Moving from risk to Safety ● 77decisions then follow—these are cognizant of what the family is able and
willing to do. The emphasis is on finding out what will effect and sustain
change for the children and developing an assessment of risk grounded in
the current family situation. It is not enough to enlist a range of services or
programs that a parental client must complete; both children and parents
require a meaningful relationship and a plan for their everyday lives that
provides the best chance of change to the family relationship patterns and
range of supports.
Case Study: Working toward a Child and Family BalanceIn this section, we, the authors, draw on our practice experience to present
a case study that would be commonly encountered by workers in child wel-
fare agencies. (This is a composite case and does not relate to a particular
worker or family.) Andrew works in an inner-city child welfare office; he
has been assigned to work with a new case: a new, as yet unborn, baby is
reported to be at risk in a family. Previous children had been removed from
the family, the father is in a new relationship, and a new baby is on the way;
these factors have prompted a referral of child abuse risk to the agency.
Previous assessments held on file described the father as unable or unwill-
ing to parent his children safely, and he was said to be resistant to change
and hostile toward professionals. The file history referred to the father as
“showing no signs of insight.” He was labeled “high risk” because of the
previous case history and the records that other workers had completed.
The label of “high risk” has now prompted some of Andrew’s colleagues
and managers to say that the father should not have children in his care,
even with a new partner.
Andrew uses a range of tools from the signs of safety approach to work
respectfully and constructively alongside the couple. The tools provide a
deep and quite rigorous risk analysis that shows that the situation for the
baby is indeed risky but can be managed. Andrew defines the family’s situa-
tion as a “safe uncertain” one. It is important that the expectant mother and
father understand what Andrew means when he talks about safe uncertainty.
Andrew explains to them that his job is not to resolve every risk for a child,
as this is not realistic, and that the couple and their extended family have the
most important role in managing and working with the risks that were iden-
tified. He works with the family on a plan to manage risk while also building
on the family’s own resources. Andrew uses some visual tools with the family,
to map out danger, harm, safety, and resources—useful to help everyone see
what needs to be worried about, what needs to be done, and by whom. This
point is important: Andrew finds that family members are much more active