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DSS to hold open house, introduce new programs
By Francesca Olsen
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
COLUMBIA COUNTY — The Columbia County Department of Social Services will hold an open house Oct. 23 from 1-3 p.m. to present new pilot programs meant to make families and caseworkers work as a team.
The three new programs, sponsored by the office of Children and Family Services, are part of a statewide initiative and are meant mostly for lower-risk identified cases. They will incorporate teams of workers in order to provide faster service.
The first is “Family Assessment Response” (FAR), meant for less serious cases from Child Protective Services. DSS commissioner Paul Mossman said the program would start as soon as November.
“This won’t involve the serious child protective cases, but rather cases where we feel as though the families are in need of an ongoing service base,” he said. This is the second round of this pilot program; the last round, implemented in 2008, included six other New York counties.
“FAR creates basically an alternative response to certain types of child protective reports,” said Deborah Amerling, Director of Services at DSS.
Amerling said FAR will shift from a “fact finding, investigative” approach to “more of a family engagement, family led assessment model. We’re partnering with families to first of all, assess safety of children, and with their assistance, to create plans that address concerns.”
The program will initially focus on families in the Hudson and Germantown school districts. Reports will come in as they normally do, and families with lower risk reports will be able make the decision to participate in FAR. After a seven-day child safety assessment, “if the family is in agreement to work with us, the report would disappear...there would be no investigation, no finding to confirm or unfound the report.”
“I feel very strongly that one of the benefits of FAR is a shift away from blame mode, and from an investigation focus, where you are trying to gather evidence to either support where something happened or didn’t happen, to really engage with the family, and listen to them about their own perception...I think the research shows that when families are invested and are able to partner with the department, the chance for long term change is greatly increased.”
Amerling said 25 percent of total child protective services reports could potentially be handled through FAR.
The second initiative is the “Transitional Team,” for “those children who age out of foster care but require additional supervision in adult years,” Mossman said.
Children “age out” at 21, but many who have been in foster care for much of their lives need additional help, especially those with developmental disabilities or who wouldn’t be able to live independently.
“This is a proactive approach. Rather than having that child discharged into the community, we felt doing this would assure that planning takes place,” said Mossman.
“We have a large group of foster care children who have opted to stay in foster care over the age of 18,” said Amerling. “We are working with them to create life plans for them.”
The Transitional Team is part of new “teaming initiatives” which involve “a shift from doing individually assigned casework to having a team approach,” according to Amerling.
One senior caseworker from adult and family services will assist the foster care staff with these cases. “They are sharing expertise from the adult service arena and the foster care arena...they’re cross-training so they can better serve these kids as they move into adulthood and leave foster care,” Amerling said.
The other teaming initiative is a “Foster Care Team” that will assign cases to a group instead of an individual. Caseloads are high at DSS, and Amerling said taking a team approach might help with efficiency.
“It increases worker satisfaction, because the worker no longer has to feel like they have total responsibility for the progress of a family, and the families love it because they have a group of people they can count on as a resource,” Amerling said. “They don’t have to tell their story 20 times. There’s a group of people who hear their story once.”
There are two foster care teams, and one has been functioning for a year, and focuses on reunification with families. “The cases that are managed under that team, that goal for the children is to return to their family setting,” Amerling said.
The open house is open to all and will be held at the DSS building on Railroad Avenue in Hudson.
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com.
The three new programs, sponsored by the office of Children and Family Services, are part of a statewide initiative and are meant mostly for lower-risk identified cases. They will incorporate teams of workers in order to provide faster service.
The first is “Family Assessment Response” (FAR), meant for less serious cases from Child Protective Services. DSS commissioner Paul Mossman said the program would start as soon as November.
“This won’t involve the serious child protective cases, but rather cases where we feel as though the families are in need of an ongoing service base,” he said. This is the second round of this pilot program; the last round, implemented in 2008, included six other New York counties.
“FAR creates basically an alternative response to certain types of child protective reports,” said Deborah Amerling, Director of Services at DSS.
Amerling said FAR will shift from a “fact finding, investigative” approach to “more of a family engagement, family led assessment model. We’re partnering with families to first of all, assess safety of children, and with their assistance, to create plans that address concerns.”
The program will initially focus on families in the Hudson and Germantown school districts. Reports will come in as they normally do, and families with lower risk reports will be able make the decision to participate in FAR. After a seven-day child safety assessment, “if the family is in agreement to work with us, the report would disappear...there would be no investigation, no finding to confirm or unfound the report.”
“I feel very strongly that one of the benefits of FAR is a shift away from blame mode, and from an investigation focus, where you are trying to gather evidence to either support where something happened or didn’t happen, to really engage with the family, and listen to them about their own perception...I think the research shows that when families are invested and are able to partner with the department, the chance for long term change is greatly increased.”
Amerling said 25 percent of total child protective services reports could potentially be handled through FAR.
The second initiative is the “Transitional Team,” for “those children who age out of foster care but require additional supervision in adult years,” Mossman said.
Children “age out” at 21, but many who have been in foster care for much of their lives need additional help, especially those with developmental disabilities or who wouldn’t be able to live independently.
“This is a proactive approach. Rather than having that child discharged into the community, we felt doing this would assure that planning takes place,” said Mossman.
“We have a large group of foster care children who have opted to stay in foster care over the age of 18,” said Amerling. “We are working with them to create life plans for them.”
The Transitional Team is part of new “teaming initiatives” which involve “a shift from doing individually assigned casework to having a team approach,” according to Amerling.
One senior caseworker from adult and family services will assist the foster care staff with these cases. “They are sharing expertise from the adult service arena and the foster care arena...they’re cross-training so they can better serve these kids as they move into adulthood and leave foster care,” Amerling said.
The other teaming initiative is a “Foster Care Team” that will assign cases to a group instead of an individual. Caseloads are high at DSS, and Amerling said taking a team approach might help with efficiency.
“It increases worker satisfaction, because the worker no longer has to feel like they have total responsibility for the progress of a family, and the families love it because they have a group of people they can count on as a resource,” Amerling said. “They don’t have to tell their story 20 times. There’s a group of people who hear their story once.”
There are two foster care teams, and one has been functioning for a year, and focuses on reunification with families. “The cases that are managed under that team, that goal for the children is to return to their family setting,” Amerling said.
The open house is open to all and will be held at the DSS building on Railroad Avenue in Hudson.
To reach reporter Francesca Olsen call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail folsen@registerstar.com.
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