are a care and protection or youth justice client.
It’s important that we work collaboratively on this site to support each other and
complete safe caregiver assessments for children and young people.
> How will we do this on site?
> Who on site can/will facilitate the assessment hui?
> How will sites utilise the expertise of caregiver social workers when completing
family/whānau caregiver assessments?
> What skills might staff members need to further develop in order to complete this
work?
Develop an action plan to ensure there is a shared understanding on site
about how the process will take effect from March 2012