For detailed information on the case planning process, see Case planning - advice.
Working with the family, communities and other professionals to enact the child’s case plan is essential to achieve the permanency objective for the child in a sustainable way. Maintaining the momentum of protective intervention to achieve change requires active monitoring of the case plan, actions table and any other plans that support a child and family.
Practice Principles
Enacting a plan can be:
- a formal process (for example, where a case plan has been developed and must be implemented)
- an informal process (for example, where a practitioner has developed a home visit plan with dot points to prompt discussion during the visit).
Regardless of the type of plan, some key practice principles apply, outlined below.
Be child-centred
- The child or young person is the client of Child Protection and must be kept at the centre of all casework, actions and decisions.
- Client-centred work is grounded in the importance of rights, dignity, individual choice, empowerment and self-determination.
Be relationship-focused
- The key to effective work is the quality of the connection between the worker and client in a relationship that is ‘the principle vehicle for change’ (Turnell & Edwards 1999).
- In Child Protection, relationships must be built and maintained with a wide range of people, children, young people, parents, caregivers, community and agency partners.
Be strengths-based
- A strengths-based approach maximises collaboration to enact a plan.
- Finding, calling out and building on strengths within a family offers the greatest chance of achieving safety (remember, safety is strengths demonstrated as protection over time).
Be culturally aware-Working with Aboriginal children
- Acknowledge the experience of Aboriginal people with the child protection system and the impact of child removal policies that have caused intergenerational trauma and dispossession (s. 7A).
- Consider the recognition principles (s. 7E) and Aboriginal Child Placement Principle (ACPP) and further principles (s. 13-14) throughout Child Protection involvement and at key points of decision-making.
- Provide opportunities for a child’s family, community, Elders and Aboriginal-led services to participate in case planning and decision-making.
- Acknowledge Aboriginal perspectives, knowledge, customs, and cultural diversity.
- Promote the child’s connection to Aboriginal culture, family, community, language and Country.
Case practitioner tasks
- Read the current endorsed case plan and actions table and make sure you understand your role in implementing the endorsed decisions in the case plan.
- Confirm all professionals and services noted in the case plan are aware of and agree to their roles – use the care team and any professionals' meetings to maintain focus on the goals and actions of the case plan.
- Follow up within the specified timeframes, including:
- visiting or having other contact with the child as per the client contact statement and adhere to the minimum client visit policy, providing purposeful intervention and seeking the child’s views and wishes
- service referral and communication for placement related actions, including for Aboriginal children application of the ACPP (s. 13) which requires assessment and ongoing reassessment of whether a suitable placement becomes available that is higher on the placement hierarchy, along with application of further principles (s. 14)
- continuing assessment
- upon receipt of significant new information, a risk assessment review must occur and for Aboriginal children, advice sought from Aboriginal Child Specialist Advice and Support Service (ACSASS).
Following substantiation and for the duration of Child Protection involvement, it is expected that the child protection practitioner will routinely have direct contact with each child for whom they are responsible. Where possible and appropriate the practitioner will interact with the child without the parent/carer present and ask about their safety. The details and frequency of this contact will be recorded in the actions table of the child’s case plan and adhere to the minimum client visit policy.
The frequency should consider the following factors:
- (current) risk assessment
- the child's permanency objective as established in the (current) case plan
- the safety and stability of the placement
- any additional oversight of the child by an external support service
- any additional support needs identified for the child or family/caregivers.
Fortnightly contact with the child would generally be a reasonable minimum for an allocated case, and more, or less frequent contact should be discussed and agreed with your supervisor when the case plan is reviewed, or at least quarterly within supervision. Refer to the client visit policy for further advice about minimum requirements for client visits, including for infants, children over two years of age and for children whose case management is contracted to an agency.
Where a child is awaiting allocation or an allocated child protection practitioner is on leave it will be necessary for the team manager to determine how (when and by whom) regular direct contact with the child will occur.
- Consult your supervisor and alert them to any new concerns or incidents, including those where a CIMS report may be required, see CIMS policy for further advice.
- Regularly monitor progress towards achieving the permanency objective.
- Regularly monitor the case plan actions table to ensure that it contains all current areas of concern and update the Essential information categories on CRIS if required.
- Consider whether a family preservation or reunification funding package would assist – see Family preservation and reunification packages – guidelines for Child Protection.
- Identify if the case plan needs to be reviewed due to changes to a significant decision, significant changes to the child’s circumstances, the making of a new court order, or need to review the permanency objective.
- Engage the child and family in any discussions about changes to the case plan and actions table. When visiting the child or their family, use the actions table to discuss progress, implementation issues or identify additional tasks and responsibilities.
- Maintain contact with services and programs involved with the child and family to monitor progress and identify any issues in relation to service provision. Use the actions table in care team meetings as the basis for the discussions and to ensure everyone is aware of and working towards the same goals and objectives.
- If there are multiple professionals and services involved with the family, consider holding a case conference.
- For Aboriginal children this requires assessment and ongoing monitoring of whether the services are culturally safe and/or whether there is a more appropriate service to refer the child and family to support the child’s cultural needs.
- Register further reports received in CRIS and follow up as appropriate, including, if the child is Aboriginal, ensuring that advice from ACSASS is sought - see procedure New allegations.
- Update essential information categories with significant new information and consider the need to undertake a review risk assessment.
- Engage the child or young person in discussions about the implementation and review of the case plan in a manner appropriate to the child’s age and circumstances.
- Schedule a review of the case plan not later than six weeks before the protection order expiry date or, when working with the family by agreement, a review is required at the 90, 120 and 150 day mark.
- Ensure that case plan reviews are informed by the most current review risk assessment. If a recent review risk assessment has not occurred, progress this prior to formulating a new case plan or actions table
- Consult with ACSASS for all decision making and activities involving the review of a child’s case plan.
- Aboriginal Family Led Decision Making (AFLDM) is the preferred process for meeting with the child’s family for decisions and review of an Aboriginal child’s case plan.
- Prepare a new version of the case plan on CRIS when required and provide a copy of the endorsed case plan and other relevant documentation including updated actions table to the child (where age appropriate) and parents.
There can only be one current endorsed case plan in CRIS at any one time. When a new version of the case plan is being prepared, CRIS will refer to this as a “draft”. Case plans that have been endorsed will be listed in succession on CRIS with a version number.
- Complete CRIS requirements, including court screens, client and placement details and records of actions, decisions and rationales, including, for Aboriginal children, how the recognition principles (s. 7E) have been considered in decisions and actions taken (The ‘Statement of Recognition’ case note category should be used for recording at all points of child protection involvement).
- Review the Compliance Dashboards in CRIS for activities that are due, or actions required.
Supervisor tasks
- Provide ongoing supervision and consultation.
- Review any recommended significant decisions or proposed changes to the case plan.
- For Aboriginal children, confirm the recognition principles (s.7E) and the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle and Further principles for placement of Aboriginal child (s.13 and s.14) are considered.
Case planner (CPP5.2 or more senior officer) tasks
- Ensure that best interests principles and decision-making principles are considered and reflected in the case planning process and documentation on CRIS.
- Confirm all the requirements in relation to Aboriginal children have been met and are reflected in the case planning process and documentation on CRIS including:
- Best interest principles (s.10)
- Decision making principles (s.11)
- Additional decision-making principles (s.12)
- Aboriginal Child Placement Principle (s.13)
- Further principles for placement of Aboriginal child (s.14)
- Endorse review risk assessment
- Endorse (or amend) the case plan and any significant changes to it.