NASW Standards for Social Work Practice in Child Protection
Prepared by the NASW (USA) Task Force on Social Work Practice in Child Protection.
Approved by the Board of Directors, National Association of Social Workers, at its meeting on February 14, 1981.
Note: Reprinted January 1997. These standards are currently under review for revision.
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CONTENTS
* The Social Work Profession and Child Protective Services
* The Goals and Objectives of the Standards
* Standards for Attainment of Competence for all Social Workers in Child
Protective Services
* Standards for the Administrator of the CPS Agency
* Standards for the CPS Supervisor
* Standards for the Child Protective Services Worker
* Standards for the Social Worker Employed in a Setting Other Than Child
Protective Services
* Taxonomy of Standards for Social Work Practice in Child Protection
Introduction
Concern for the conditions of children springs from deep personal emotion as
well as the broad social desire to ensure the preservation of humanity. Yet,
in most contemporary societies children are rated low on the list of social
and economic priorities. Often, they suffer from benign neglect at best, or
are the victims of physical, sexual or emotional abuse and exploitation.
The social work profession is strongly rooted in the tradition of social
reform, much of which was directed toward alleviating the problems of
children in post-industrial society. Voluntary agencies and governmental
services for children were created by concerned citizens and public
officials during the last seventy years, usually in a minority struggle
against dominant interests.
Today, millions of children are the recipients of some form of social
service while many others in need are still not reached. Public agencies
alone, for example, provide social services to approximately two million
children. Nearly a third of these are in foster family homes or
institutions, with two-thirds of those known to the agency for a year or
more. Neglect and abuse are the most frequently cited reasons why children
receive social service assistance, accounting for 22 percent of the children
served.
Recent studies have shown that child welfare services are at their lowest
point in many decades, having deteriorated in the last ten years under the
neglectful policies of national, state and local officials. A principal
cause of that deterioration is recognized as the substitution of cheap labor
for qualified personnel. Seventy-five percent of the children receiving
child welfare service are served by persons having no training in their
work, a reversal of previous policy and practice. The Standards for Social
Work Practice in Child Protection, here published, set forth clearly the
criteria for personnel serving children at all levels of agency structure,
and at the same time provide a means for making that personnel accountable
for their service.
In many ways, the limitations of current social services to children in need
and their families are only surface social indicators of significant changes
in cultural values. They reflect the pervasiveness of our tendency to
project our personal and social antipathies onto the young of our society,
the citizens of the future, and to resist allocating sufficient resources to
their upbringing and care. If we are to protect these children and serve
them well, there must be competent agents of intervention backed by the
commitment and resources of our society. If we are to prevent cruelty
towards children, society will have to listen to the lessons learned by
their agents, the professional social workers. If we are to preserve a
democratic society and prepare for healthier, more peaceful future
generations, we must place the value of our children as the highest ethic.
We hope that the publication of these Standards will advance that cause.
Chauncey A. Alexander, ACSW, CAE
Executive Director
National Association of Social Workers
The Social Work Profession and Child Protective Services
Child protective services agencies have responsibility for ensuring that
assessment, treatment, and prevention services are available to children and
families encountering problems related to child abuse and neglect. Other
human services agencies have responsibility for supplementing these child
protective services efforts. To carry out these responsibilities fully,
there must be professional activities directed toward helping individuals,
families, and communities, and there must be a demonstration of professional
values, knowledge, and skills which is integrated into the helping process.
The profession of social work offers the activities, the values, the
knowledge, and skills necessary to intervene in behalf of endangered
children and their families.
Social work is defined as the system of organized activities carried on by a
person with particular knowledge, competence and values, designed to help
individuals, groups, or communities toward a mutual adjustment between
themselves and their social environment. With respect to child protection,
the social worker must provide services and organized activities toward the
specific goal of enhancing the safety and well-being of the child. To
achieve this goal, the social worker in child protective services accepts a
unique, and often difficult, professional challenge.
The social work profession provides the framework for meeting this
challenge. However, the social worker in child protective services must also
demonstrate an expertise in intervening into the private lives of families,
frequently on an involuntary basis. Such intervention requires acceptance of
unique legal and professional responsibility as well as the capacity to work
simultaneously with the child, the parents, other child welfare services,
multiple community service systems, and the courts.
The NASW "Standards for Social Work Practice in Child Protection" recognizes
both the core and specialized aspects of social work, which are necessary to
alleviate the social, economic, and personal conditions contributing to
child abuse and neglect. The Standards are established with underlying
professional commitments to:
* View the family as a dynamic system, affected by, and part of, larger
social systems;
* Seek new knowledge, increase understanding of self, and refine skills;
* Work with other professionals and community agencies toward improved
services for children and families; and,
* Support needed legislative and institutional change within and outside
the child protective service system in behalf of children and families.
Further, the Standards represent the professional commitment to establish a
level of competence expected of all social workers employed by child
protective services agencies.
The Goals and Objectives of the Standards
The goals of the Standards are to:
* Document that the ethics, values, knowledge, and skills of the social
work profession best prepare child protective services (CPS) staff for
effective intervention;
* Establish professional expectations so that social workers can monitor,
evaluate, and improve their own practices; and,
* Establish professional expectations so that boards of directors,
administrators and others can determine the adherence of social workers
to these expectations.
Toward these goals, the Standards also have the objectives to:
* Define the ethics, values, specialized knowledge, and skills of all
social workers in CPS-administrators, supervisors, and child protective
services workers-toward meeting the needs and capitalizing upon the
strengths of the child, the parents, and the family; and in accepting
the responsibilities to the agency, colleagues, other professionals,
and the community;
* Establish the professional expectations of CPS agency administrators
and supervisors so that effective social work practice can be
maintained and promoted, and, in turn, so that effective intervention
can occur; for example, expectations in the areas of policy
development, administrative leadership and support, and program and
staff development;
* Identify the expectations of social workers in carrying out all phases
of direct CPS intervention&emdash;intake, assessment, service planning,
service provision, and termination; and,
* Establish the basic child protective expectations of social workers in
settings other than CPS with regard to case identification, reporting,
collaboration, and advocacy.
Standards for Attainment of Competence for all Social Workers in Child
Protective Services
The Standards presented in this section document the ethics, values,
knowledge requirements, and skills of all social workers engaged in
CPS-administrators, supervisors, and child protective services workers. They
provide the foundation for the attainment of social work competence in all
Standards presented in subsequent sections.
STANDARD 1. Social Workers in CPS Shall Meet the Expectations of Conduct
Established by the NA S W Code of Ethics.
The NASW Code of Ethics establishes the ethical responsibilities of all
social workers with respect to themselves, clients, colleagues, employees
and employing organizations, the social work profession, and society.
Acceptance of these responsibilities guides and fosters competent social
work practice in all child protective tasks and activities.
STANDARD 2. Social Workers in CPS Shall Demonstrate, Throughout All Their
Child Protective Tasks and Activities, Acceptance of Specific Professional
Values.
The professional values considered most critical to social work practice in
CPS are:
* Acceptance of one's own humanness with a commitment to continued
pursuit of personal and professional growth;
* Acknowledgement of one's own values, attitudes and biases about
children, families, child rearing practices, ethnic and cultural
differences, along with awareness of the potential impact of these
personal feelings upon professional decision making;
* Belief in the capacity of people to change and the desire of most
parents to be good parents;
* Recognition of the dignity of the child as an individual with both a
right to adequate care and a stake in a continuing family relationship;
* Commitment to the child's family as the preferred unit of child rearing
and nurturing;
* Commitment to assist in meeting the physical, emotional, social,
educational, moral, and vocational needs of children so that they have:
sufficient nurturance, care, protection, guidance and control; feelings
of being loved and worthy; a sense of trust, belonging and security;
opportunities to depend on an adult who is responsible for seeing that
these needs are met, for protecting them from harm and from their own
impulses, and for guarding and controlling them until they are able to
do these things for themselves;
* Commitment to fostering the rights of children; for example, their
rights to be protected against all forms of abuse, neglect, cruelty,
and exploitation; to have opportunities that promote their healthy
development, permanent and consistent care, and participation whenever
decisions regarding their care and needs are made; and to have their
privacy and confidential disclosures respected;
* Commitment to fostering the rights of parents; for example, their
rights to be informed fully about the limits of confidentiality in CPS
situations; to have their privacy respected; to fulfill their role as
responsible for their children; to determine for themselves, within the
limits set by society, how they will rear their children; and to have
available the services and resources that will stimulate and strengthen
their parental functioning, or that clearly determine that they are
unable to give their children satisfactory care in their own homes;
* Belief that child neglect, abuse, and exploitation are more likely to
be symptoms of social and economic deprivations and personal problems
rather than of willful, premeditated malice; and,
* Recognition of society's responsibility to children and the need of the
CPS agency and its staff to be accountable to the community in
providing child protective services.
STANDARD 3. Social Workers in CPS Shall Display Knowledge Basic to the
Social Work Profession and an Understanding of the Social Institutions,
Organizations and Resources Serving Children and Families.
The knowledge requirements considered fundamental to all social work
practice, and which are met by completion of BSW and MSW programs within
accredited colleges and universities, include knowledge of:
* The history and development of social work, and the problems for which
social work offers remedies;
* Human growth and behavior; normal development; developmental stages;
human needs and motivations; feelings, behaviors and activities of
children; problems of childhood; the effect of school difficulties upon
children and families;
* The theory, principles and methods of social work, including casework,
group work, community organization, administration, supervision,
planning and research;
* Cultural, political and legal structures, processes, and practices;
* Economic factors affecting individuals and communities; for example,
cost of living, standards of living, unemployment rates, benefits and
services;
* Contributions to social work from other disciplines, including the
biological, psychological, and social sciences;
* The purpose and structure of social and child welfare services
agencies, public and voluntary; the functions of the relationships
among Federal, State, and local agencies;
* The functions of and services provided by schools, health, mental
health, and medical agencies, including special education services,
child guidance services, parenting and life enrichment courses; and
* The interrelationship between the individual and the family, the group,
the neighborhood, the community, and societal systems.
STANDARD 4. Social Workers in CPS Shall Possess Specialized Knowledge and
Understanding About Children and Families and About the Dynamics of Child
Abuse and Neglect.
Areas of knowledge about children and families required for effective CPS
intervention encompass a number of professional fields. This includes
knowledge of:
* Theories of personality development, determinants of personality such
as congenital endowment, experiences within the family, conditions,
opportunities in the environment, and cultural influences;
* Methods of child rearing and child care including basic health care;
cultural differences affecting child rearing; learning and social
experiences appropriate to different stages of development; guidance,
discipline and formation of ideas and values;
* The concept of family culture, including the role of the family in
meeting the needs of children; the importance of parents to children;
emotional aspects of parent-child relationships, responsibilities,
obligations, duties, and rights of parents; factors affecting parental
capacity to meet their children's needs; the effects of deprivation of
parental care;
* The indicators of and interrelationships between physical, sexual, and
emotional abuse and neglect; the dynamics of families who abuse or
neglect their children; the impact of socioeconomic stress upon
families; and the evaluation of risk to the child.
* Problems of children resulting from abuse and neglect or from parental
incapacity to fulfill adequately the functions of parenthood; the
effects on children of parental personality disturbances and marital
conflicts; the effects of partial separation from parents, as in day
care, and of separation as in foster family care; the problems involved
in divided allegiance in cases of parental conflict, broken homes, or
in placement; the effect on children of repeated changes in living
arrangement; the effects of adverse community conditions, cultural or
interracial problems; and
* Parental feelings and attitudes associated with: asking for help in
relation to the child; partially or fully surrendering the
child-rearing function; foster parents and the agency giving service;
the relationship of the parents' own experiences in growing up to their
capacity for parenthood; community and cultural attitudes toward
parents who cannot carry full responsibility.
STANDARD 5. Social Workers in CPS Shall Uphold the Authority to Protect the
Child as Vested in State Law.
Social Workers in CPS require specific knowledge of:
* The State's child abuse and neglect legislation as well as legislation
pertaining to child custody, guardianship, and adoption;
* The legal definitions of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and
neglect; the legal basis of authority to protect the child; conditions
under which this authority is used; legal basis for recognition of
neglect or abuse by the juvenile court and for questioning the parents'
ability to exercise their legal rights and obligations of parenthood;
* The use of legal systems; application of the law; preparation for court
and testimony; the roles of court personnel; implementation of court
orders; and interpretation of the above to children and their families;
* The function and responsibilities of law enforcement agencies and
correctional agencies in relation to children and parents;
* The intervention options within the framework of the law; such as
provision of services to children who need protection and to their
families; provision of services to families who require supplemental
care such as day care and homemaker services; and provision of services
to children who need emergency, foster family or group care and/or
permanency planning.
STANDARD 6. Social Workers in CPS Shall Demonstrate Skills Fundamental to
the Profession of Social Work.
Generic social work skills acquired through professional education,
practicum, and previous work experiences are considered a prerequisite to
effective CPS intervention. This includes the social worker's demonstrated
skills in:
* Being able to listen, observe, communicate, interview, understand,
confront, engage in mutual problem solving and conflict resolution;
* Enhancing the professional use of the client&endash;social worker relationship
by making appropriate use of authority in this relationship, and by
applying one's own personality strengths and talents to the social work
process;
* Being able to deal appropriately with apathy, hostility, resistance,
and anger displayed by parents and/or children, including assessment of
transference and counter-transference feelings;
* Working directly with parents, families and children on a crisis
intervention and ongoing services basis;
* Making decisions and solving problems that vitally affect the lives of
children and parents, while balancing their respective rights, opinions
and feelings;
* Selecting appropriate resources for supplemental or substitute family
care, and providing services related to their use;
* Knowing when and how to use supervision, consultation, and
collaboration;
* Developing working relationships with individuals from various
community groups/agencies/disciplines;
* Managing the involvement of multiple agencies in case situations,
including the pressures that may arise from different professional
perspectives; and,
* Timely completion of administrative tasks such as collecting and
applying data, keeping records, evaluating client progress and program
effectiveness.
Standards for the Administrator of the CPS Agency
Effective social work practice in CPS is directly related to the
administrator's capacity to translate policies into services for endangered
children and their families, and to provide child protective staff with the
administrative tools and support systems necessary for intervention. Thus,
the Standards presented in this section document the professional
expectations of CPS administrators towards the promotion of effective social
work practice in behalf of children and families. The administrator is
expected to have an MSW degree from an accredited college or university, to
have acquired a body of knowledge regarding the administrative process, and
to have had direct CPS work experience.
STANDARD 7. The CPS Administrator, in Accordance With Legal Mandates, Shall
Establish the Policies, Procedures and Guidelines Necessary for Effective
Social Work Practice in Child Protection.
To fulfill the expectations of this Standard, child protective tasks and
activities need to be guided and supported by the administrator's:
* Adherence to hiring social work staff with accredited BSW and MSW
degrees, demonstrated work skills, and characteristics which reflect
the ethnic composition of the clientele served by the agency;
* Adherence to clearly written job descriptions, affirmative action and
other personnel policies, and to grievance procedures;
* Delineation and differentiation of CPS work roles, responsibilities,
and tasks along with appropriate delegation of authority;
* Augmentation of social work staff with other disciplines;
* Establishment of measures to ensure program and service accountability,
including written policies and procedures for monitoring day-to-day
program operations and for ensuring client confidentiality;
* Recognition of outstanding staff performance, as well as implementation
of actions in response to poor staff performance;
* Establishment of operational definitions of child abuse, neglect,
sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and exploitation of children;
* Annual evaluations available to supervisors with written documentation
of their performance and with recommendations for appropriate future
action; and,
* Provision of systematic administrative and evaluative reviews of the
CPS program, and opportunities for board members and staff to
participate in the development of program policies.
STANDARD 8. The CPS Administrator Shall Advocate for Sufficient Child
Protective Program Funds and Adequate Working Conditions.
To fulfill this Standard, the administrator is expected to work consistently
toward the:
* Establishment of a salary schedule that is fair and reasonable with
regard to the social worker's education, work experiences, and job
responsibilities;
* Recruitment and allocation of program funds sufficient to emergency,
ongoing and family support services;
* Establishment of sufficient work space, allowing for supervisor- staff
and client-social worker privacy; that is, private offices for
supervisors, a minimum of 100 square feet of office space per worker;
* Provision of individual telephone lines and access to transportation
100 percent of the time to ensure that child protective staff can keep
in regular contact with their clients and with community agencies; and,
* Provision of sufficient clerical and case aide support services at a
ratio of five social workers to each clerical assistant and to each
case aide.
STANDARD 9. The CPS Administrator Shall Provide Leadership, Guidance and
Support to Staff to Enhance Their Professional Skills and Well-Being.
To compensate for the high physical and emotional demands placed upon CPS
staff during their daily child protective activities, the administrator is
to facilitate:
* Establishment of reasonable work loads for supervisors and staff; that
is, five to seven workers per supervisor and 20 to 25 families per
worker;
* Establishment of flexible work schedules, a means for overtime
compensation for staff working more than 40 hours per week, a system
for staff back-up, and opportunity for variety in CPS work assignments:
* Provision of appropriate and adequate supervision and multidisciplinary
consultation services for supervisors and staff;
* Provision of opportunities and time, equivalent to twelve days per
year, for staff development and continuing education experiences based
upon an agency assessment of training needs;
* Promotion of activities and intervention approaches to reduce the
physical risk to staff, stemming from potentially violent family or
community situations; and
* Promotion of coordinated activities and working relationships among the
various service divisions within the agency, with other community
agencies, and with the court;
* Establishment of written assurances of liability protection for staff
as well as legal representation in case-related court hearings.
STANDARD 10. The CPS Administrator Shall Demonstrate a Commitment to
Twenty-Four Hour Child Protective Response Capacity and Service
Availability.
The administrator's commitment to this Standard shall be demonstrated by:
* Establishment of the CPS agency as the focal point for the community's
child protective efforts with child protective staff assigned to
intervene, at all times, in behalf of endangered children;
* Assignment of CPS staff specifically hired to intervene after normal
working hours and on weekends;
* Assumption of the ethical and legal responsibilities delegated to the
agency to respond immediately to reports of child abuse and neglect,
and to initiate court action, protective custody and/or emergency
services; and,
* Development of crisis support services to children within their own
homes as an alternative to emergency placement.
STANDARD 11. The CPS Administrator Shall Demonstrate a Commitment to
Improving Agency and Community Services for Children and Families.
The administrator's responsiveness to the needs of children and families
served by the agency as well as to the needs of the community is to be shown
by:
* Education of the community about the availability of and accessibility
to, the twenty-four hour CPS response capacity;
* Provision of agency services which are readily available to children
and their families and which are responsive to the varied needs of
persons from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds;
* Promotion of inter-agency working relationships, written inter-agency
service agreements, and coordination of community services necessary
for a comprehensive child protective system that allows for direct
access to nurses, psychologists, pediatricians, attorneys, and other
disciplines;
* Application of knowledge gained from program evaluation to service
delivery;
* Prevention of child abuse and neglect through family advocacy
activities and efforts to improve community conditions having a
negative impact on the welfare of children and families, and through
legislative and educative efforts in behalf of children and families;
and,
* Appropriate use of the media to promote public awareness of the needs
of children and families and to educate the public about services
available, while guarding endangered children's and families' rights to
privacy and confidentiality.
Standards for the CPS Supervisor
The primary purpose of the supervisor is to ensure that the children,
parents, and families requiring CPS intervention receive prompt and
competent assistance from the child protective staff. Thus, the Standards
presented in this section document the expectations of the supervisor toward
accomplishment of this purpose.
STANDARD 12. The CPS Supervisor Shall Assume Multiple Professional Roles and
Responsibility for the Authority That Accompanies These Roles.
To meet the expectation of this Standard, the supervisor shall provide
supportive consultation and leadership to agency and CPS staff while
appropriately balancing the roles of teacher, manager, administrator, and
service provider. The supervisor is expected to have an MSW degree from an
accredited college or university, to have acquired a body of knowledge
regarding the supervisory process, and to have had direct CPS work
experience.
STANDARD 13. The CPS Supervisor Shall Provide Supervision to Child
Protective Staff using a Social Work Process Orientation.
A process orientation to supervision of staff includes:
* Integration of a comprehensive knowledge base with professional ethics,
values, and direct child protective practice experiences;
* Demonstration of refined social work skills through the ongoing
provision of direct services to CPS families;
* Understanding and application of adult learning theory and management
techniques;
* Promotion of the social worker's use of self and self-awareness in the
worker- supervisory relationship;
* Acceptance of responsibility for shared decision making and problem
solving throughout the CPS process; and,
* Availability to staff facing crises in the field.
STANDARD 14. The CPS Supervisor Shall Promote Team Work Through the Use of
Peer Supervision, Consultation, and Understanding of Group Process.
The supervisor has a responsibility to promote teamwork both within the CPS
unit and among all agency service units. Acceptance of this responsibility
shall be demonstrated by the supervisor's:
* Management of own work-related stress, and assistance to staff and
other agency supervisors in coping with their work-related stresses;
* Application of knowledge and skills in communicating, confronting,
resolving conflicts, and making appropriate use of group dynamics and
processes;
* Application of various forms of supervision, staff development, and
training activities to the learning needs of staff;
* Differentiation and balance in the use of staff, with regard to
matching worker strengths and professional interests with client and
program needs;
* Annual evaluations available to staff with written documentation of
their performance and with recommendations for appropriate future
action; and,
* Completion of annual program evaluations with application of the
knowledge gained to improve service delivery.
STANDARD 15. The CPS Supervisor -Shall Work Toward the Development of
Resources to Enhance Staff Practices and Agency Services.
To meet the expectations of this Standard, the supervisor shall acknowledge
and accept the functions and responsibilities of the middle management
position. This position requires professional responsiveness to the needs of
clients, staff, administrators, the agency and the community as demonstrated
by:
* Consistent assessment of staff and program needs and the establishment
of priorities with regard to these needs;
* Effective use of existing staff and program resources, including
establishment of caseloads based on workers' skill level, severity of
cases, existence of supplemental community resources, and geographic
considerations;
* Collection of data regarding environmental factors having a significant
impact on the family and communication of that data to agency
administrators;
* Communication of CPS knowledge and needs to agency administrators as a
means of staff and client advocacy;
* Establishment of team work with administrators, supervisors and
personnel from other community resources and agencies;
* Participation on a multidisciplinary child abuse and neglect team as
the agency's representative; and,
* Acquisition and application of knowledge about the community's
political and legislative processes to the development or expansion of
resources for children and families.
STANDARD 16. The CPS Supervisor Shall Promote the Social Work Profession.
The supervisor's compliance with this Standard includes:
* Acquisition of ACSW standing, professional licensing, and participation
in professional organizations;
* Presentations of knowledge at professional conferences, workshops and
seminars; and,
* Participation on state and local councils/committees/task forces, and
at public hearings concerned with services for children and families.
Standards for the Child Protective Services Worker
The Standards presented in this section document the practice expectations
of social workers throughout the various phases of direct CPS intervention.
These expectations, when actively supported by CPS administrators and
supervisors, enable social workers to carry out their responsibilities to:
* families and parents
* children
* the agency, and
* the community
Written documentation of all intervention activities is implicit in meeting
the requirements of these Standards.
A. The Social Worker's Responsibility to Families and Parents
STANDARD 17. The CPS Worker Shall be Responsive to Reports of Suspected
Child Abuse and Neglect.
The social worker's responsiveness is first demonstrated by assisting the
reporter through the difficult job of making a report, followed by:
* Immediate assessment of reports about endangered children, including
anonymous and self-reports, through application of specialized
telephone and face-to-face interviewing skills;
* Application of knowledge about the indicators Of child abuse and
neglect to practice situations;
* Evaluation of high-risk situations coupled with appropriate measures to
ensure personal safety;
* Acceptance and appropriate use of the legal and professional authority
which distinguishes CPS intervention from other forms of social work
intervention;
* Provision of timely and appropriate measures directed toward ensuring
the child's safety and maintaining the family; and,
* Follow-up communication with the reporter while safeguarding the
family's rights to confidentiality and privacy.
STANDARD 18. The CPS Worker Shall Competently Assess the Parents' Ability
and Willingness to Protect the Child.
Competent assessment practices require documentation, adherence to
confidentiality guidelines and:
* Application of knowledge and sensitivity about different family life
styles, child rearing patterns, and cultural and ethnic differences
among families;
* Assessment of the environmental factors within the home, school,
neighborhood, and community that have an impact on the family;
* Discussion about and resolution of conflicting opinions and values
regarding appropriate standards of care for children and exercising
professional judgment without being judgmental;
* Establishment of assessment priorities based on the evaluation of risk
to the child;
* Demonstration of the ability to make decisions which take into account
the rights and needs of children, parents, and families;
* Commitment to hostile, resistant, or apathetic families through
persistent outreach and offers of supportive and concrete services;
* Recognition of the limits of CPS responsibility and the parents' right
to be free of involuntary services when there is no risk to the child;
and,
* Acknowledgement of the need of some parents to be free of parenting
responsibilities either temporarily or permanently.
STANDARD 19. The CPS Worker Shall Engage the Family in Using Its Own
Strengths and Resources Throughout the Service Planning Process.
Engagement of families in the service planning process requires:
* Full exploration of family needs and alternatives to family separation;
* Identification of each family member's strengths and the use of these
strengths in the problem solving process;
* Development of service/ treatment goals for and with each family
member, time-limited steps to accomplish these goals, and target dates
for completion and evaluation;
* Exploration and selection of remedial measures and resources which are
based on differential use of social work methods in accordance with
varying family needs and dynamics;
* Interpretation of the family's needs and problems to community
resources so that their approaches or responses to the family can be
modified; and,
* Preparation of families for use of resources and plans for monitoring
and follow-up.
STANDARD 20. The CPS Worker Shall Provide Direct and Intensive Services to
Parents to Strengthen Their Capacity to Care for Their Children.
Expectations for meeting this Standard include:
* Promotion of parents' strengths and self-esteem by using a humanistic
approach, viewing work together as a partnership, a joint venture;
* Selection and application of various treatment modalities appropriate
to the needs and strengths of the parents; for example, crisis
intervention, casework, group work, marital and family therapy;
* Maintenance of relationships with the family by being direct, active,
and responding immediately to points of family crisis;
* Capacity to balance the parents' needs for dependence with those for
independence;
* Commitment to seek supervisory or specialized professional consultation
regarding the progress toward case goals; and,
* Preparation of the family whenever a transfer to another social worker
or service provider is necessary.
STANDARD 21. The CPS Worker Shall be Prepared to Initiate and Follow Through
on Court Action in the Child's Behalf.
The initiation of court action is an agency team decision requiring legal
counsel and legal representation. Court action also requires:
* Collection of information needed to document the abuse and/or neglect
of the child, and the need for court action as part of the service
plan;
* Application of knowledge about the legal system; court process; the
social worker's use of the court's authority; and possible court
dispositions of actual case situations;
* Cooperation with the judicial and law enforcement systems;
* Assistance to the child and family throughout the court process,
including preparation, information about all legal steps, and
follow-up; and,
* Provision of informed testimony in court.
STANDARD 22. The CPS Worker Shall Use Social Work Processes in the
Termination of Services to a Family.
Meeting the expectations of this Standard is to be evidenced by the CPS
social worker's:
* Ongoing involvement of the family in decision making and in evaluation
of progress leading to transfer or termination of services;
* Sufficient preparation for termination and establishment of supports to
continue beyond CPS intervention;
* Demonstration of sensitivity to parental and family feelings associated
with loss of the worker's and agency's support; and,
* Recognition of the family's right to be free of CPS services as well as
its right to initiate a renewal of services.
STANDARD 23. The CPS Worker Shall Manage the Personal Feelings Associated
with Providing Child Protective Services.
By managing the common feelings engendered by the CPS process, the social
worker is greatly increasing the likelihood of effective intervention.
Feelings experienced may include anger, fears of personal physical harm or
of not being in control, anxiety about making vital decisions, and
ambivalence toward some parents and some children. The social worker also
may have some concerns about feeling inadequate, totally responsible for
families, being victimized, or being over-involved with families. It is
expected that the social worker will seek assistance from supervisors,
colleagues and others with these feelings, will change case plans, as
appropriate, in response to increased self understanding, and will also
offer assistance and support to colleagues.
B. The Social Worker's Responsibility to Endangered Children
STANDARD 24. The CPS Worker Shall Continuously Assess the Presence and Level
of Risk to All Children in the Family.
Social work practice in CPS requires a 24-hour commitment to children&emdash;at the
time of reports of suspected abuse and neglect, during ongoing service
provision, and during family crises. Further, the social worker must be
prepared, at any time, to initiate court action, protective custody, and/or
medical services to ensure the child's safety, health, and welfare.
Such continuous assessment requires:
* Evaluation of each child's safety and well-being in the family
initially and regularly thereafter through first-hand observation and
interviewing;
* Evaluation of the parents' ability and willingness to protect the
child;
* Implementation of decisions to ensure the child's safety and
well-being; and, as necessary, the initiation of emergency services;
* Integration of knowledge about cultural and ethnic differences into the
assessment process; and,
* Arrangement of diagnostic evaluations.
STANDARD 25. The CPS Worker Shall Engage in Ongoing Service Planning to
Maintain or to Reunite Children With Their Own Families.
To meet the expectations of this Standard, the social worker shall operate
on the belief that a child has the right to be with his/her own family,
fully exploring all alternatives to placement. When temporary placement is
necessary, it is to be made as close to the child's own home is possible,
with immediate plans established for the child's return home. When the child
cannot be returned to his/her own home, the social worker shall seek a
permanent alternative for the child. To carry out these objectives, there
shall be:
* Implementation of a specific service plan that is responsive to the
child's needs and strengths, with active involvement of the child in
the planning process;
* Delineation within the service plan of specific goals, steps to
accomplishment, and target dates for completion and evaluation;
* Full use of any community resources necessary to meet the child's
needs; and,
* Arrangement of regular and frequent parental visits for the child who
is placed out of his/her own home.
STANDARD 26. The CPS Worker Shall Ensure that Endangered Children
Participate in the Planning and Direction of Their Lives.
Although CPS intervention has traditionally focused on the child, most
services have been directed to parents. Today, there is greater recognition
of the child's right to, and frequent need for, direct services. Thus, to
meet the requirements of this Standard, the social worker shall engage the
child in decisions regarding the need for direct services, and shall ensure
that needed support and counseling services are received. Other requirements
of this Standard include:
* A commitment to continue to learn about children, to enhance skills in
direct work with children, and to apply self-awareness to these
processes;
* Demonstration of the ability to work through parental resistance to
others becoming involved with their child;
* Application of specialized interviewing and communication skills with
the child;
* Intervention with the child to help him/her cope with feelings of
depression, guilt, anger and loss;
* Provision of assistance to the child to help reduce provocative
behaviors and/or to help cope with parental inadequacies;
* Promotion of the child's self esteem by building upon the child's
individualized strengths;
* Preparation of the older adolescent for independent living and self
sufficiency;
* Clarification of roles and responsibilities when the case is shared
with other service providers; and,
* Application of the process of termination when direct services are no
longer necessary.
STANDARD 27. As Part of the Agency Team, the CPS Worker Shall Pursue
Permanency Planning for Children and Shall Initiate Action to Terminate
Parental Rights, as Necessary.
When the social worker's efforts to maintain or to return the child to
his/her own family are unsuccessful (that is, the parents are unable to
engage in or carry out the plans necessary to make this possible), the
social worker is expected to seek another, permanent alternative for the
child. Documentation of the worker's efforts to strengthen the family, and
the child's and the parents' progress needs to be recorded consistently for
every case. In addition, the permanency planning process involves:
* Implementation of a time limited plan that ensures the child's right to
belong to someone;
* Use of emergency and foster family care services only as temporary
substitutes;
* Demonstration of sensitivity to the child's individualized feelings and
behaviors associated with separation and loss of own family and to the
child's new experiences with the foster family;
* Initiation of court action for termination of parental rights when all
other measures have failed; including preparation of the child for
court; collection of information; multidisciplinary collaboration;
informed testimony; and implementation of court orders;
* Establishment of team work with foster family care and adoption units;
and,
* Preparation of the child for any transfer of the case to another social
worker or another service provider.
STANDARD 28. The CPS Worker Shall Consistently Work Toward the Enhancement
of Resources for Children Within the Agency and the Community.
Demonstration of the social worker's compliance with this Standard includes:
* Implementation of activities directed toward meeting the individualized
needs of each endangered child known to the worker;
* Documentation of needs and recommendations for additional resources for
endangered children and/or for changes in the CPS system to better
serve children; and
* Education of others about the needs of children, in general, and about
the needs of abused and neglected children in particular.
C. The Social Worker's Responsibility to the Agency
STANDARD 29. The CPS Worker Shall Accept the Authority Inherent in Child
Protection and the Responsibilities Delegated by the Agency to Carry Out
This Authority.
Child protection requires that the social worker accept the professional and
legal authority that accompanies the position. Acceptance of this authority
is manifested by the social worker's compliance with state law, agency
policies and administrative directives.
STANDARD 30. The CPS Worker Shall Adhere to Agency Policies, Procedures,
Evaluations, and State Licensing Requirements, Using Constructive Channels
for Bringing About Needed Change.
As integral members of the agency, CPS social workers are to conform to the
expectations that are set by the agency and to work toward constructive
change. However, the assumption of this Standard is that the agency's
expectations and the professional social work expectations are compatible.
In the event that some incompatibility arises between the two sets of
expectations, social workers shall conform to the standards of the
profession as delineated in the NASW Code of Ethics.
STANDARD 31. The CPS Worker Shall Establish Working Relationships with Other
Program Staff, Recognizing the Importance of All Agency Programs.
Child protective efforts fall within a continuum of agency programs
established to better the lives of children, adults, and families. It is
extremely important for CPS social workers to view their efforts within the
context of the entire agency's efforts and to know, appreciate, and respect
the needs, direction, and responsibilities of other workers. Further it is
expected that they promote intra-agency teamwork; participate in agency
policy and program decisions; contribute to agency task forces; and
communicate formally and informally with other program staff.
STANDARD 32. The CPS Worker Shall Assume Responsibility for Learning in
Supervision.
Demonstration of compliance with this Standard includes the social worker's:
* Assessment of own learning and professional growth needs, personality
strengths and weaknesses;
* Acceptance of responsibility for shared decision making and problem
solving;
* Identification of case priorities and sharing of case information with
the supervisor;
* Establishment of caseload priorities and meeting these priorities
through self discipline and self management; and,
* Application of knowledge gained from supervision to the delivery of
services.
STANDARD 33. The CPS Worker Shall Participate on Multidisciplinary Child
Abuse and Neglect Case Consultation Teams.
Effective use of consultation requires the capacity to present complex cases
concisely and thoughtfully, asking for assistance with specific issues and
concerns. The CPS Social Worker shall apply the knowledge gained from the
team to actual practice by ensuring implementation of the team's
recommendations.
STANDARD 34. The CPS Worker Shall Apply Research, Program and Case
Evaluations to Practice, and Shall Collect Data in Support of the Agency's
Information System.
To meet the expectations of this Standard, CPS social workers, along with
the CPS administrator and supervisor, shall extend their knowledge and
skills by professional reading, participation in research and program
evaluation activities, and attendance at professional and staff development
seminars. In turn, they are to integrate this knowledge into improved child
protective practices. Concurrently, social workers shall keep records and
gather the statistics necessary for the management and planning of agency
programs.
D. The Social Worker's Responsibility to the Community
STANDARD 35. The CPS Worker Shall Promote Collaborative Working
Relationships Among Community Agencies and the Court Toward Establishment of
a Comprehensive Child Protective System.
A comprehensive child protective system requires efforts from all human
services agencies to share knowledge and responsibility for service
provision. Along with the CPS administrator and supervisor, the CPS social
worker is responsible for:
* Identification of a liaison from the agency to interpret the CPS
program and to facilitate collaborative working relationships with the
community agencies and with the court;
* Preparation of community resources for case referrals;
* Application of a teamwork approach to intervention and to case decision
making and problem solving;
* Ongoing communication with resources about client needs and progress,
and about agency service limitations; and,
* Identification of mutual training and consultation needs and
implementation of a plan to meet those needs.
STANDARD 36. The CPS Worker Shall Strive to Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect
by Promoting Resources in the Community to Support and Strengthen the Family
Unit.
The support systems established by communities to strengthen families can
help prevent child abuse and neglect. Thus, toward the goal of prevention,
the social worker shall: provide outreach activities; educate the community
and other professionals about existing resources, and assist families in
making use of these resources; participate on community task forces
concerned with the service needs of families; and encourage the agency's use
of volunteers, parent aides, and self-help groups to provide support to
families.
Standards f or the Social Worker Employed in a Setting Other Than Child
Protective Services
All social workers have professional responsibility for supplementing the
efforts of CPS in the identification, assessment, treatment, and prevention
of child abuse and neglect. The following Standards delineate the minimum
child protective practice expectations of social workers who are employed in
settings other than CPS.
STANDARD 37. The Social Worker Shall Acquire Knowledge About Child Abuse and
Neglect, the Local CPS Process, and Child Welfare Services.
All social workers need to have basic knowledge of the indicators of child
abuse and neglect, factors contributing to the problem, and community
resources to help resolve the problem. This knowledge is to be integrated
into daily professional practice, and shared with other professionals to
make early identification of child abuse and neglect possible and to deter
misconceptions about CPS intervention.
STANDARD 38. The Social Worker Shall Comply with Child Abuse and Neglect
Reporting Laws and Procedures.
It is the responsibility of every social worker to obtain knowledge of the
state's child abuse and neglect laws and procedures, and to share this
knowledge with employers and colleagues. In addition, whenever it is
necessary to report a case of suspected child abuse of neglect, the social
worker shall collaborate with CPS and, as appropriate, shall explain the
report and the CPS process to family members.
STANDARD 39. The Social Worker Shall Share Responsibility with CPS for
Providing Endangered Children and Their Families with Needed Services.
Social workers are expected to promote the delivery of supplemental and
treatment services to endangered children and their families within their
respective work settings. Compliance with the intent of this Standard is
demonstrated by:
* Joint case planning and service delivery with CPS;
* The development of specialized services and treatment approaches with
CPS for endangered children and their families;
* The provision of consultation services and/or training to CPS staff;
and,
* The establishment of guidelines for client confidentiality that ensure
the continued safety of the child.
STANDARD 40. The Social Worker Shall Advocate for Community Services to
Protect Children, Strengthen Families, and Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect.
All social workers have responsibility for participation in activities that
can help protect children and strengthen families. These activities may
include: testifying at public hearings in support of the CPS agency's budget
and staff requests; showing support for needed legislative changes in behalf
of children and families; participating on community task forces concerned
with human service delivery; and encouraging the development of community
resources and programs to meet the needs of children and families.
Taxonomy of Standards for Social Work Practice in Child Protection
STANDARDS FOR ALL SOCIAL WORKERS
* Comply with NASW Code of Ethics
* Demonstrate acceptance of professional values.
* Demonstrate skills fundamental to social work.
STANDARDS FOR ALL SOCIAL WORKERS IN CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES AGENCIES
* Uphold the authority to protect children as vested in state law.
* Possess specialized knowledge of children and families and about the
dynamics of child abuse and neglect.
* Display social work knowledge and understanding of resources serving
children.
STANDARDS FOR CPS WORKERS
Responsibilities to Families and Parents
* Demonstrate speedy responsiveness to reports of suspected child abuse
and neglect.
* Assess parents' ability and willingness to protect the child.
* Engage the family in using its own strengths and resources.
* Provide direct and intensive services to parents to strengthen their
capacity to care for children.
* Initiate and follow through on court action in the child's behalf when
necessary.
* Use social work processes in the termination of services to a family.
* Manage personal feelings associated with providing CPS.
Responsibilities to Endangered Children
* Assess the presence and level of risk to all children in the family.
* Engage in ongoing service planning to maintain or reunite children with
their own families.
* Ensure that endangered children participate in the planning and
direction of their lives.
* Pursue permanency planning for children and initiate action to
terminate parental rights as necessary.
* Enhance resources for children within the agency and the community.
Responsibilities to the Agency
* Accept the authority inherent in child protection and the
responsibility delegated by the agency to carry out this authority.
* Adhere to agency policies, procedures, evaluations and licensing
requirements.
* Establish working relationships with other program staff within the
agency.
* Assume responsibility for learning in supervision.
* Participate on multidisciplinary child abuse and neglect case
consultation teams.
* Apply research, program and case evaluations to practice and collect
data in support of the agency's information systems.
Responsibilities to the Community
* Promote collaborative working relationship among community agencies
toward establishing a comprehensive child protective system.
* Promote community resources to support the family toward the goal of
prevention of child abuse and neglect.
ADDITIONAL STANDARDS FOR SUPERVISORS
* Assume multiple professional roles and acceptance of authority inherent
in those roles.
* Provide supervision using a social work process orientation.
* Promote team work through use of peer supervision, consultation and
understanding of group process.
* Develop resources to enhance staff practices and agency services.
ADDITIONAL STANDARDS FOR CPS ADMINISTRATORS
* Establish policies, procedures and guidelines to facilitate effective
social work practice in CPS.
* Advocate for adequate program funds, work space and working conditions.
* Provide leadership and support to staff.
* Demonstrate commitment to 24 hour CPS response capacity and service
availability.
* Demonstrate commitment to improving agency and community services for
children and families.
STANDARDS FOR SOCIAL WORKERS EMPLOYED IN SETTINGS OTHER THAN CHILD
PROTECTIVE SERVICES
* Acquire knowledge about child abuse and neglect, the local CPS process
and child welfare services.
* Adhere to child abuse and reporting laws and procedures.
* Share responsibility with CPS for providing needed services to
endangered children and their families.
* Advocate for community services to protect children, strengthen
families and prevent child abuse and neglect.
Members of NASW Task Force on Standards for Social Work Practice in Child
Protection:
* Marsena A. Buck, ACSW, Modesto, California, Chairperson
* James Bell, ACSW, Boston, Massachusetts
* Larry Brown, ACSW, Englewood, Colorado
* Vanette Graham, ACSW, Washington, DC
* Dolores B. Reid, ACSW, Dayton, Ohio
* Special Consultant to the Task Force: Cynthia Ragan, ACSW
* Staff: Isadora Hare, ACSW
Project Manager, National Professional Resource Center on Child Abuse
and Neglect
This document was made possible by grant No. 90-C-1727 from the National
Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, Children's Bureau, Administration on
Children, Youth and Families, Office of Human Development Services,
Department of Health and Human Services.
Notes
In this policy statement, the terms "BSW" and "MSW" will refer to all
programs accredited by the Council on Social Work Education at baccalaureate
and master's levels, respectively.