Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 18, September 24, 2024
New Mexico's children, youth and families department seeks
to ensure quality supervision is provided to staff across all child welfare
services and managerial levels within protective services that aligns with the
mission and values of the agency, as well as to ensure that supervisory
practice is conducted within the mandatory framework. The supervisory framework
includes educational, administrative and supportive functions. The following
statements reflect the agency's best practice standards regarding families, how
the case process should work, where children should live, working in teams,
importance of families' culture, collaboration and partnerships.
A. Regarding families, best practices
include:
(1) children, youth, young adults and
parents are the experts on their own lives, are motivated to recognize their
strengths and needs, and must have a lead role in working toward change that
matches their developmental abilities;
(2) caseworkers must base their relationships
with children, youth, young adults and parents on mutual trust and respect,
using open, honest, skillful, informed and transparent communication;
(3) networks of support (extended family,
other fictive kin and naturally occurring support systems) and all resource
families are vital to the wellbeing and success of the people served by the New
Mexico CYFD;
(4) it is essential to
maintain parent, sibling, and extended family connections through frequent
family visitation in safe and natural settings;
(5) children, youth, young adults, and
parents are full partners who bring a unique perspective that must be heard and
valued; as such, CYFD strives to engage them in all aspects of practice and
system improvements.
B.
Regarding how the case process should work, best practices include:
(1) effective practice is strength-based
using assessments and case plans to build on the strengths of children, youth,
young adults, parents and communities in a collaborative, solution-focused
way;
(2) practice is individualized
and assessments, services, and supports enhance and address each person's
strengths and needs;
(3) frequent
and purposeful contacts, and visits by caseworkers, support families in
achieving their goals;
(4) when
interventions and culturally appropriate services are limited or not available,
caseworkers and leadership must work collaboratively with families and
communities to identify creative solutions that resolve the need;
(5) child welfare staff and providers must
receive the training and support needed to ensure best practice, and caseload
assignments that permit the integration of guiding values and beliefs in their
daily work.
C. Regarding
where children should live, best practices include:
(1) children, youth and young adults need to
remain safely at home in their families and communities whenever
possible;
(2) services must occur
in the least restrictive, most family-like setting appropriate for the child's
and family's needs;
(3) when
children are placed in out-of-home care, placements should be with relatives or
fictive kin, geographically close to their family, with siblings safely placed
together;
(4) when non-kin
caregivers must be used, they should be licensed, competent, informed,
supported, and promote permanency for the child or youth;
(5) children, youth, and young adults need
and deserve a permanent family;
(6)
children at risk of disruptions should receive services as soon as possible to
stabilize placements;
(7)
congregate care is an intervention for behavioral or mental health challenges,
services must match the needs of the child, youth or young adult and be
provided for only as long as necessary.
D. Regarding working in teams, best practices
include:
(1) the team process values multiple
perspectives and is often capable of creative and high quality decision-making
than an individual;
(2)
assessments, completed in partnership with children, youth, young adults, and
parents, need to include suggestions and contributions from the full family
team;
(3) children, youth, young
adults, and family team members provide valuable ideas for identifying
resources, keeping children and youth safe, reviewing progress on the service
plan, and recognizing what is needed;
(4) staff are the agencies greatest asset and
all staff members in the agency play a part in supporting staff
retention;
(5) creating a culture
that nurtures creative and critical thought, embraces diversity, and unties the
agency's shared skills, knowledge, and experience in support of one team is
vital.
E. Regarding the
importance of families' culture, best practices include:
(1) children, youth, young adults, and
parents have the right to define and be understood within the contact of their
own culture;
(2) the agency strives
to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities and dismantle structural inequity
experienced by children, youth, young adults, and parents;
(3) the agency has a responsibility to convey
information and implement services in a manner that is developmentally,
culturally, and linguistically appropriate and respectful;
(4) Native American families are entitled to
receive active efforts to prevent the removal of their children and to reunify
them if separation is necessary. Staff play a crucial role in ensuring that
Native American families receive the support needed to keep their families
intact through skilled case interventions.
F. Regarding collaboration and partnership,
best practices include:
(1) the agency
supports a collaborative approach to coordinating care and services with
individuals, families, providers, systems, and community
stakeholders;
(2) collaboration
with all divisions, across all levels, strengthens our practice and expands the
services and supports available to meet the needs of children, youth, young
adults, and parents;
(3) the agency
commits to working with community stakeholders to reduce disproportionality and
disparities within the child welfare system, including outreach and engagement
strategies to share information, obtain feedback, solicit buy-in, share
resources and develop collaborative solutions with the broader
community;
(4) the use of
disaggregated data is key to assessing needs and ensuring the equitable
distribution of child welfare resources across communities to reduce
disproportionality and disparities.