8.4 Case Evaluation | CWS

Georgia Division of Family and Children Services
Child Welfare Policy Manual

Chapter:

(8) Family Preservation Services

Policy Title:

Case Evaluation

Policy Number:

8.4

Previous Policy Number(s):

N/A

Effective Date:

January 2022

Manual Transmittal:

2022-01

Codes/References

Public Law (PL) 103-66 Family Preservation and Support Services Act of 1993
Public Law 105-89 Adoptions and Safe Families Act (ASFA) of 1997

Requirements

The Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) will:

Conduct a case evaluation every 90 calendar days or as often as necessary, following the development and approval of the initial case plan to track and measure progress toward case plan outcome achievement. In addition, conduct a case evaluation when the following situations occur:
1. The family has experienced relapse/setbacks that place children at risk for abuse and neglect.
2. There are new allegations of abuse or neglect.
3. There are significant changes in the family’s circumstances, including new family members that may impact the child safety and the family functioning.
4. The sufficiency of a safety plan is in question, including an anticipated or emergency change in a child’s out-of-home safety plan.
5. There are safety concerns that have resulted in a decision to remove a child from the home.
6. Prior to the termination of a Voluntary Kinship Agreement.
7. Prior to recommending guardianship or temporary custody to a third party.
8. When considering case closure.

Conduct a comprehensive case evaluation by:

Engaging the family to reach a consensus regarding progress made or lack thereof related to their family and individual level outcomes (FLO and ILO).
Gathering all relevant case information to measure progress toward case plan outcome achievement and family functioning.
Analyzing the information gathered.
Completing the Family Functioning Assessment (FFA) to understand the significant factors affecting a child’s safety, permanency, and well-being.

Determining whether:

Behaviors that contributed to maltreatment have been mitigated or resolved;
Continued DFCS intervention is warranted;

Legal intervention is needed; and

When necessary to expedite legal intervention to ensure the safety of the child DFCS may seek a temporary alternative to foster care (TAFC) order in accordance with policy 17.1 Legal: The Juvenile Court Process.

The contact standards are sufficient to achieve case plan outcomes.

Re-engaging the family to inform of the case evaluation recommendation.

Conduct a supervisor staffing to provide oversight and guidance during the case evaluation process.
Document the case evaluation activities in Georgia SHINES within 72 hours of occurrence.

Procedures

Social Services Case Manager

Engage the family in the case evaluation process:
1. Inform the family a case evaluation will be conducted, and discuss the purpose and possible outcomes;
2. Discuss the information that will be gathered and analyzed;
3. Inform the family that the case evaluation results will be shared with them, as well as providers servicing the family;
4. Discuss the impact of the case evaluation on court proceedings, if applicable;
5. Reach consensus regarding any behavioral changes or lack thereof related to the FLOs/ILOs;
6. Ask the family/individual is the action plan helping him/her meet case plan outcomes;
7. Request the family provide any information they would like considered during their case evaluation, including any documentation related to their action plans.
Gather all relevant case information to measure progress toward case plan outcome achievement and family functioning:
1. Request up-to-date service notes from providers.
2. For cases involving substance abuse:
  Evaluate the participation and progress in substance abuse treatment with the substance abuse provider;
  
  Obtain substance abuse screening dates and results; and
  
  Obtain verification of a caregiver’s involvement in a support group or formal after-care program, when applicable.
  
  (See policy 19.26 Case Management: Case Management Involving Caregiver Substance Use or Abuse for additional information required.)
3. Request any applicable medical, school or dental records.
4. Engage collateral contacts, including formal and/or informal providers (see policy 19.16 Case Management: Collateral Contacts).
Schedule protected time to thoroughly review and analyze the information gathered and case documentation:
1. Assess child safety, determine if present or impending danger safety threats still exist, have been eliminated or controlled (see policy 19.11 Case Management: Safety Assessment).
2. Assess whether progress has been made in the caregiver’s ability to manage everyday life situations that may have proven difficult to manage at the onset of CPS involvement. This should include specific behavioral changes.
3. Assess whether the case plan addresses the needs of the family, and whether any adjustments to the case plan or action plan are necessary (see policy 8.3 Family Preservation Services: Case Planning).
4. Assess information pertinent to the family functioning.
5. Evaluate the sufficiency of informal and formal services in accordance with policy 19.17 Case Management: Service Provision.
6. Resolve identified inconsistencies by conducting additional purposeful or collateral contacts.
7. Assess the sufficiency of contact standards to ensure child safety in accordance with policy 19.15 Case Management: Developing Contact Standards for Purposeful Contacts and Collateral Contacts).

Thoroughly complete the FFA in Georgia SHINES and submit to the Social Services Supervisor (SSS) for approval (see policy 19.13 Case Management: Family Functioning Assessment):

Document in the Assessment Summary the recommendation for case closure or further DFCS intervention.

If the case involves substance abuse and the case evaluation recommendation is a case closure, ensure guidelines outlined in policy 19.26 Case Management: Case Management Involving Caregiver Substance Use or Abuse have been met.

When considering any of the following, document the evidence to support that the case circumstances meet the established guidelines:
1. Voluntary kinship arrangement (see policy 22.1 Kinship: Use of Kinship Caregivers in Child Protective Services.
2. Protective order (see policy 17.3 Legal: Court Orders and Placement Authority).
3. Guardianship (see policy 22.11 Kinship: Guardianship in Child Protective Services).
4. Temporary custody to third party (see policy 22.12 Kinship: Temporary Custody to a Third party in Child Protective Services).

Participate in a staffing with the SSS to develop consensus around the family’s progress and case evaluation recommendation:
1. Does present or impending danger safety threats still exist?
2. Can the children continue to be safely maintained in the home?
3. Is court involvement or oversight needed?
4. What updates or adjustments are needed to the case plan?
5. Do service provisions need to be modified (frequency, type, setting, etc.)?
6. Do the contact standards need to be adjusted?
7. Identify skill and service outcomes for the next 90 days.
Set updated purposeful and collateral contact standards and submit for approval to SSS in Georgia SHINES in accordance with policy 19.15 Case Management: Developing Contact Standards for Purposeful Contacts and Collateral Contacts.
Conduct a purposeful contact with the family (see policy 8.2 Family Preservation: Purposeful Contact with Families Receiving Family Preservation Services):
1. Inform the family of the case evaluation recommendations and explore the family’s feelings around the findings.
2. Celebrate any positive changes with the family.
3. Discuss next steps.
4. If the case evaluation concludes further DFCS involvement is not warranted, engage the family in a discussion regarding case closure in accordance with policy 8.5 Case Management: Case Closure.
5. If the case evaluation concludes further DFCS involvement is required, engage the family around continuing to partner with DFCS to achieve FLOs and ILOs:
  1. Reconfirm the consensus reached with the caregiver(s) regarding what needs to change for DFCS to determine that further intervention is not warranted;
  2. Discuss any newly identified needs and services to address the need;
  3. Discuss any required updates to the case/action plan;
  4. Inform of any adjustments to the contact standards; and
  5. What needs to change or be completed prior to the next case evaluation.
When the case evaluation determines no further DFCS involvement is warranted complete all closing requirements in accordance with policy 8.5 Family Preservation Services: Case Closure.
When the case evaluation determines further DFCS involvement is warranted:
1. Engage service providers involved with the family and provide them with case evaluation findings and next steps to ensure all are in consensus about outcomes and tasks.
2. Convene a family team meeting (FTM) with the family and family team members, to revise the case plan and/or action plan, if needed (see policy 19.3 Case Management: Solution-Focused Family Team Meeting).
3. Revise the case plan and/or action plan to reflect any agreed changes regarding how to achieve the outcomes or tasks completion dates in accordance with policy 8.3 Family Preservation Services: Case Planning.
4. Refer the family for any newly identified service needs.
Document case evaluation activities in Georgia SHINES within 72 hours of the occurrence, including uploading any documents to External Documentation.

Social Services Supervisor

Monitor that case evaluations are completed timely using the Family Preservation Monthly Status report in Georgia SHINES.
Provide guidance to the SSCM regarding gathering and analyzing information for the case evaluation.
Review case documentation and information gathered, including supervisor staffing notes to make an informed case evaluation decision.
Conduct a supervisor staffing to develop consensus around the family’s progress and case evaluation recommendation, discuss (see policy 19.6 Case Management: Supervisor Staffing):
1. Information gathered and considered.
2. The safety determination, including if the children can continue to be safely maintained in the home.
3. The sufficiency of service provision (frequency, type, setting, etc.) (see policy 19.17 Case Management: Service Provision).
4. The sufficiency of contact standards to achieve case plan outcomes (see policy 19.15 Case Management: Developing Contact Standards for Purposeful Contacts and Collateral Contacts).
5. Whether court involvement or oversight is needed.
6. The proposed case evaluation recommendation and final decision. When considering any of the following, verify that the case circumstances meet the established guidelines and are document in the FFA:
  1. Voluntary kinship arrangement (see policy 22.1 Kinship: Use of Kinship Caregivers in Child Protective Services).
  2. Protective order (see policy 17.3 Legal: Court Orders and Placement Authority).
  3. Guardianship (see policy 22.11 Kinship: Guardianship in Child Protective Services).
  4. Temporary custody to third party (see policy 22.12 Kinship: Temporary Custody to a Third party in Child Protective Services).
  5. Closure of a case involving substance abuse when the caregiver did not complete the recommended substance abuse assessment and/or treatment (see policy 19.26 Case Management: Case Management Involving Caregiver Substance Use or Abuse).
7. Needed updates or adjustments to the case plan.
8. Skill and service outcomes for the next 90 days.
Review the FFA in Georgia SHINES and make an approval decision within three days of the submission (see policy 19.13 Case Management: Family Functioning Assessment).
Participate in the FTM, if held.
Approve the updated case plan in Georgia SHINES.

Practice Guidance

Case evaluation is the formal process completed every 90 calendar days (or more frequently) for measuring improvement in caregiver protective capacities, ensuring child safety and reducing risk for children in the home. This evaluation will include a review of progress towards reaching family level and individual level outcomes, progress with action plans, and the families’ utilization of the five relapse prevention skills. Case evaluation includes the review of documentation that captures noticeable positive or negative behavior patterns or changes in behavior. Positive changes in behavior should be documented and celebrated throughout the family preservation process. Case evaluation is an opportunity to help the family focus on the full scope of accomplishment, sharing an overview of where the family is in the change process and supporting the family’s participation in the agreed upon plan. The evaluation and review of a case assures the family that they are supported in their efforts to provide proper care and protection of their children. In addition, case management activities completed by the SSCM can positively impact outcome achievement by the family.

The SSCM serves as the facilitator during the case evaluation process by working in partnership with the family to gather all needed information to make a determination regarding case progress. During the case evaluation, the caregiver’s compliance with services is not the foremost issue of concern. The SSCM must determine based on observations, interviews and collateral information if the caregiver is making strides to change the behavior that impacts child safety. Case evaluation helps to assess interventions that have been put in place with the family and assists in decision making on whether a case can be closed or the family is in need of continued intervention.

Forms and Tools

Georgia Assessment of Case Plan Progress and Goal Achievement Tool