Building The New Paradigm:
Child protection practice is multi-leveled. Public agencies are created and regulated by federal and state legislation and administrative rules. Many public agencies are further regulated by accreditation standards to which they voluntarily subscribe. Collectively, these laws, rules, and standards are the foundation for the basic practice level in the new child protection paradigm.
The agencies develop or adopt criteria used to measure the success of internal programs and services. These quantitative performance targets shape the intermediate practice level in the new child protection paradigm.
Agencies adopt principles they believe should govern programs and services. These are basic truths or assumptions against which the work of the agency is judged. Only when practice conforms to these principles is practice considered fully appropriate and successful. This perspective shapes the advanced level in the new child protection paradigm.
Figure 1: The New Child Protection Paradigm
| ||||||
| Basic Practice
| Intermediate Practice
| Advanced Practice
| |||
A.
| Rules
|
| Outcomes
|
| Principles
|
|
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
B.
| Procedures
|
| Continuous Invention
|
| Best Practice
|
|
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
C.
| Bureaucracy
|
| Empowerment
|
| Professional Judgment
|
|
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
D.
| Safety
|
| Permanence
|
| Sustained Well-being
|
|
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
E.
| Staff-determined
|
| Services-determined
|
| Protocol-determined
|
|
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
F.
| Program-centered
|
| Family-centered
|
| Community-centered
|
|
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
G.
| Agency-focused
|
| Network-focused
|
| Variable Resource-focused
|
|
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
H.
| Closed Structures
|
| Open Structures
|
| Dynamic Structures
|
|
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
I.
| Collaboration
|
| Partnering
|
| Unified Commitment
|
|
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
J.
| Quality Assurance
|
| Continuous Quality Improvement
|
| Values-centered Practice
|
|
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
K.
| Cost
|
| Process
|
| Performance
|
|
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
L.
| Authority
|
| Assessment & Planning
|
| Rights & Responsibilities
|
|
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
TOT
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
SC
| 0______
| 1______
| 2______
| 3______
| 4______
| 5______
|
Practice Rating ________
Figure 1 summarizes the new child protection paradigm. The left set of elements represents the basic practice level. The middle set of elements represents the intermediate practice level and the right set of elements represents the advanced practice level. The following twelve workbook sections (A-L) discuss the new child protection paradigm in relation to the twelve element clusters included across the rows of Figure 1.
At the end of each section, you are invited to rate your practice, your agency, or a specific department or program. Circle the number on the scale best characterizing where practice currently falls along the scale.
The scale ranges from 0 to 5. ?0? indicates practice has not incorporated the first element in the cluster and ?1? indicates it has. ?2? indicates the middle element is partially but not completely integrated into practice and ?3? indicates it is fully integrated. ?4? indicates the third element in the cluster is partially but not completely integrated into practice and ?5? indicates it is fully integrated.
When you have completed the scales at the ends of all twelve sections, here is how to find the score for your practice, program, or agency.
For example, If in section A: you circled ?4? to indicate Principles are partially but not completely integrated into practice, put a checkmark beside the ?4? in the row below ?A? in Figure 1.
For example, If you have 5 checkmarks in the ?3? column in Figure 1, you put a ?5? beside the ?3? in the TOT row. You multiply 3 times 5 and get 15. You then write ?15? beside the ?3? in the ?SC? row.
0 to 20 = Basic Practice Level
21 to 40 = Intermediate Practice Level
41 to 60 = Advanced Practice Level
(Note) In each section, A: – L:, there are ?Study Questions.? The questions reflect basic, intermediate, and advanced practice levels. This means you may not have an appropriate answer for some of the study questions. This is not a problem. Simply skip any question for which you do not have an appropriate answer at this time
Please send comments or questions to Gary A. Crow, Ph.D. GAC@garycrow.net || and visit www.garycrow.net.