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Implementing Signs of Safety. What it Takes. Leadership shared throughout the organization. Leaders as learners; a different perspective.
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Implementing Signs of Safety What it Takes
Leadership shared throughout the organization. • Leaders as learners; a different perspective. • This is all about the parallel process. If we want workers to truly engage families, helping them to think their way into and through their own problems toward solutions that they own, this must be modeled throughout the organization, beginning with the top leader.
Create and empower an implementation team/committee. • The implementation team should include representatives from throughout the organization as well as key stakeholders, including parent and youth representation. • The implementation team measures progress along the journey of implementation, but also identifies challenges/barriers and presents proposed solutions to those with the power to resolve them.
Contextual Factors for Practice • 1.) Does the agency have core family-centered values and principles? How do you know? • Learning organizations continuously and objectively assess alignment of actual practice with the organizations core values and principles. • One of the best ways to do this is by asking service recipients, families and youth.
Contextual Factors for Practice , cont.. • 2.) Is the agency’s overall practice and policy framework aligned with those core values and principles or are there contradictions or conflict points? • 3.) Are adequate administrative supports in place for the practice framework and core values and principles? For example, training, coaching, information system and orientation of key partners, e.g., Judges, agency attorneys, GAL’s.
The critical role of supervisors. • Effective supervision means asking solution-focused questions, vs. prescribing solutions. Keep asking questions and resist the urge to give answers. • Organizations must recognize the challenge of changing the approach to supervision and support supervisors in this change process. • Use existing supervisor forums and create new ones to develop a team case practice culture.
Supervisors and practitioners as practice leaders. • Practice leaders are “early adopters” who develop an in-depth understanding of the approach and lead others along the learning journey • Practice leaders use the Signs of Safety map to help others think their way into and through their cases. • Group/team processes offer the best learning opportunities.
Building a team case practice culture. • Supervisors/practice leaders use the map to consult on a case brought forward by a team member. • Requires careful management of group dynamics and focuses the process on the worker in question. • Leader involves other team members by pausing and asking for input, such as next best question or danger statement wording.
Appreciative Inquiry (AI) • “Competency is quiet; it tends to be overlooked in the noise and clatter of problems” (William Madsen, 2007) • AI "advocates collective inquiry into the best of what is, in order to imagine what could be, followed by collective design of a desired future state that is compelling and thus, does not require the use of incentives, coercion or persuasion for planned change to occur.“ (Bushe 2013)[
Creating a culture of appreciative inquiry. • Managers, supervisors and practice leaders learn the process of appreciative inquiry and look for opportunities, i.e., good pieces of work. • By “unpacking” the details of what went into a good piece of work the individual, team and organization can learn about and replicate success. • Best done in front of or with teams or small groups.
Appreciative inquiry, cont.. • The child welfare field has focused on the problem solving model for so long, it becomes challenging to shift the focus on what went well. • Like any change or new skill using appreciative inquiry takes regular practice and support of leadership. • “Practice gems” gleaned from appreciative inquiry can be documented and shared throughout the whole organization through email “blasts”.
Using the three-columned map to track and drive implementation • An effective strategic planning tool. • Used regularly with the implementation team, as well as senior management team. • Also an effective CQI framework. • Remember that implementation is a journey and like any journey, we need to pay attention to our map.