Parents' affirmative ideas about the nature of the working relationship with the caseworker constitute a large part of their trusting thoughts.  Parents' belief that a purpose exists in the work in which the caseworker has engaged them and that they and their children will, as a result, be enabled to substantially improve one or more aspects of their lives, is a fundamental building block of this trust.  This, combined with the parents' belief that the caseworker possesses kindness, integrity, and compassion as well as intellectual ability and a helpful skill-set, amount to what we consider trust in child welfare casework.

A caseworker whom the parents view as congenial and nice and whose visits are anticipated with pleasure but does little more than engage in chit chat can provide anticipated pleasurable times, but in terms of a developing trustful relationship, can leave the parents wondering about its purpose.  A caseworker, though, may need to determine if the situation does call for an initial period of congenial give and take without more substantive work.

Many paths can generate discussion about parenting problems/maltreatment and its connection to larger existential issues, but once the worker and parent touch upon this topic, the caseworker should offer assurance  through their discussion that clarifies the rationale behind this broad approach. 

Setting forth narrative such as I have done can give the erroneous impression that typical work with parents who have open child welfare cases is mostly obstacle-free.  And some situations may even, at first blush, seem intractable.  But even seemingly very difficult scenarios can usually, with time, yield to significant improvement, when the approach makes sense.      

Approaching child welfare work from a broader perspective,  as I have been advocating, raises the question of possible intrusion into family life beyond the scope of child welfare.  To side with this perspective, however, would fail to grasp not only the frequent connection between  maltreatment and a family's degree of general life satisfaction but also to blatantly ignore child welfare's long history of gross failure to help parents obtain long-term behavioral change.  So there needs to be a major change in the approach taken.    

The discrete details of any interaction between caseworker and parent must emanate from the nature of that interplay; we therefore can not lay out beforehand exactly what to do and when to do it.  Exactly how and when this would transpire would depend on the particulars of each unique situation, but at or toward the beginning of the interaction, the parents should be given, not only an explanation of the work in which they will be engaged, but also a taste of it.   

A few simple questions by the caseworker may elicit from the parents an elaborate narrative of wished-for life changes and aspirations for themselves and for their children.   If not, it may take more time and discussion to arrive there.  But at some point, to get that taste, a combination of discussion, use of literature and DVDs, participation by friends and neighbors who can share their own experiences, and visits by the parents and the caseworker to a variety of venues, such as educational institutions, museums and work venues should be undertaken.  

Some parents may believe that the magnitude of obstacles facing them, regardless of their sincere desire to work toward major change, precludes any realistic significant life altering improvements.  Helping them identify educational, occupational and cultural goals they wish to attain and then assisting with actual enrollment in the respective programs together with ongoing support and encouragement is a vital and integral part of this work.  Also necessary will be the caseworker's skill in helping parents learn to use CBT/REBT strategies  along the way.  The term support is used frequently but is often not well formulated or explained.  As a starting point, discussions with parents can shed light on just what they deem important in the caseworker's forthcoming support.  But, it should be a given that the caseworker will need to be an almost steady presence, a phone call away at times, and have the commitment and perseverance to help and support the parents as they work to overcome potential drawbacks.

The caseworker may be called upon to recruit additional sources of help, such as tutors (for children and parents), child care, transportation, nutritional, and legal, to mention just a few.  

Child welfare's traditional stance that parents with drug or alcohol addictions must first engage in substance abuse treatment before embarking on educational or occupational pursuits has already shown itself to be wrong, misguided and ineffective.  We must differentiate between very long-standing, chronic addictions together with multiple psychiatric problems and those addictions with less serious histories.  The very treatment for these addictions would quite likely be the kind of life changes we are advocating here.   

Yes, this is not the picture of a child welfare caseworker and the nature of child welfare interaction we've become used to.   But it is the picture of what is needed to help parents and their children have better and maltreatment free lives.       



   

   

Can a caseworker, who recognizes that the usual child welfare approach to working with families is ineffective, misses the point and also has little regard for parents' life situations, still provide the kind of assistance that will lead to long-term behavioral change?  Should this caseworker follow accepted practice, all the while blaming the system for its ineptitudes?  Should she just wait till system-wide change occurs?  Or, should she bravely  and independently proceed in the direction that she understands will likely lead to better parenting and to a better life for the families with whom she works?  Can an increasing number of  independent, competent and caring caseworkers not only do better by their clients but also eventually effect large-scale  change?  Since the caseworker's choices are self-evident, though at times fraught with difficulties, let's proceed to discuss ideas that she will find helpful. 

A caseworker wishing to locate a manual or a set of how to instructional books will seek in vain.  If only things were that simple.  The confluence of many variables, unpredictable occurrences, and variance in relational and expressive styles necessitate that a caseworker come with a vast knowledge base and the creative thinking ability to insightfully recognize how best to proceed.

The caseworker and parents first must establish a congenial and trusting relationship.  Because the concept trust has become overused and very often nebulous in its implications, to the point of often being very much a cliché, it is useful to discuss what is meant by trust and when it is and  is not a significant factor in  certain working relationships. The proliferation of silly exercises often used in group settings and mistakenly meant to build trust amongst the participants has only contributed to a less serious view of actual trust and its merits.

Trust, it would seem, pertains to just about every human interaction.  When we go to the grocery we expect that the produce will be fresh.  Students expect a certain level of competence from their instructors.  We expect that the bus driver knows the correct route and will get us to our destination within a reasonable time.  We even come to trust the companion animals with whom we live.  When we first meet someone and begin a relationship the nature of that relationship, as we want it to be, will determine our expectations for trust.  Trust is very much, in part, in the eye of the beholder, and sometimes, also influenced by the context in which the beholder finds herself.

The concept trust, as it relates to the counseling process, can entail two related components,1) trust that the counselor can provide competent help, and 2) trust that can develop between the counselor and client that will allow the expression of private and confidential details within a compassionate and empathic working relationship.      

A person who seeks out and arranges appointments with a counselor may or may not place value on the working relationship itself.  Her expectations may involve only that she and the counselor identify the problem and then work on techniques that will help her manage these difficulties in the future.  Another person, though, may also place importance on the actual working relationship itself.  They both however expect that the counselor can be trusted to provide competent service.  A particular counselor's reputation and prestige can enhance this trust.  Theoreticians differ in their opinions as to the role of trust and of the relationship itself in the counseling process. 

I doubt however that these theoreticians would disagree on the importance of the establishment of a trusting relationship in most child welfare scenarios.  That's because the child welfare client probably did not request the service and not only is it being forced on her, but this intrusion also brings with it the possibility of additional threats.  It is also likely that this client has a negative preconceived idea about caseworkers' interactivity with parents.  

The caseworker's genuine empathic and compassionate mind-set and approach, which seeks to patiently  understand the parent's life situation and the interplay of possible maltreatment, will slowly enable the development of a trusting relationship.   The importance of trust between the parent and caseworker can not be overly stressed.

The parents and caseworker must arrive at an agreement about what issues will be dealt with and to what purpose.  This relationship can not be forced nor false; sincerity on the caseworker's part can be expected to be met with similar genuineness by the parents, though perhaps not from the outset.  This often can be expected to take time to develop.  A time-table, script or list of techniques can not be helpful here.  Every scenario will require somewhat different ways of proceeding.  The varying nature of the maltreatment allegations will possibly necessitate establishment of both short and long-term goals. It will at times be a challenge to deal with the alleged abuse or neglect while simultaneously forging a congenial relationship.  This is in fact something that the caseworker should probably discuss directly with the parents.  Doing so, not only contributes to honest rapport, and an empathic give and take,  but also assures that the parent is fully aware of every aspect of the process, including its difficulties.  Certainly, a flexible mind-set is vital.

Time. A lot of time.  A lot of time may be necessary for this to transpire.  

There can be no presumption that mental health issues have been a factor in the maltreatment.  In fact, there probably should also be no presumption that any maltreatment actually occurred, investigative conclusions notwithstanding.  This may not apply 100% of the time but usually where firm evidence is lacking, the caseworker herself will need to determine the veracity of any allegations.  As the caseworker gets to know the parents she will slowly begin to understand what has transpired and the nature of any possible abuse or neglect.  When maltreatment indeed has occurred, unless there is evidence of seriously disturbed thought patterns connected to the abuse or neglect, no attribution of mental illness should be assumed. 

Sometimes it can be difficult to determine if abuse or neglect, as officially defined, has occurred.  Usually, a pattern, rather than a one-time occurrence, can begin to clarify the nature of the allegations. 

Parents can not be expected to initially welcome into their home representatives of a system that is seen as all powerful and with the potential to remove one's children and to forcibly demand adherence to unfamiliar and seemingly threatening expectations.  But a caseworker with a compassionate mind-set who persistently works on developing an ongoing congenial, respectful and constructive relationship with the parents will usually find that this threat will recede as time goes on.  Constructive relationship refers to the parents' belief and understanding that a purpose exists in this relationship and that they and their children will benefit from it. 

Some parents may not only readily welcome the child welfare caseworker into their home but may also anxiously and enthusiastically wish to work toward positive behavioral change.

Through patient and continuous discussion between parents and caseworker the parents' thoughts and ideas about the maltreatment, about its place in their family life and about its antecedents will begin to emerge.

In future blog articles we will discuss some specific issues regarding assisting parents with their aspirations for a more satisfying life and ideas about helpful parent education.