Safety Versus Risk
"All safety factors are risk factors but not all risk factors are safety factors."
Safety:
A child can be considered safe when there is no threat of danger to a child within the
family/home or when the protective capacities within the home can manage threats of danger.
An unsafe child is when there is a threat of danger to a child within a family/home and the
protective capacities within the home are insufficient to manage the threat of danger thus
requiring outside intervention.
Present danger (Immediate, Significant, Clearly Observable) is an immediate (happening now),
significant and clearly observable family condition occurring in the present tense, already
endangering or threatening to endanger a child. CPS response is an immediate, temporary
protective action/safety plan to control present danger.
Impending danger (Observable, Out of Control, Severity, Imminence, Vulnerable Child) refers
to a circumstance within a family which is a threat that can be reasonably anticipated (within
next several days), that is in some sort of progressive existence. CPS response is continuing
safety plan to control impending danger. Case plan is to enhance protective capacities.
Risk:
The likelihood (chance, potential, prospect) for parenting behavior that is harmful and
destructive to a child’s cognitive, social, emotional, physical development and those with
parenting responsibility are unwilling or unable to behave differently.
Risk of maltreatment is a conclusion that is reached by analyzing what is happening generally in
a family. Risk assessment is concerned with the potential for maltreatment in the future, but
the future is unspecified. CPS response is a service plan to treat.
High risk refers to the high likelihood that maltreatment will occur, but does not address
severity, only an estimation of a maltreatment occurring sometime in the future.
Summary of the Differences between Risk and Safety
RISK is concerned with...
The likelihood of future maltreatment
Maltreatment on a continuum from mild to severe
Family functioning
General child well-being
Decision making based on an unlimited time frame
(any time in the future)
A judgment about any negative effects from future
maltreatment
All family situations and behaviors from onset
progressing into seriously troubled
Evaluating family situations and behaviors that may
need to be treated
All aspects of family life relevant to understanding the
likelihood of maltreatment
SAFETY is concerned with...
Current dangerous family conditions
Severe forms of dangerous family conditions and
severe maltreatment only
Those family conditions that meet the danger threshold
Specific threats to a child’s safety only
Decision making based on the present to the immediate
near future (next few days)
A judgment about the certainty of severe effects
Family situations and behaviors that are currently outof-control only
Evaluating family situations and behaviors that must be
managed and controlled
A limited number of safety factors only
Six Domains of Information Collection
1. Extent of Maltreatment
Type of maltreatment; Severity of the maltreatment, results, injuries; Maltreatment
history, similar incidents; Describing events(what happened, hitting, pushing);
Describing emotional and physical symptoms; Identifying child and maltreating
parent
2. Surrounding Circumstances for Maltreatment
How long has the maltreatment been occurring? Parental intent concerning the
maltreatment; Whether parent was impaired by substance use, or was otherwise
out-of-control when maltreatment occurred; parent's explanation of maltreatment
and family conditions; parent's acknowledgement of maltreatment,; parent’s
attitude; other problems connected with the maltreatment such as mental health
problems
*The first two (above) will be addressed by PI, so the CM should not continue to
investigate these, but look at how the above information can provide information for
the other four domains (below).
3. Child Functioning
How does the child function on a daily basis? Include physical health, development;
emotion/temperament; capacity for attachment; intellectual functioning; behavior;
ability to communicate; self-control; educational performance; peer relations;
behaviors that seem to provoke parent action; activities with family
What is this child's vulnerability based on identified threat(s)?
4. Parent/Adult Functioning
How does the adult function on a daily basis? Overall life management.
Assessment/analysis of prior abuse/neglect history. criminal behavior, impulse
control, substance use/abuse, violence/domestic violence, mental health, physical
health, emotion/temperament, intellectual functioning; behavior- ability to
communicate; self-control; education; peer and family relationships, employment;
cultural norms;
5. Parenting General
What are the overall, typical parenting practices used by the parents? Upbringing
and influences on parenting; parenting style; parent's description of themselves as
parent; reasons for being parent; satisfaction with being parent; history of
parenting; expectations of child; parenting knowledge/skill; cultural influence on
parenting
6. Discipline/Behavior Management
What are the disciplinary approaches used by the parents and under what
circumstances? purpose of discipline; what is parent expecting to achieve with
chosen discipline?