Increasing Disability Competence in Child Protection Professionals

1. Increasing Disability Competence in Child Protection Professionals Elizabeth Lightfoot, Ph.D. Traci L. LaLiberte, MSW School of Social Work University of Minnesota Curriculum Module Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare Funded in part by the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station and Title IV-E Citation: Lightfoot, E. & LaLiberte, T. (2004). Increasing disability competence in child protection professionals: A Curriculum Module. Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare, School of Social Work, University of Minnesota website: http://ssw.che.umn.edu/cascw.html

2. Introduction • Discuss prevalence of people with disabilities in the child welfare system • Present initial findings of Minnesota survey of approaches to ‘cases’ involving people with disabilities • Proposes disability competent child protection services

3. Prevalence of People with Disabilities in Child Protection System • No Federal Reporting Requirements • Uneven State Reporting Requirements • No Standard Definition of “Disability”

4. Prevalence of Childrenwith Disabilities who are ‘abused’ or ‘neglected’ • Incidence of abuse & neglect of children with disabilities is 1.7 to 1.9 times that of children w/o disabilities • National Center on Child Abuse & Neglect (Crosse et al., 1993) • Survey of ‘maltreated children’ found 64% of maltreated children had a disability • Comprehensive Survey at an Omaha Hospital(Sullivan, 1997)

5. Prevalence of Abuse or Neglect by Parents with Disabilities • We Know Even Less! • More adults with disabilities having children • Suggestions that 40-60% of parents with a developmental disability have their children removed at some point • Booth & Booth, 1998

6. Current Study: Research Question • What policies, plans and/or procedures do county child protection agencies follow to address the needs of children and family members with disabilities?

7. Current Study: Site • Minnesota County Child Protection Agencies • 87 Total Counties • 84 CPS Administrative Counties • State Supervised/ County Administered

8. Current Study: Site Minnesota Counties Largest: Hennepin, 1,130,880 Smallest: Traverse, 3,965 40 counties: Under 20,000 8 counties: Over 100,000

9. Current Study: Site • Four Groupings of Counties • Large City; Metropolitan Counties • Metropolitan Counties • Out-State Metropolitan Counties • Rural Counties

10. Current Study: Methodology • Telephone Survey • Telephone Survey with CPS administrators or their agents during Winter 2002-2003 • 75 of 84 counties participated • 89% Response Rate • Brief, semi-structured interview • 12 minutes to 50 minutes

11. Current Study: Methodology (Cont.) • Telephone Survey Topics • Policies and procedures for working with clients with disabilities • Best practices • Barriers to providing services and needs for improvement

12. Written Policies for People with Disabilities? • Only 5 counties (6.7%) report having written policy related to child protection procedures for cases involving people with disabilities • 30 counties (40%) report having county accommodation policies • 40 counties (53.3%) report having no knowledge of county or CPS disability policies

13. Dual Case Assignment Specialty CPS Workers CPS Workers w/Disability Experience Self Select Cases Team-Information Consultation Team-Active Consultation Team/Consult with Outside Consultants Screen/Team All Cases Regularly Scheduled Teaming Opportunities All Generalist Workers Training MN Core CPS Training Research Disabilities (Internet) Assess for Safety Incorporating Disability Components Check Other Counties for History Screen for the Presence of a Disability Make a New Referral to County Disability Worker Types of Case Management Processes

14. Case Management Approaches

15. Case Management Approaches

16. Case Management Approaches

17. Barriers - Overall

18. Barriers - Overall

19. Barriers, Non-Rural

20. Barriers, Rural Issues

21. CPS Best Practices-Overall

22. CPS Best Practices, Non-Rural

23. CPS Best Practices, Rural

24. Case Examples: A Rural County: Northwoods • Case Approach • Team Information Consult (informally) • Internet Research • Barriers • Lack of Providers • Lack of Funding • Transportation • Too Few Child Psychiatrists/Psychologists • Strengths • Small Agency So We Know Each Other Well • Individualize and tailor services

25. Case Examples: An Out-State Metropolitan County: Pleasant Lake • Case Approach • Dual Case Assignment (for DD and MH) • Active Consultation • Team Outside • Barriers • Lack of Providers • Lack of Disability Knowledge • Lack of Funding • Strengths • Collaborate well (Dual Workers) • Respect People with Disabilities • Creativity and Innovation

26. Case Examples: A Metropolitan County: Humphrey • Case Approach • Specialty Workers • Screen for the Presence of a Disability or Current Worker • Barriers • Lack of Funding • Waiting Lists • High Staff Turnover • Strengths • Caseload Size • Accessing Resources • Understanding Disabilities

27. Cases that Result in Most Difficulties for CPS Workers • People that fall through the cracks • People that just barely don’t qualify for DD Services • People with Hidden Disabilities • People with Low Incidence Disabilities

28. Implications for SW Education • All SW graduates should be disability competent • Social work students need skills in collaboration and inter-disciplinary teaming • Social work students need information on navigating complex systems • Continuing education on disabilities for social workers and other professionals involved in child protection must be developed