Keeping Children Safe

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BMCW Mission Statement

• The mission of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child
  Welfare is to promote the best interest of
  children by supporting and encouraging families
  efforts to resolve problems that threaten the
  safety of their children. We remove children from
  their homes when they are not safe. When children
  cannot be reunited with their families, we will
  provide suitable alternatives in permanent,
  stable, and nurturing homes.

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BMCW responsibilities

• Assure the safety of children as defined by law
  
• Minimize intrusion into private family life
• Maintain families and family connections whenever
  possible

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BMCW responsibilities

• Respect the legal rights of parents
• Support the best interests of children

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CPS steps in when the parent cannot or will not
protect

• BMCW relies on the community to help us protect
  children
• Reports phoned into 220-SAFE
• Community reporters
• Mandated reporters

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Children are safe when

• They are not exposed to any dangers.
• OR
• Even if there are dangers to them, their parents
  or caregivers protect them from those dangers.

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Caregiver Protective Capacity

• It is the parents job to protect the child.
• It is the CPS professionals job to
• Identify protective capacities of parents
• Voice them
• Build on existing protective capacities

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Definitions of Child Maltreatment

• An Abused or Neglected Child
• A child whose physical or mental health is harmed
  or threatened with harm by the acts or omissions
  of the person responsible for his/her welfare

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Types of Maltreatment

• Physical
• Emotional
• Sexual
• Neglect

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Physical maltreatment

• Physical injury inflicted on a child by other
  than accidental means. s. 48.02(1)(a)
• Physical injury includes but is not limited to
  lacerations, fractured bones, burns, internal
  injuries, severe or frequent bruising or great
  bodily harm as defined under s.939.22(14). s.
  48.02(14g)

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Inflicted vs. Accidental Injury

• Location, shape, and appearance of injury
• History of how the injury occurred and logical
  validity
• Chronicity, multiplicity of injury, including
  different stages of healing

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Suspicious Caretaker Explanation

• Gives partial report
• Blames other parent or other child
• Denies even blatant injury
• Explanation is implausible or inconsistent
• May delay seeking medical care

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Emotional Abuse

• Severe harm to childs psychological or
  intellectual functioning
• Anxiety
• Depression and/or withdrawal
• Outward aggressive behavior

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Sexual Abuse

• Sexual intercourse or sexual contact (under age
  18)
• Sexual exploitation of a child
• Permitting, allowing or encouraging a child to
  engage in prostitution
• Intentionally causing a child to view or listen
  to sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of
  sexually arousing or gratifying the actor or
  humiliating or degrading the child
• Exposing genitals or pubic area to a child or
  causing a child to expose genital or pubic areas
  for the purpose of sexual arousal or sexual
  gratification

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Neglect

• Lack physical care/ poor hygiene
• Inadequately clothed
• Emotional neglect

• Abandoned
• Malnourished and/or dehydrated
• Lacking medical care
• Dangerous physical environment
• Left unsupervised

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Factors that Confound a Determination of Neglect

• Differences in values, norms and standards of
  acceptance
• Marginal child rearing
• POVERTY

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What happens after a call is received?

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Tips for Making A Report

• Please refer to handout
• You will be asked questions by the social worker
• You may report anonymously
• Report to 220-SAFE

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Step 1 Access

• Calls are answered by state-employed social
  workers
• Access social workers gather information from
  callers

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Access (continued)

• WI safety intervention standards are used to
  identify families that require a Child Protective
  Service (CPS) response (screen in)
• Determine urgency of the response time
• Refer to region office for assignment to Initial
  Assessment unit for assessment

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Response to Reporter

• All reporters should be contacted during
  investigation on calls screened in.
• Mandated reporters
• Are contacted at receipt of report
• Receive written notice if report is screened
  out/no investigation
• Receive written notice of results of
  investigation

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Step 2 Initial Assessment

• State-employed, state certified Initial
  Assessment Social Workers respond to reports
  screened in by Access
• Respond by assessing the safety of children in
  the home and protective capacity of parents.
• Identify present and impending danger threats

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Initial Assessment (continued)

• Take action to control circumstances jeopardizing
  child safety
• Determine the minimum level of intervention
  necessary to control for safety
• Determine if maltreatment did or did not occur
  (substantiation)

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Initial Assessment (continued)

• Support parents in providing protection and care
  for their children when someone outside the
  family maltreats them
• Collaborate with law enforcement, medical staff,
  court system, domestic violence prevention
  services, and other systems
• Determine if family needs assistance from
  community resources

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Initial Assessment (continued)

• Investigation
• According to state standards and BMCW protocol
• Interview child
• Interview both maltreating and non-maltreating
  parent
• May involve collateral contacts
• Involves interview of reporter
• Must be completed within 60 days

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Initial Assessment (continued)

• Decision making
• A child is unsafe now Present Danger Threats
• Childs safety cannot be assured for the
  foreseeable future Impending Danger Threat

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When there is present danger, the CPS
professional will take action!

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Examples of Protective Plans

• Move responsible adult into the home.
• Move child in with a responsible adult.
• Make maltreater leave home. (Provided
  non-maltreating caregiver has strong protective
  capacities.)
• Take child into temporary physical custody.
• Bring Safety Services into the home.

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Assessing Impending Danger Threats

• Requires more information about the family
• More sophisticated safety decision- making tools
• Consider
• Protective capacity of non-maltreating parent
• Past history, if any
• Parents ability to handle difficult situation or
  challenging needs of child

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Results of IA

• Child is unsafe
• Provide a Protective Plan
• Provide in-home services
• Remove the child, begin CHIPS process
• Child is safe but there are risks and the family
  wants services
• Child is safe. No safety factors exist. Family
  does not want services. Close case.

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I called and nothing was done.

• Report did not meet statutory definition of CAN.
  Call was screened out.
• Investigation showed child was safe, no
  maltreatment occurred, family did not need
  services.
• Services are being provided while child remains
  in the home. This is confidential, so the
  reporter may not know of services.

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Safety Services

• In-home services to ensure safety
• The child is unsafe, but there is sufficient
  caregiver protective capacity
• Child is safe, but risks are identified
• No CHIPS court order
• New legislation can bring in court involvement as
  needed

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Safety Services (continued)

• Provider network has array of services
• Family identifies change, Safety Service manager
  monitors change

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Safety Services (continued)

• May revert to court if family does not cooperate
• Refer to community resources before closing case

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Ongoing Case Management Services

• Manage child safety (in-home out-of-home)
• Establish relationship with family that supports
  the change process
• Family assessment and case planning
• Plan for and achieve a permanent, safe family for
  each child in care

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On-going Case Management Services (continued)

• Track medical care and compliance
• Manage the court process
• Assist parent in meeting court requirements
• Ensure services to child
• Plan for permanency of the child either in
  reunification or adoption

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On-going Case Management Services (continued)

• Facilitate permanency for child
• Help parent understand concept of permanence
• Concurrent planning ensures options to
  reunification are identified early
• Adoption
• Transfer of guardianship

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On-going Case Management Services (continued)

• Transition family to informal or community
  services

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Out-of-Home Care

• Removing a child from his/her home is always
  traumatic
• Least restrictive environment
• Includes
• Relative caregiver
• Family foster home
• Group home/setting
• Treatment foster home
• Residential care facility

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Out-of-Home Care

• Temporary placements should enhance the
  likelihood of reunification, when appropriate.
• If permanency plan changes to adoption, foster
  parent may become adoptive resource.
• Foster care cannot be considered permanent under
  most circumstances.

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Out-of-Home Care

• Foster and adoptive family recruitment call
  264-KIDS
• Licensing/home study
• Placement, matching, and support

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Permanency Planning

• All children have a right and need to live and
  develop within safe, secure, and permanent
  families.
• When a child cannot be placed with relatives,
  placement is preferred within the childs
  neighborhood or community.

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Adoption

• Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997
• Sets guidelines for termination of parental
  rights
• 85 of adopted children in Milwaukee County are
  adopted by their foster parents.

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Other Partners

• Family Intervention and Support Services
• Kinship Care
• Independent Living
• Independent Investigations

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Other Partners

• Milwaukee Child Welfare Partnership for
  Professional Development Helen Bader School of
  Social Welfare- UWM
• Trains staff and foster/adoptive parents
• Milwaukee Office of Ombudsman for Child Welfare
• Independent oversight

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Milwaukee Child Welfare Partnership Council

• Advisory council appointed by the governor
• Associate members of community stakeholders

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Our Greatest Partner

• You
• Everyone has a role in providing for the safety
  and well-being of our communitys children.