Collaborative Capacity Instrument: Reviewing and Assessing the Status of Linkages Across Alcohol and Drug Treatment, Child Welfare Services and Dependency Courts

This tool is intended to be used as a self-assessment by local level alcohol and other drug (AOD) service and child welfare service (CWS) agencies and dependency courts* who are preparing to work with each other or who may be seeking to move to a new level of cooperation after some initial efforts. The questions have been designed to elicit discussion among and within both sets of agencies and the court about their readiness for closer work with each other.

Responses from this assessment should be tabulated and distributed, along with the total from all participants, to each State team. The results can be used to compare the jurisdiction with the matrix of progress in linkages and prioritizing any needed action. The NCSACW has the ability to tabulate these responses via the internet for interested sites.

*Dependency court is used in this document to include the courts that have jurisdiction in cases of child abuse and/or neglect and include judicial officers as well as the attorneys that represent parents, children, social services and the state.

Staff Level:

*

Other:

Gender:

*

Area of Primary Responsibility:

*

Other:

Jurisdiction of Agency or Court:

*

Other:

Race/Ethnicity:

*

Other:

Age:

*

State:

*

County: *
Local Level Entity: Please enter the name of your agency here:
Years of Professional Experience in my primary program area: *
Please enter the last four digits of your Social Security Number.
* Indicates a required field.


Please check the response category that most closely represents your extent of agreement with each of the following statements
.

In the statements below, due to the multiplicity of sub state-level entities and jurisdictions, the word "region" is used as a general term to refer to the local level.

I. Underlying Values and Principles of Collaborative Relationships

Disagree

Somewhat
Agree

Agree

Not Sure/Don't Know

1.

Our region has included the judicial officers and attorneys from the dependency court as partners in the development of new approaches to serving substance-abusing parents in the child welfare system.

2.

Our region's AOD and CWS agencies and dependency courts have used a formal values assessment process to determine how much consensus or disagreement we have about issues related to AOD use, parenting, and child safety.

3.

Our region's AOD and CWS agencies and dependency courts have negotiated shared principles or goal statements that reflect a consensus on issues related to families with AOD-related problems in child welfare and the dependency court.

4.

Our region has prioritized parents in the CWS system for receipt of AOD treatment services.

5.

In our region, CWS staff and the courts view alcohol abuse as being as important as other drugs as a contributing factor in child abuse and/or neglect.

6.

Our region has discussed and developed responses to the conflicting time frames associated with CWS, TANF, AOD treatment and child development.

II. Daily Practice - Screening and Assessment

Disagree

Somewhat
Agree

Agree

Not Sure/Don't Know

1.

Our region has developed a joint AOD-CWS-Dependency Court policy on its approach to standardized screening and assessment of substance abuse issues among families in child welfare.

2.

Our region has successfully out-stationed AOD workers at CPS offices and/or the dependency court to help with screening and assessment of clients.

3.

Our region has multi-disciplinary service teams that include both AOD and CWS workers.

4.

Our region has developed coordinated AOD treatment and CPS case plans.

5.

Our region supplements child abuse/neglect risk assessment with an in-depth assessment of AOD issues and their impact on each of the family members.

6.

Our region's child welfare intake process is able to identify prior AOD treatment episodes based on previously negotiated information sharing protocols.

7.

Our region's AOD intake process identifies parents who are involved in the CWS system based on previously negotiated information sharing protocols.

8.

Our region's AOD providers have sufficient information about the child welfare case to conduct quality assessments among families referred by child welfare to treatment.

9.

Our region routinely documents AOD factors from its screening and assessment process in the information system.

10.

When our AOD treatment providers assess clients, they routinely include questions about children in the family, their living arrangements, and child safety issues.

11.

Our region routinely monitors the implementation and the quality of its screening and assessment protocols.

III. Daily Practice - Client Engagement and Retention in Care

Disagree

Somewhat Agree

Agree

Not Sure/Don't Know

1.

Our region's CWS staff have the skills and knowledge to talk with their clients about their AOD use and related problems.

2.

Our region's AOD staff have the skills and knowledge to talk with their clients about child safety and CWS involvement.

3.

Our region's dependency court judges have the skills and knowledge they need to talk with their clients about child welfare and substance abuse issues.

4.

Our region's dependency court attorneys have the skills and knowledge they need to talk with their clients about child welfare and substance abuse issues.

5.

Our systems have assessed common drop-out points where clients in care leave the system prior to completing treatment.

6.

Our systems have implemented integrated case plans that include the substance abuse recovery plan integrated or linked with the child welfare case plan.

7.

Our dependency court system has adequate access to treatment monitoring information to determine how parents are progressing through treatment in a timely way.

8.

Our region's dependency court system has realistic expectations for CWS parents with AOD problems (e.g., approach to relapse and drug testing issues).

9.

Our region's CWS staff provides outreach to clients who do not keep their initial AOD appointment or drop out of treatment.

10.

Our dependency court staff follows up with the substance abuse treatment agency that the parent is ordered to attend if a parent fails to keep a court date.

11.

Our region's AOD staff track the status of their clients' progress in the CWS system.

12.

Our region has developed and trained our staff in approaches with clients that improve rates of retention in treatment once they enter it.

13.

In our region, CWS and AOD agencies have agreed on the level of information about clients' progress in treatment that will be communicated from treatment agencies to CWS workers and the courts.

14.

In our region, there is an adequate system for monitoring jointly-agreed upon outcomes of child welfare, substance abuse and dependency court programs and interventions.

15.

In our region, client relapse typically leads to a collaborative intervention to re-engage the client in treatment and to re-assess child safety.

16.

In our region, drug testing is used effectively and in conjunction with a treatment program to monitor clients' compliance with treatment plans.

17.

Rate your region's AOD treatment on the following areas:

Poor

Fair

Excellent

Gender specific

Culturally relevant

Geographically accessible

Family focused

Age-specific responses to children's needs

Adequacy of adolescent treatment

18.

Rate your region's child welfare services in the following areas:

Poor

Fair

Excellent

Gender specific

Culturally relevant

Geographically accessible

Family focused

Age-specific responses to children's needs

Adequacy of adolescent treatment

IV. Daily Practice - Services to Children

Disagree

Somewhat Agree

Agree

Not Sure/Don't Know

1.

Our region has implemented substance abuse prevention and early intervention services for most children in the CWS system.

2.

Our region targets children of substance abusers in the child welfare system for specialized substance abuse prevention programming.

3.

Our region ensures that all children in the child welfare system have a comprehensive mental health assessment.

4.

Our region ensures that all children in CWS are screened for:

a) Neurological effects of prenatal substance exposure
b) Developmental delays associated with parental substance abuse
c) Emotional/mental health problems associated with parental substance abuse
d) Substance use disorders
5.
Our region’s Independent Living Program includes significant content on the impact of AOD use.
6.
Our region has developed a range of programs for children of substance-abusing parents that are targeted on the special developmental needs of these children.
7.
Our region is familiar with national models of prevention and intervention for AOD-affected children.

V. Joint Accountability and Shared Outcomes

Disagree

Somewhat Agree

Agree

Not Sure/Don't Know

1.
Our region’s AOD agency has identified system outcomes and has communicated them to CWS and the dependency court.
2.
Our region’s CWS agency has identified system outcomes and has communicated them to the AOD agency and the dependency court.

3.
Our region’s dependency court has identified system outcomes and has communicated them to the AOD and CWS agencies.

4.
Our region's AOD and CWS agencies and the courts have developed shared outcomes for CWS-AOD involved families and have agreed on how to use this information to inform policy leaders.

5.
Our region has developed outcome criteria in their contracts with community-based providers (who serve CWS-AOD clients) to measure their effectiveness in achieving shared outcomes.

6.
Our region has shifted funding from providers who are less effective in serving clients in the CWS-AOD systems to those that are more effective.

7.
In our region, CWS-AOD involved parents are referred to parenting programs that have demonstrated positive results with this population.

8.
Our region's CWS agency shares accountability with their AOD counterpart for successful treatment outcomes for their mutual clients.

9.
Our region's AOD agency shares accountability for positive child safety outcomes for clients who have enrolled in treatment programs.

10.
In our region, drug testing is not used in the court system as the most important indicator of clients’ compliance with substance abuse treatment and their recovery.

VI. Information Sharing and Data Systems

Disagree

Somewhat Agree

Agree

Not Sure/Don't Know

1. Our region has assessed its data system to identify gaps in monitoring clients involved in both CWS and AOD systems.
2. Our region’s data system can retrieve the percentages of families that receive services in both the AOD and CWS agencies.
3. Our region has identified the confidentiality provisions that affect CWS-AOD and dependency court connections and has devised means of sharing information while observing these regulations.
4. Our region has developed formal working agreements with the courts that include how child welfare and treatment agencies will share information about clients in treatment with the court system.
5. Our region consistently documents AOD factors related to the case in our management information system.
6. Our region’s AOD services have supplemented the alcohol/drug data system to generate data on their clients’ children and their CPS involvement.
7. Our region has developed the capacity to automate data about the characteristics and service outcomes of the clients who are in both the CWS and AOD caseloads.
8. Our region is using data that can track CWS/AOD clients across information systems to monitor system outcomes.
VII. Training and Staff Development
Disagree Somewhat Agree Agree Not Sure/Don't Know
1. Our region's CWS ensures that all managers, supervisors and workers receive training on working with AOD-affected families.
2. Our region's AOD agency ensures that their staff/providers receive training on working with families in the CWS system.
3. Our region has trained court staff in the principles of effective drug treatment and gender-specific services for mothers.
4. Our region has trained attorneys who practice in the dependency court regarding effective advocacy and basic education regarding substance abuse and addiction.
5. Our region has developed joint training programs for AOD, CWS and court staff and providers to learn effective methods of working together.
6. Our region has a multi-year staff development plan that includes periodic updates to the training and orientation received by the staff of both CWS and AOD agencies on working together.
7. Our region has training programs that include cultural issues to improve staff’s cultural relevance and competency in working with diverse AOD-CWS client groups.
8. Our region has revised the state university and social work pre-service educational programs so that future staff are prepared to work across systems on substance abuse and child welfare issues.