Free Order - District Court of Connecticut - Connecticut

Case 2:89-cv-00859-AHN

Document 502-7

Filed 11/07/2005

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Investigations Interview Protocol Safety: Children are first and foremost protected from abuse and neglect Version dated May 2, 2005 Administrative A1. Report ID: ____________________ A2. Case Name: ______________________

A3. Date of Assignment (mm/dd/yyyy): ________ / __________ / ___________ A4. Date of Completed Investigation (mm/dd/yyyy): ________ / __________ / ___________ A5. Investigation Social Worker (Last Name, First Name): ___________________________ A6. Reviewer: 1. D. Collins

2. K. Kolpinski

3. J. LaBelle

4. JB Roderick

A7. Date of Interview (mm/dd/yyyy): ________ / __________ / ___________ A8. Time Begun: ______ : _________ Military Time A9. Time Ended: _______ : ________ Military Time

Data Collection/Interview On a scale of 1 to 5, with one being unacceptable and 5 being outstanding, how do you rate the quality of the information that you receive from Hotline? D1. In general: D2. For this Investigation: 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5

D3. Is any information consistently lacking in the reports that are received, or are there quality issues in the work produced at Hotline that negatively impacts your ability to perform your job? 1. Yes 2. No D4. Elaborate

D5. Do you feel that the Hotline's system for establishing the "response time" is valid? 1. Yes 2. No D6. Was the response time modified for this case? 1. Yes 2. No D6a. If yes, please explain why the area office level felt that the Hotline designation was not appropriate?

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D7. How often do you meet the response time (or modified response time)? 1. Never (0%) 2. Almost Never (1% - 24%) 3. Sometimes (25% - 49%) 4. Usually (50% -74%) 5. Almost Always (75% - 99%) 6. Always (100%) D7a. What are the top three obstacles that you find to doing so? 1. _____________________ 2. _____________________ 3. _____________________ D8. Do you interview all individuals living in the home and/or visually assess all children prior to establishing your findings? 1. Never (0%) 2. Almost Never (1% - 24%) 3. Sometimes (25% - 49%) 4. Usually (50% -74%) 5. Almost Always (75% - 99%) 6. Always (100%) D8a. Were all individuals interviewed in this case? 1. Yes 2. No D8b. If no, why not? _____________________________________________________ D9. Do you contact the reporter prior to interviewing the alleged perpetrators and victims (when the reporter is not identified as anonymous)? 1. Never (0%) 2. Almost Never (1% - 24%) 3. Sometimes (25% - 49%) 4. Usually (50% -74%) 5. Almost Always (75% - 99%) 6. Always (100%) D9a. Did you do so for this case? 1. Yes 2. No D9b. If no, why not? _____________________________________________________ D10. During this investigation, how did you familiarize yourself with the history and current situation in the home?

D11. If a case is already open in ongoing services, what impact does this have on your investigative practices? (Is there collaboration between treatment and investigations ­ are roles explained to the family?)

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D12. How confident were you regarding your understanding of the history of this family at the point of establishing your findings? 1. Not Confident 2. Somewhat Confident 3. Confident 4. Very Confident D12a. Explain:

D13. How often do you successfully reach the medical providers for all children identified as case participants in the home prior to establishing your findings? 1. Never (0%) 2. Almost Never (1% - 24%) 3. Sometimes (25% - 49%) 4. Usually (50% -74%) 5. Almost Always (75% - 99%) 6. Always (100%) D13a. Were you successful for this case? 1. Yes 2. No

D13b. If no, ask what the barriers were and enter here:

D14. How often do you successfully reach the educators of the children identified as case participants in the home prior to establishing your findings? 1. Never (0%) 2. Almost Never (1% - 24%) 3. Sometimes (25% - 49%) 4. Usually (50% -74%) 5. Almost Always (75% - 99%) 6. Always (100%) D.14a Were you successful for this case? 1. Yes D14b. If no, ask what the barriers were and enter here: 2. No

D15. In general, how frequently do you visit a home during an investigation? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R1a. Number of attempted visits during this investigation: __________ R1b. Enter number of documented visits during this investigation: _______

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D16. Did the purpose change for face-to-face visits during the life of this investigation? 1. Yes 2. No D16a. Explain.

D17. How did you prepare for the visits in this investigation?

D18. Did you meet with each child under the age of 18 during the visits in this investigation?

D19. Describe your process during a typical visit to the family or child in this case?

I see that the investigation that we pulled for this review (name case) took _______ days to complete. D20. Describe the obstacles that you face in your work that can delay the completion of an investigation beyond 45 days? (Internal vs. External)

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R2. Reviewer to note what was documented for this case in comparison to response and note any discrepancies below:

D21. How often do you identify service needs for families investigated? 1. Never (0%) 2. Almost Never (1% - 24%) 3. Sometimes (25% - 49%) 4. Usually (50% -74%) 5. Almost Always (75% - 99%) 6. Always (100%) D22. What percentage of time do you seek out and provide services to reduce immediate safety risks or prevent removal of children from families during the investigation? __________% D23. What services did you assess as needed during this investigation?

D24. Who did you share this assessment with?

D25. What referrals did you make?

D26. Did the family engage in the referred service prior to case transfer or closure? (How do you know? If not, why not?)

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R3. REVIEWER: From your review of the record, did any service needs identified for the specific case reviewed go unaddressed by the investigation worker? 1. Yes 2. No R3a. If yes, ask the worker to explain why. Write explanation below

D27. You have already indicated the service needs for this case, but in general, what service(s) do you most often identify for families during an investigation?

D27a. Does your area have the resources to meet the immediate needs that you find during investigation? 1. Yes 2. No D27b. If resources are not sufficient to meet the needs you are seeing, what increases or additional services are needed?

D28. Is the ARG available to assist in your investigations?

1. Yes

2. No

D28a. How often do you use the ARG on investigations either in accompanying you on a visit to the home or in consults? ________% D28b. Elaborate (Have you used the ARG services in assessing needs? Are they available to accompany you in situations where a medical, mental health, or substance abuse need was apparent?)

D29. Were the services that the area office was able to offer in this case effective in decreasing the level of risk for the children in the home? (Please indicate specifically if the family has returned for similar reasons in subsequent reports or if removal was subsequently required.)

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D30. What was your method for assessing risk in this home (specifically, addressing what tools DCF provides you, vs. what you have individually developed)?

D31. What do you do differently (if anything) when the family presents with a long history of reports?

R4. Reviewer: Did the investigation on the identified report indicate that the worker used the described assessment? Is the workers methodology consistent with policy and practice guidelines established by DCF?

D32. What factors do you rate most critical when assessing if removal is required?

D33. How closely do you work with FASU to match children to an appropriate placement?

D34. How do you search for relative resources to safely provide for the children in the event of removal?

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D35. How do you support visitation between family members during the investigation process if there has been a removal from home? (both parental and sibling)

D36. On a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 indicating "total confusion", 2 indicating "somewhat confusing", 3 indicating "mostly clear", and 4 indicating "totally clear", how clear is the DCF policy regarding substantiation of abuse or neglect to you? 1 2 3 4 D36a. Has the recent Lovan C decision created increased confusion related to determining substantiation or non-substantiation of abuse or neglect? 1. Yes 2. No D37. What is your opinion regarding the current protocol used to document the investigation?

D37a. How would you change it?

D38. Describe the usefulness and accuracy of the screening tools that the Department currently has for substance abuse, domestic violence and risk assessment.

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D39. How often do you attend TPCs or family conferences? 1. Never (0%) 2. Almost Never (1% - 24%) 3. Sometimes (25% - 49%) 4. Usually (50% -74%) 5. Almost Always (75% - 99%) 6. Always (100%) D39a. Did you do so for this case? 1. Yes 2. No D39b. If no, why not? _____________________________________________________ D40. What obstacles do you find in your ability to attend the TPC or family conference meetings?

D41. How important do you feel your input is to the ongoing worker or community provider in establishing a baseline for all participants to work from? (Do you feel Ongoing Services has the same perception?) Elaborate. ______________________________________________________________________________

I see that you received supervision on this case _______ times during the quarter we are reviewing. D42. How often do you have scheduled supervision during a month? _______ D43. What happens during a typical supervision session?

D44. Overall, would you say that your supervisor is helping to enhance your performance as it relates to risk assessment? Why or Why not?

D45. What contribution did your supervisor make to the work done on this investigation?

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D46. On a scale of 1-4 with one being "unacceptable", two being "poor/fair", three being "good" and four being "superior", how would you rate the level of supervision you received during the quarter ending March 31, 2005? 1 2 3 4 Please give three factors that you feel are most necessary to meaningful supervision ­ then indicate whether all three of them were present during your supervisory sessions on this case? Factor? Present? D46a. ____________________________ D46b. 1. Yes 2. No 3. N/A ­ No Supervision D46c. _____________________________D46d. 1. Yes 2. No 3. N/A ­ No Supervision D46e. _____________________________ D46f. 1. Yes 2. No 3. N/A ­ No Supervision

On a scale of 1 to 6 with 1 being "Never", and 6 being "Always" please use the following percentage rankings to indicate the frequency with which you: D47. Meet with the family to develop the initial treatment plan for those cases designated for transfer to treatment? 1. Never (0%) 2. Almost Never (1% - 24%) 3. Sometimes (25% - 49%) 4. Usually (50% -74%) 5. Almost Always (75% - 99%) 6. Always (100%) D48. Discuss your findings with the Ongoing Services worker prior to or shortly after the transfer to Ongoing Services? 1. Never (0%) 2. Almost Never (1% - 24%) 3. Sometimes (25% - 49%) 4. Usually (50% -74%) 5. Almost Always (75% - 99%) 6. Always (100%) D49. Make joint visits to the home following the transfer to Ongoing Services? 1. Never (0%) 2. Almost Never (1% - 24%) 3. Sometimes (25% - 49%) 4. Usually (50% -74%) 5. Almost Always (75% - 99%) 6. Always (100%) D50. Contact the alleged perpetrator to discuss the findings of the report? 1. Never (0%) 2. Almost Never (1% - 24%) 3. Sometimes (25% - 49%) 4. Usually (50% -74%) 5. Almost Always (75% - 99%) 6. Always (100%)

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D51. Provide the family with the information related to the appeal process? 1. Never (0%) 2. Almost Never (1% - 24%) 3. Sometimes (25% - 49%) 4. Usually (50% -74%) 5. Almost Always (75% - 99%) 6. Always (100%) D52. Describe any specific obstacles to the five items scaled above that you feel are noteworthy.

Reviewer: Were each of the items ranked by the SW above, documented in this investigation? R5. Initial Treatment Plan? R6. Discuss findings with Ongoing Services Worker R7. Make a joint visit with Ongoing Svcs at the time of case transfer? R8. Inform the alleged perpetrator to discuss the findings of the report? R9. Provide the family with the information related to the appeal process? 1. Yes 1. Yes 1. Yes 1. Yes 1. Yes 2. No 2. No 2. No 2. No 2. No 3. N/A 3. N/A 3. N/A 3. N/A 3. N/A

D51. When a case is appealed, do you receive feedback regarding your work? 1. Yes 2. No 3. N/A - Have not had any Investigation Appealed D52. Did this case subsequently have an incident reported of a similar nature in the period following the investigative findings to the date of this interview? 1. Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know D52a. Was it substantiated? D52b. In the worker's opinion, could this repeat incident have reasonably been avoided given the facts available at the time of this investigation? R10. Does reviewer concur with this response? 1. Yes 2. No 3. N/A

1. Yes 1. Yes

2. No 2. No

3. N/A

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Overall Reviewer Ranking ­ Completed after Record Review and Interview is concluded R11. Having reviewed the record and interviewing the worker, the Reviewer has determined that the overall performance rank for this investigation: 1. Poor 2. Good 3. Superior This is based upon my ranking of the following elements: R12. Completeness of the investigation data collection: R13. Assessment of Safety Risk R14. Assessment of Needs R15. Provision of Services to Meet those needs R16. Communication of the Findings to Case Participant R17. Communication to Ongoing Services or Providers as warranted. Comments

1 1 1 1 1 1

2 2 2 2 2 2

3 3 3 3 N/A 3 3 N/A

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