Nebraska Ag Connection - DHHS Enhances Child Safety Through Organized Practice

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DHHS Enhances Child Safety Through Organized Practice
Nebraska Ag Connection - 10/19/2018

The head of the Division of Children and Family Services (CFS) is hosting stakeholder information meetings across the state, this week, focusing on a collaborative child welfare practice that emphasizes the importance of teamwork in child welfare. CFS Director Matthew Wallen is being joined by national experts on Safety Organized Practice (SOP), a practice model designed to assist child welfare team member efforts to build good working relationships with partners and families to enhance safety for children.

"Implementing SOP as a foundation for our daily practices is the next step in our ongoing effort to better strengthen and support families and keep children safe," said Wallen. "These sessions outline a day to day approach for child welfare casework that is designed to help all of the key stakeholders involved with a child to keep a clear focus on assessing and enhancing child safety at all points in the case process."

The sessions, for children and family specialists, supervisors and administrators, attorneys, judges, schools, parents, friends and families, are being held in Ogallala, Kearney, Grand Island, Columbus, Lincoln and Omaha. (Times and locations -- www.dhhs.ne.gov/Documents/SOPFlyer.pdf) The community is invited to attend any/all sessions.

"A central belief of SOP is that all families have strengths," said Wallen. "SOP uses strategies and techniques that align with the idea that a child and his or her family are the central focus and that the partnership between welfare workers and families exists in an effort to find solutions that ensure safety, permanency and wellbeing for children."

SOP is a strategy outlined in the DHHS Performance Improvement Plan submitted to the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Children's Bureau based on the agency's latest Children and Family Service Review.

The sessions are part of an effort to address concerns from key stakeholders, prepare community partners and staff for integrating SOP and develop a strong implementation plan. CFS is working with a training partner to develop the implementation plan and educate stakeholders and ensure readiness throughout the state.

CFS plans to adopt SOP principals in 2019.

"Having an openness to new learning is a key value of DHHS, and integrating SOP into our daily operations is another way we are helping Nebraskans live better lives," said Wallen.

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