NCJ Number
210194
Date Published
October 2003
Length
72 pages
Annotation
The contents of this handbook summarize the content of the training curriculum entitled, Confirming Safe Environments: Assessing Safety in Kinship and Foster Home Placement.
Abstract
Offered through the ACTION for Child Protection, the training workshop is designed to assist staff in their assessments of the safety of potential out of home family placement arrangements for children. The 2-day workshop includes presentations, individual and group exercises, live and video demonstrations, and simulations. Following the question and answer summary sheet regarding the training course, the process for confirming safe environments in kin and foster placements is enumerated in a 7-step process that begins with an assessment of the child to be placed, progresses to a provider interview, and ends with monthly oversight and a 6-month review. The concept of “present danger” is introduced and 16 examples are provided that illustrate when threats of harm meet the threshold requirements for “present danger.” A guide for judging present danger threats of harm during the first encounter with a family is presented, as is a series of questions that can be used to rank the level of indications of a safe environment. Excerpts, examples, and the slideshow presentation from the training course are offered and the workshop agenda is outlined. Materials for each of the six workshop sessions are presented and include session objectives and key issues. Bibliography