19.11 Safety Assessment | CWS

Georgia Division of Family and Children Services
Child Welfare Policy Manual

Chapter:

(19) Case Management

Policy Title:

Safety Assessment

Policy Number:

19.11

Previous Policy Number(s):

N/A

Effective Date:

March 2023

Manual Transmittal:

2023-01

Codes/References

O.C.G.A. § 15-11-202 Reasonable Efforts by DFCS to Preserve or Reunify Families
O.C.G.A. § 15-11-203 When Reasonable Efforts by DFCS Not Required
Title IV-E of the Social Security Act § 471 (a)(15) (A), (B), & (D)
45 CFR § 1356.21(b)
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA)

Requirements

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

Through use of safety assessments determine the probability the child will suffer maltreatment immediately (present danger) or imminently in the near future (impending danger) and identify the actions required to stop or prevent harm to the child.

The term “safety threat” describes a present danger situation and/or impending danger.
Conduct a safety assessment:
1. Gather quality and sufficient safety related information about family conditions (family functioning).
2. Identify the presence of conditions or actions that represent the likelihood of imminent serious harm to the child.
3. Determine if the child is vulnerable to the identified safety threats.
4. Evaluate caregiver protective capacities to determine if a caregiver can and will protect a child from safety threats.
5. Examine how the identified safety threats are occurring within the family to determine what is required to effectively control the threat to child safety.
6. Make a child safety decision (safe or unsafe)
Conduct a safety assessment throughout the life of the child welfare case (ongoing), including:
1. Prior to concluding each purposeful contact with a child, caregiver, parent or alleged maltreater.
2. At critical decision points (example: prior to reunification, transition from an out-of-home to an in-home safety plan, case closure, placement, etc.).
Complete a structured Safety Assessment using the tool in Georgia SHINES, at the following case intervals:
1. Initial Safety Assessment (ISA): within 72 hours of the initial contact with the child.
2. Family Support Services (FSS): when safety threats are identified or at the conclusion of the assessment.
3. Investigation: as part of the family functioning assessment (FFA).
4. Special Investigation: within 72 hours of the initial contact with the victim child and as part of the FFA or, where the FFA is not required, at conclusion of the assessment.
5. Family Preservation Services (FPS): at case evaluation as part of the FFA.
Use the safety assessment to inform and guide:
1. Track assignment.
2. Whether further DFCS intervention is required.
3. Reasonable efforts to maintain the family unit and prevent the unnecessary removal of a child from his/her home (see policy 9.5 Eligibility: Reasonable Efforts).
4. Appropriateness of a placement for a child in foster care.
5. Continuing need for the child to remain in foster care.
Take immediate action to control safety threats if the child is determined to be unsafe.
Make safety assessment decisions in consultation with the Social Services Supervisor (SSS).
Document in Georgia SHINES the safety assessment and supporting information.

Procedures

Social Services Case Manager

Gather family functioning information:
1. Analyze DFCS history (see policy 19.10 Case Management: Analyzing DFCS History).
2. Conducting purposeful contacts with children, caregivers, (in-home and out-of-home), and other household members (see policies 4.3 Initial Safety Assessment: Purposeful Contacts During Initial Safety Assessments; 5.2 Investigations: Purposeful Contacts During an Investigation; 6.2 Special Investigations: Purposeful Contacts in Special Investigations; 7.2 Family Support Services: Purposeful Contacts During Family Support Services; 8.2 Family Preservation Services: Purposeful Contacts with Families Receiving Family Preservation Services; and 10.18 Foster Care: Purposeful Contacts In Foster Care).
3. Engage collateral contacts in accordance with policy 19.16 Case Management: Collateral Contacts.
4. Monitor service provision in accordance with policy 19.17 Case Management: Service Provision.
5. Evaluate the family functioning information and determine if it is sufficient to complete a safety assessment. If not sufficient, conduct additional purposeful and/or collateral contacts to gather further information, if available.
Apply the information gathered to the Safety Threats tool to identify any present or impending danger (see Forms and Tools: Safety Threats).
Determine if the child is vulnerable to the identified safety threats.
Evaluate whether caregiver protective capacities are sufficient to control the identified safety threats (see Forms and Tools: Caregiver Protective Capacity Tool); and
Examine how the identified safety threats are occurring within the family to determine what is required to effectively control the threat to child safety.
Make a child safety decision (safe or unsafe).
Participate in a staffing with the SSS to develop consensus regarding the child safety decision.
Discuss the results of the safety assessment with the parent(s), caregiver(s), and/or alleged maltreater(s).
Take immediate action if the child is determined to be unsafe:
1. Develop and implement with the parent/guardian/legal custodian(s) a safety plan to control the safety threats in accordance with policy 19.12 Case Management: Safety Plan & Management; and/or
2. Initiate court/legal intervention when the child is not in DFCS custody in accordance with policy 17.1 Legal: The Juvenile Court Process; or
3. Immediately remove the child from the placement if the child is in the custody of DFCS in accordance with policy 10.3 Foster Care: Changes in Placement.
Document in Georgia SHINES the safety assessment and supporting information:
1. Safety threats (present or impending dangers)
2. Child vulnerabilities
3. Caregiver protective capacities
4. Safety decision (safe or unsafe)
5. Protection strategies (action taken)
6. Reasonable efforts (see policy 9.5 Eligibility: Reasonable Efforts)

Social Services Supervisor

Provide guidance to the SSCM concerning gathering family functioning information, determine:
1. If the information gathered is safety related, relevant and sufficient, or additional information is required to make a child safety decision.
2. If additional information is required, what information is needed and how to obtain the information.
Develop consensus with SSCM regarding the child safety decision:
1. Apply the information to the Safety Threats tool to identify any present or impending danger (see Forms and Tools: Safety Threats).
2. Determine if the child is vulnerable to the identified safety threats
3. Evaluate whether caregiver protective capacities are sufficient to control the identified safety threats (see Forms and Tools: Caregiver Protective Capacity Tool); and
4. Examine how the identified safety threats are occurring within the family to determine what is required to effectively control the threat to child safety.
5. Make a child safety decision (safe or unsafe).
Collaborate with the SSCM to take immediate action if the child is determined to be unsafe:
1. Develop and implement with the parent/guardian/legal custodian a safety plan to control the safety threats in accordance with policy 19.12 Case Management: Safety Plan & Management; and/or
2. Initiate court/legal intervention when the child is not in DFCS custody in accordance with policy 17.1 Legal: The Juvenile Court Process; or
3. Immediately remove the child from the placement if the child is in the custody of DFCS in accordance with policy 10.3 Foster Care: Changes in Placement.
During monthly supervisor staffing with the SSCM discuss the ongoing safety assessment and develop a consensus regarding child safety.
Review case record for safety related information:
1. Verify the documentation includes the safety decision and information to support the safety decision.
2. Provide any corrections or modifications to the documentation, as applicable.
3. Complete the supervisor section of the structured Safety Assessment tool in Georgia SHINES within 72 hours of SSCM submission.

Practice Guidance

The purpose of a safety assessment is to determine the degree in which a child is likely to suffer maltreatment in the immediate future.^[1] A safety assessment does not only focus on proving or disproving the events and occurrences (incidents) associated with the maltreatment.

Through the collection and analysis of information a picture of the family and caregiver functioning is formed. The safety assessment process will:

Gather quality and sufficient safety related information about family conditions (family functioning).
Identify the presence of conditions or actions within the child’s current living situation that represent the likelihood of imminent serious harm to the child (present or impending danger).
Determine if the child is vulnerable to safety threats.
Evaluate caregiver protective capacities to determine if a caregiver can and will protect a child from safety threats.
Examine how the identified safety threats are occurring within the family in order to determine what is required to effectively control them, if applicable.
Make a safety decision (safe and unsafe).

A safety assessment is totally dependent upon the quality and sufficiency of safety-related information known about the family. Four methods for gathering foundational information during a safety assessment are:

Analyzing DFCS history and evaluating the impact on the current circumstances.
Interviewing children, parents (custodial/non-custodial), caregivers, and current household members.
Observations of interactions between caregivers, children, and other household members and the physical conditions of the home environment.
Engaging collateral contacts (teachers, other professionals, family members, law enforcement, etc.) and obtaining relevant information (medical records, police reports, photographs, school records, etc.).

Conditions or Actions That Represent the Likelihood of Imminent Serious Harm to the Child

Present Danger^[1] – Present danger is an immediate, significant, and clearly observable family condition, child condition, individual behavior or action, or family circumstance which is in the process of occurring and which obviously endangers or threatens to endanger a child and requires immediate action to protect.

“Immediate” means that the danger in the family is happening right before your eyes. You are in the midst of that which endangers or threatens to endanger the child. The dangerous family condition, child condition, individual behavior or acts, or family circumstances are active and operating. What might result from the danger for a child could be happening or occur at any moment.

“Significant” qualifies the family condition, child condition, individual behavior or acts, or family circumstances as exaggerated, out of control, and extreme. The danger is recognizable because what is happening is onerous, vivid, impressive, and notable. What you encounter or what is happening exists as the dominant matter that must be addressed immediately.

Present danger is “clearly observable” because what is happening or in the process of happening is totally transparent. You see and experience it in obvious ways. There is no guesswork. Here is a rule of thumb concerned with identifying present danger. If you have to interpret what is going on to be present danger… then it is likely not present danger. Usually when present danger exists because of extreme family conditions, a child’s condition, individual behavior or acts, or family circumstances you will know even without conducting interviews. Of course, when Present Danger does exist, conducting interviews should proceed in accordance with good practice.

When judging present danger, there are a number of other concerns that you should consider. Understand that these additional areas of consideration do not represent present danger but help to qualify present danger situations:

Child is 0 - 6 Years Old: In all safety assessments, the age of the child is relevant. The ability to self-protect is fundamental when assessing child vulnerability. Young children are emphasized here because of the higher vulnerability factor and propensity to suffer from danger. Children under six years of age and socially isolated (not in school or day care etc.) who are injured must be assessed to be in present danger.
History of Reports: Within the context of judging present danger, a history of CPS reports on the family is important to consider. To judge present danger, it can be helpful to consider the number of reports, reports that indicate progressively more serious concerns related to family functioning, reports of the same nature as the current area of concern, and so forth.
The Family Situation Will/May Change Quickly: You may have information that describes a current circumstance occurring with the family which reveals exactly what is going on that could be considered as present danger. Because this situation could change rapidly, the opportunity to gather important information may be lost. In this sense, this influence does not necessarily constitute a present danger situation; however, it is pertinent in judging how intervention will proceed.
Services Inaccessible or Unavailable: This is a family circumstance which, in and of itself, is not a present danger situation. The issues could become a present danger situation when considered in relation to other negative family conditions, which demand access to services. For instance, if a service is unavailable or inaccessible for a child who has a life-threatening condition that requires medical intervention, a present danger circumstance may be applicable.
Accessible to a Threatening Person: This is another issue that must be considered in concert with other family conditions. It refers to a situation such as a single caregiver who is responsible for primary care of their child; however, the child may also be required to spend a significant amount of time with a secondary caregiver who isolates the child, exhibits threatening behavior toward the child or the primary caregiver, etc. This circumstance can be used to consider current accessibility as well as anticipated accessibility in the near future to the caregiver who is threatening to the child, such as when a child goes home from school or on weekends.
Family Isolated: This situation does not qualify as present danger just because a family may be isolated from others. Present danger must be considered along with what is actually occurring within the family in conjunction with geographic and social isolation.

Impending Danger^[2] refers to a child who is in a continuous state of danger due to a parent/caregiver’s behavior, attitude, motives, emotions and/or situations posing a specific threat of severe harm to a child. These threats are negative family conditions that are out of control in the presence of a vulnerable child, and therefore likely to have severe effects on a child at any time in the near future. These threats are specific, observable and can be clearly understood and described in the assessment content. Impending danger safety threats have four distinct features:

Refers to threats to a child’s safety that exist and are insidious but are not immediate, obvious, or active at the onset of DFCS intervention.
Refers to threats that eventually are identified and understood upon more fully evaluating and understanding individual and family conditions and functioning.
Refers to threats that reasonably will result in severe harm if safety intervention does not occur and is not sustained.
Family situations and behaviors must meet safety threshold criteria to qualify as impending danger safety threats.

The five criteria used to justify impending danger are:

Observable refers to family behaviors, conditions or situations representing a danger to a child that are specific, definite, real, can be seen and understood, and are subject to being reported and justified. The criterion “observable” does not include suspicion, intuitive feelings, difficulties in worker-family interaction, lack of cooperation, or difficulties in obtaining information.
Vulnerable Child refers to a child who is dependent on others for protection and is exposed to circumstances that he/she is powerless to manage. The child is susceptible, accessible, and available to a threatening person in authority over them. Vulnerability is judged according to age, physical and emotional development, ability to communicate needs, mobility, size and dependence, and susceptibility. This definition also includes all young children from 0-6 years and older children who, for whatever reason, are not able to protect themselves or seek help or protection from others.
Out of Control refers to family behavior, conditions or situations that are unrestrained, resulting in an unpredictable and possibly chaotic family environment that is not subject to the influence, manipulation, or within the family’s control. Such out-of-control family conditions pose a danger and cannot be managed by anyone or anything internal to the family system.
Imminent refers to the belief that dangerous family behaviors, conditions, or situations will remain active, or become active, within the next several days or weeks. This is consistent with a degree of certainty or inevitability that danger and severe harm are possible, even likely outcomes, without intervention.
Severity refers to the effects of maltreatment that have already occurred and/or the potential for harsh effects based on the vulnerability of a child and the family, coupled with a behavior, condition or situation that is out of control. As far as danger is concerned, the safety threshold is consistent with severe harm. Severe harm includes such effects as serious physical injury, disability, terror and extreme fear, impairment, and death. The safety threshold is in line with family conditions that reasonably could result in harsh and unacceptable pain and suffering for a vulnerable child.

Impending Danger and the Danger Threshold Criteria

The danger threshold criteria must be applied when considering and identifying any of the impending danger safety threats. In other words, the specific justification for identifying any of the impending danger safety threats is based on a specific description of how negative family conditions meet the danger threshold criteria.

Risk to Safety Continuum: The safety threshold is the point at which a negative family condition (difficult family situation) goes beyond being concerning (risk) and becomes dangerous to a child’s safety. Difficult family situations or negative family conditions that rise to the level of the safety threshold and become impending danger safety threats are, in essence, negative circumstances and/or caregiver behaviors, emotions, etc. that negatively impact caregiver performance at a heightened degree and occur at a greater level of intensity. Impending Danger is where “risk” crosses the safety threshold.

Child Vulnerability

Child vulnerability^[2] refers to a child’s capacity for self-protection. Safety is only an issue when there is a vulnerable child in the family; if the child is not vulnerable to the identified threats, the child is safe. The following factors should be used to help judge child vulnerability:

Age
Children from birth to six years old are always vulnerable.
Physical Disability
Regardless of age, children who are physically handicapped and therefore unable to remove themselves from danger are vulnerable.
Mental Disability
Regardless of age, children who are cognitively limited are vulnerable because of a number of possible limitations: recognizing danger, knowing who can be trusted, meeting their basic needs, and seeking protection.
Provocative
A child’s emotional, mental health and behavioral problems can be such that they irritate and provoke others to act out toward them or to totally avoid them.
Powerless
Regardless of age, intellect and physical capacity, children who are highly dependent and susceptible to others are vulnerable. These children are typically so influenced by emotional and psychological attachment that they are subject to the whims of those who have power over them. Powerlessness could also be observed in vulnerable children who are exposed to threatening circumstances that they are unable to manage.
Defenseless
Regardless of age, a child who is unable to defend him/herself against aggression is vulnerable. This can include children who are oblivious to danger. Children who are frail or lack mobility are defenseless and therefore more vulnerable.
Non-Assertive
Regardless of age, children who are so passive or withdrawn and are not able to communicate their basic needs are vulnerable. A child who cannot or will not seek help and protection from others is vulnerable.
Illness
Regardless of age, some children have continuing or acute medical problems and needs that make them vulnerable.
Invisible
A child who is not noticed and observed should be considered vulnerable regardless of age.

Child Vulnerability Summary

Child vulnerability is the first conclusion one makes when completing a safety assessment.^[2]
A judgment about child vulnerability is based on the capacity for self-protection.
Self-protection refers to being able to demonstrate behavior that:
1. Results in defending oneself against threats of safety; and
2. Results in successfully meeting one’s own basic (safety) needs.
Child vulnerability is not a matter of degree. Children are vulnerable to threats of safety, or they are not.
Older children may also have characteristics that make them vulnerable to safety threats.
As a safety assessment concern, a child’s vulnerability helps inform us about what must be done to manage threats and assure protection.

Caregiver Capacity

Caregiver Protective Capacities are personal and caregiving behavioral, cognitive, and emotional characteristics that can be specifically and directly associated with being protective of one’s young. Protective capacities are personal qualities or characteristics that contribute to vigilant child protection and can be described as follows:

The characteristic prepares the person to be protective.
The characteristic enables or empowers the person to be protective.
The characteristic is necessary or fundamental to being protective.
The characteristic must exist prior to being protective.
The characteristic can be related to acting or being able to act on behalf of a child.

How Safety Threats Are Occurring with a Family

How safety threats are occurring within a family is evaluated to determine the need and kind of safety planning (i.e., in-home safety plan, out-of-home safety plan, or a combination of both) required to effectively control and manage threats to child safety. How safety threats are occurring within a family can be understood by breaking down the conditions associated with the safety threat and how the parts reveal the way the safety factor is manifested within the family during everyday life. There are six analytical questions that help break the safety threat down.

How long have conditions in the family posed a threat to safety?
How frequent or often does the family condition pose a threat to safety?
How predictable is the family condition or the safety factor? Are there occasions when either is more likely to be an active influence?
Are there specific times during the day, evening, night, etc. that might require “special attention” due to the way in which the family condition or the safety factor is occurring?
Do individual or family conditions or safety threats prevent a caregiver from adequately functioning in primary roles (i.e., individual life management and parenting)?
What is associated with, occurs at the same time, or influences the family condition or the safety factor?

Safety Decision (Safe or Unsafe)

The decision about whether a child is safe or unsafe is based on the evaluation of the family. The conclusion about safety is based on safety-related information, the identification of safety threats and an evaluation of the capacity of caregivers to protect. Safety informs and guides all decisions made throughout the life of the case, including removal and re-unification decisions.

Safety is not defined by determining the presence or absence of injuries. Safety is not subject to degree; a child is either safe or unsafe. A child is not somewhat safe or conditionally safe. The location of a child will not make a child safe. For example, just because a child is in a voluntary kinship arrangement, foster care, or living away from his/her primary residence, does not make the child “safe.” The governing question about child safety related to assessing safety is: Without intervention if this child were in his/her home would he/she be in a state of danger – would he/she be unsafe? The conclusion is not a suspicion; a general concern; an intuitive judgment.

Safe - Children are considered safe when there are no identified present danger situations or impending danger safety threats, or caregiver protective capacities are sufficient to control existing danger.

Unsafe - Children are considered unsafe when there is an identified present danger situation or impending danger safety threat, and caregiver protective capacities are insufficient to control existing danger.

Forms and Tools

Caregiver Protective Capacity Tool
Safety Threats

1. Child Welfare Information Gateway

2. The Vulnerable Child, ACTION for Child Protection, Inc. February 2003