GREAT resources for motivating clients to CHANGE!

I'm doing an online course to better under stand Substance Abuse and how it affects client in the Child Welfare system. I just came across some really great motivators from change. All of this information came from the below source, of which you can register and take the trainings for free.

Parent’s Stage of Change and Motivational Tasks for Child Welfare Workers
Parent's Stages of Change		Motivational Tasks for Child Welfare Worker
Precontemplation	No perception of having a problem or need to change	Increase parent's perception of the risks and problems with their current behavior; raise parent's awareness about behavior
Contemplation	Initial recognition that behavior may be a problem and ambivalence about change	Foster and evoke reasons to change and the risks of not changing; help parents see that change is possible and achievable
Decision to Change	Makes a conscious determination to change; some motivation for change identified	Help parent identify best actions to take for change; support motivations for change
Action	Takes steps to change	Help parent implement strategy and take steps
Maintenance	Actively works on sustaining change strategies and maintaining long-term change	Help parent to identify triggers and use strategies to prevent relapse
Lapse or Relapse	Slips (lapses) from a change strategy or returns to previous problem behavior patterns (relapse)	Help parent re-engage in the contemplation, decision, and action stages

Motivational Strategies for the Precontemplation Stage

When parents are in the precontemplation stage on a specific issue, child welfare professionals can use the following motivational strategies to help move them to the next stage:

• Establish rapport and build trust



• Raise concerns about a parent's substance-related risk behaviors to self and children



• Elicit the parents' perceptions of their level of risk



• Elicit the parents' perceptions of their children's level of risk with respect to safety, well-being, and health



• Explore the benefits and risks of risky behaviors and treatment, including the timetable of the dependency court



• Express concern and remain available.

Motivational Strategies for the Contemplation Stage

When parents are in the contemplation stage on a specific issue, child welfare professionals can use the following motivational strategies to help move them to the next stage:

• Help parents understand that ambivalence about change is normal



• Elicit and weigh their reasons to change and not to change, including the consequences for the child if the parent does not meet the requirements of the dependency court



• Emphasize parents' free choice, responsibility, and self-efficacy for change



• Elicit self-motivational statements of intent and commitment from parents



• Elicit ideas regarding parents' perceived self-efficacy and expectations



• Summarize self-motivational statements



• Elicit ideas for the child's well-being and safety

Motivational Strategies for the Preparation Stage
When parents are in the preparation stage on a specific issue, child welfare professionals can use the following motivational strategies to help move them to the next stage:

• Clarify the parents' own goals and strategies for change



• Offer a menu of options for change or treatment



• Offer expertise and specific guidance, with permission



• Make sure that parents follow through on referrals for treatment assessment



• Help negotiate a change or treatment plan and behavior agreement



• Consider how to help parents lower their barriers to change



• Help parents enlist social support



• Explore the parent's treatment expectations



• Elicit from the parent what has or has not worked in the past



• Have the parent publicly announce plans to change



• Explore legal and social consequences to the parent and the child



• Help parents make plans for dependent children

Motivational Strategies for the Action Stage
When parents are in the action stage on a specific issue, child welfare professionals can use the following motivational strategies to help move them to the next stage:

• Support a realistic view of change through small steps



• Acknowledge difficulties for the parent in early stages of change



• Help the parent find new reinforcers of positive change



• Help parents assess whether they have strong family and social supports, and how these can be used to support child safety and well-being



• Help parents engage community supports



• Reflect on appropriate legal and social interactions and gains

Motivational Strategies for the Maintenance Stage
When parents are in the maintenance stage on a specific issue, child welfare professionals can use the following motivational strategies to help them sustain the benefits that they have achieved.

• Support parents' lifestyle changes



• Affirm parents' resolve and self-efficacy



• Support parents' use of new communication or coping strategies



• Maintain supportive contact and availability



• Sustain parents' resolve to meet statutory timetables



• Review long-term goals with parents



• Advocate for legal and community supports and rewards



• Help parents make plans for dependent children



• Help parents, kin caregivers, and children recognize risk factors and behaviors involved with substance abuse

Motivational Strategies for the Relapse Stage
Many clients will not immediately sustain new changes they are attempting to make. Substance use after a period of abstinence may be common in early recovery. Clients may go through several cycles of the stages of change to achieve long-term recovery. Relapse should not be interpreted as treatment failure or that the client has abandoned a commitment to change. With support, these experiences can provide information that can facilitate subsequent progression through the stages of change and identify new areas in which treatment and case plans can be enhanced. When parents lapse or relapse, child welfare professionals have an especially important role helping parents to reengage by using the following strategies:

• Help parents to reenter the change cycle



• Explore the meaning of relapse as a learning opportunity



• Maintain nonjudgmental, supportive contact



• Help parents find alternative coping strategies



• Keep parents' attention focused on the social and legal consequences of relapse for themselves and for their children

The FRAMES Strategies
F	Feedback regarding the parent's impairment or risk behavior
R	Responsibility for change is the parent's
A	Advice (guidance) to change is provided by the social worker
M	Menu of treatment and self-help alternatives is offered to the parent
E	Empathy and non-blaming style is used by the social worker
S	Self-efficacy or positive empowerment is facilitated in the parent

GOOD STUFF!

Monday Morning Musings

*yawn*

I have a Literature Review due in 2 weeks and it has become the bane of my existence. I have to do a full-scale review and analysis on "Best Practices in Family Preservation." Finding appropriate research for that exact topic has been a pain in the arse but I finally found 4 (we need to have between 3 to 5 articles) and I'm not changing them now! I've been reading through what I've found, identifying the research question and reading through the discussion for the findings. Once I've read them all, I will go back and review the Methods. And let's face it. Analysis isn't my strong suit. It is going to kick my arse. I just don't have an analytical brain, and to try and understand their methods and make sure they covered all the bases (in other words, they conducted a solid study)...it makes me just laugh thinking about it.

Family preservation services are family-focused, short-term, intensive therapeutic services designed for families with a child at imminent risk of out-of-home placement. That is good, right, because when children are removed from their parents and their environment, it is serious trauma! Also, if the child is young and they are placed in foster care for a length of time, the attachment process can be interrupted. Research has shown the disastrous effects of disrupting the attachment/bonding of a young child and their main caretaker.


The goals of the program are to resolve the crisis that led to the decision to remove the child and teach the child's family the skills they need to stay together. It emphasizes the strengths of the family and seeks to empower families to solve their own problems. What a concept! Obviously, children who have been abused will be removed from the home and really don't qualify for these types of services. (Other services are provided, obviously, as the primary goal of child welfare is to reunify the child with their biological parents). But what about the families who have been neglectful due to inadequate housing, addiction, mental health issues or poor child care skills?


{rant}
FPS could work for them, but my findings so far are a bit disappointing. It seems as though the caseworkers in the field don't always identify the proper families for FPS. Meaning, some inappropriate families receive it, and the ones that could have benefited from FPS have the child removed. I think a lot of caseworker's err on the side of caution because they are afraid to leave a child in a home that has been identified as neglectful, etc. Makes sense - I know I'd feel that way - but it leads me to my next rant. Proper Training, please! I've come across a lot of literature that says caseworkers are not trained on proper assessment of the families and treatment of the above problems, as well as many others. This isn't the first time I've heard this! When are we going to put trained human services people in these positions and quit hiring any joe blow off the street? I doubt that their intentions are bad but they aren't educated/trained to assess these families properly, and therefore, the families are provided incorrect services. The system is not meeting their needs. We are failing them!
{/rant}

Anywho, besides reading and ingesting the research articles (time consuming, anyone?), I have to fit in my work hours (thankfully I can do those from my computer, but they take up valuable school work time) and write the damn review in TWO WEEKS! If you know me, I am not a quick writer. It takes a while for the writing flow (in other words, days, weeks, etc). I can't just sit down and spit it out. Ugh. UGH! I see sleepless nights is in my near future. As I sit here and contemplate how I am supposed to pull this off, my brain quickly reminds me that it is 25% of our friggin grade, which makes me feel so much better.

Thursday's Thoughts: Genocide

Welcome to my new Thursday's Thoughts! I will use Thursdays to blog about my opinion on a popular media event, inform you about a social justice-y topic, blog a much needed rant, or just ramble about a topic I am interested in. I am not a political analyst, super smart consumer, blah blah. However, I am one passionate son of a gun - that has to count for something, right? If I need to be schooled on a topic, please do so - in a respectful manner.

Genocide

You may or may not know this about me, but I was a serious anti-genocide advocate in my undergrad. I was the president of the USF chapter of STAND, which is an amazing student-led anti-genocide org under the Genocide Prevention Network. What led me to this work? Well, I have to hand that award to Don Cheadle and his fabulous performance as Paul Rusesabagina (who I've met!) in Hotel Rwanda. Hotel Rwanda tells the story of one man's courage to save as many people as he could when genocide broke out in his country in 1994. (If you don't believe that one person can make a difference, you must watch this movie!) I walked out of the theater crying so hard that I could barely see. I was severely overcome with emotion, and that set me on the path to use my passion for good. Rwanda still holds a dear place in my heart, and I hope that one day, Todd and I can adopt a child from this country.

During my time with STAND, I was able to work with local refugees, educate our student body on the cause, and I learned a HELL of a lot about advocacy. Change will never occur unless there is NOISE surrounding the topic/event. WE HAVE TO SPEAK UP!

What is Genocide, and better yet, what is the Anti-Genocide movement?

I want to use this blog post to EDUCATE, because that is the first step. I figured the best way I can do this is share a paper I wrote for my Macro-level social work class. We had to choose a social movement and give the spiel. I was proud of this paper.

Other Resources

Learning Library

Past Genocides

Our Responsibility to Protect

Civilian Protection

Books

A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Powers: Samantha Powers is a personal hero for me and is one hell of a font of knowledge on genocide. This book educates us on all of the world's genocides from one of the world's best advocates for ending genocide.

Not On Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond by Don Cheadle and John Predenrgast: This book is quite powerful, as it discusses genocide from the view of 2 different people, and actor who has become invested in the cause (Don Cheadle) and a powerhouse in the anti-genocide arena (John Predergast). It also gives great ideas for advocacy!

Darfur Diaries

Media

Hotel Rwanda

The Devil Came on Horseback

Sometimes in April

Dafur Now

Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda

Organizations

www.standnow.org

www.genocideintervention.org

www.enoughproject.org

Areas of Concern

Sudan

Burma

Democratic Republic of Congo

Afghanistan

Pakistan

Iraq

Somalia

Afterthought: Most people in the U.S. probably pass over these news stories and say "this doesn't effect me, why should I care?" I have a real problem with this. No, you don't have to dedicate your life to saving these people, or even dedicate time to an anti-genocide cause, but to not care that thousands upon thousands of innocent people are dying because of a tyrannical government is unacceptable. We've completely lost touch with the outside world and it breaks my heart to see so many young people with no direction, no passion, no life in them other than clothes, sex and video games. But then you have all the other young people who do care, and who have used their passion to seek change, like the youth I worked with. It's always a double-edged sword and we can't win them all. :)

Cause of the Month: Break the Cycle

So the lovely SocialWrkr24/7 gave me this awesome idea. I am blatantly stealing it from her, but something tells me she won't mind. We are both social workers and therefore want to rid the world of injustice. Ok, maybe I sound a bit idealistic, but my ideals are what keep me going. SocialWrkr24/7 started a monthly meme featuring a Cause a Month, where she speaks about a cause that represents her work in the field (child welfare) or something she is passionate about, so be sure to check out her blog! I've learned a lot from her.

While I'm still a student, I do know that children, adolescents and women are my focus (big focus, right!) and I have lots of different interests, job-wise. I experienced the field during my first field placement in private adoptions, and look forward to my next field placement in domestic violence. Because of that, and my interest in working with adolescents, my first Cause of the Month is Break The Cycle. I've even put a little blog button on the top right of my blog to house the Cause of the Month. >:)

Break the Cycle is the leading, national non-profit agency that focus on dating violence among teenagers. As sad as it is to admit, violence in adolescent relationships is raising at a rapid rate. And it is a silent epidemic. According to Break the Cycle, "One in three teens will experience abuse in a dating relationship and more than two-thirds of them will never report it to anyone."

Break the Cycle works toward this endeavor in a myriad of ways. They realize that education is the key to empowerment, and empowering adolescents to stand up for their rights and well-being is the best way to end dating violence. They work with schools to provide teens with the tools and knowledge necessary to develop essential life skills and transition successfully into adulthood. Let's face it: not all children receive this knowledge at home.

Break the Cycle has developed specific curriculum to be used in school settings. They also provide in-person education through the Girl Scouts and the Boys & Girls Clubs.They're also dedicated to empowering youth to become advocates for the cause, which I just love! They've created Speak. Act. Change., a special advocacy project aimed at adolescents and includes service learning activities, such as legislative advocacy and community involvement.

Not all teenagers have access to these programs and/or specialists, so Break the Cycle has created an online network called The Safe Space. This website is a comprehensive resource center on dating violence. There is an "Ask Anything" page, which allows teens to ask questions anonymously. If you know anything about relationship violence, we definitely understand the important of anonymity.

As if that wasn't enough (and sadly, it will never be enough), Break the Cycle provides training and support for adults who want to work in a variety of professional fields that work with adolescents (social workers, school professionals, lawyers, health care professionals, etc). All in all, this is a fantastic national agency that really has a grasp on the problem of teen dating violence and is working very efficiently to stop it.

How can you help?

There are always ways to help, and this agency actually offers some really awesome opportunities for all types of lifestyles and time requirements.

• Take Action: Join HOPE, Break the Cycle's national membership program comprised of people all over the country united to take action against teen dating violence.


• Intern with Break the Cycle: Become an intern and gain valuable, hands-on experience. Opportunities engage a range of skills and are available in Los Angeles and Washington, DC.


• Help Teens in Crisis: Become an Ask Anything Volunteer and respond to help emails from teens in need.


• Join our Young Professionals Committee: Take on a leadership role as a part of this auxiliary group that raises friends and funds for Break the Cycle.


• Spread the Word: Become a trained speaker on dating violence and table at community fairs.


• Lend Us Your Expertise: Join a committee, improve our services and learn new skills.


• Host a Party: Find out how you can have Valentine’s Anytime and raise awareness about teen dating violence.


• Youth in Action: Visit thesafespace.org if you are a teen who wants to take action

I hope you've enjoyed my first Cause of the Month!

Child Abuse: What are we doing wrong?

Tonight's class was a toughie. We watched a Dateline investigative report on the death of Kayla McKean in 1998. I have yet to work directly with abused children so I have no personal experience in this area. These are opinions based on my education, and I am quite aware that things are very different in the field.

Disclaimer: My facts and details aren't exact, so don't blast me for that. There are plenty of resources (see below) to find the exact details.

In 1998, Kayla McKean was a 6 year old girl in the 1st grade. She lived in central FL (why the hell is it always FL?) with her mother, who soon gave up on parenting her. I don't remember any details about her mother, but something tells me she wasn't parenting Kayla in a healthy fashion). Her father, Richard, was married and had a small child. At some point, Richard took in Kayla.

Kayla showed up to school with 2 black eyes. Her guidance counselor or teacher made a call to Richard, who says she fell off her bike. Kayla confirms the story. Richard is urged to take Kayla to a doctor immediately, so he takes her to the emergency room. The doctor came to the conclusion that her injuries (a broke nose, which causes black eyes, a broken knuckle and some bruising) is conclusive to falling off a bike. It can happen. She took Kayla aside to see if she would admit to anything, but Kayla stuck to the story. While the doctor believed the story, her instincts still persisted, so she called the abuse hotline, and a child protective investigator was sent to the hospital. The doctor told the social worker that Kayla's injuries were conclusive to the accident, but didn't share her instincts about anything else. She believed the abuse call was proof she thought something was awry. The SW interviewed all parties, all had the same story. She concluded that abuse was unfounded.

Richard had an anger problem, and admitted this throughout his casework, so the SW sent them to a contracted family services program to receive assistance with parenting and his anger problem. She also ordered a psychological eval, which she never followed up on. Why didn't she ask to see this bike? Or where the accident happened? She was new to the job (big surprise!), maybe experience and the stress of too many cases for one person to handle where clouding her judgement. Maybe she really did believe the story.

The SW assigned to the case was on a leave of absence when another abuse report was made a few weeks later. Kayla again showed up to school with the same injuries and the same story. Again, she was asked to be medically evaluated, and we taken to a pediatrician. The pediatrician concluded abuse on sight, and after examining Kayla, made the abuse report. A new SW was sent to investigate, and abuse was unfounded (I can't remember the details).

A friend of Richard took notice of Kayla's condition and tried to pry info from Richard and Kayla. Neither ever let on to abuse. When Summer came, Richard called up said friend and told him he couldn't handle Kayla anymore (he said she was evil) and would the friend take her indefinitely. The friend did, and for 3 weeks, Kayla had a very happy and healthy existence. However, Richard called the friend up to say he wanted Kayla back to prepare her for school. The friend was very reluctant to give Kayla back, but he had no legal grounds to keep her.

Some time into the first half of the school year, Kayla comes to school with different injuries and a new story (of which I can't remember). This time, the Guidance Counselor made the abuse report. Because time had passed and no abuse had occurred, the case was closed. When the new report came in, a new case was opened and a 3rd SW was assigned to the case. For whatever reason (details I can't remember), abuse was unfounded.

Thanksgiving comes and Richard files a missing child report. Kayla is gone. A search party is sent out immediately, on Thanksgiving Day! The FBI investigate Richard and his wife, Marcie. After a few days and no body, Marcie breaks down and tells the truth. Richard beat the life out of Kayla when she soiled her underpants. After Richard threatens to take their baby and run, he talks Marcie into driving to the Ocala National Forest to bury Kayla's body. Both are arrested, Marcie later gets out, but Richard is served with a life sentence. I do believe he was eventually given the death penalty and executed by lethal injection.

My first reaction is "Why did Marcie allow this to happen?" I assume it is because Richard threatened her and their child, and she complied out of fear. I will not judge her, although I have so much I'd like to say! As far as the system side, I have not worked in this field, so I think it allows me to see both sides. I definitely believe there was ample evidence and enough professionals involved with this family, that Kayla should and could have been saved. However, we watched an investigative report, so what we heard was a hell of a lot more information than what each of the workers involved knew. I am also very aware of the severe amount of work the case managers and investigators deal with, and unfortunately, these workers are human, and humans aren't perfect. There was also a severe communication issue between entities and a serious lack of follow up. The teacher said that there is so much paperwork involved that a lot of focus has turned away from protecting the child to CYA (covering your own ass). This obviously didn't occur in Kayla's case, as workers did not follow up when they should have (first step in CYA, people!) and a lot of reportable evidence was not properly documented.

The SWs involved all had the same story:

• new to the job
• no social service background
• little training
• few workers, which meant major caseloads
• pressure to close cases ASAP
• little follow-up

These complaints sound very familiar! They are the same complaints made in the mid-1800's by social workers who investigated the Orphan Train children. That was over 150 years ago! Are you seriously telling me that we are still experiencing the same exact problems? Yes, I know that the importance and action in child welfare has improved LEAPS AND BOUNDS since then, but the system itself seems to be stuck in limbo. What the heck are we doing wrong, and how can we change it for the better? Unfortunately, I don't excel at this type of problem solving, but I'm sure many people have suggested different types of reform, but how do you fix a problem that is nothing but a big cycle of problems?

Resources:

http://www.childrens-angels.org/kayla-mckean/

http://kaylaslaw.blogspot.com/?zx=917eb70dc7ec524a

http://www.mcjackie.com/galcrisis.html

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://laws.flrules.org/files/Ch_1999-168.pdf

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1346&dat=20000723&id=Ep8sAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Zf0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6493,1507481

R.I.P Kayla McKean