Doing the Right Thing? (Re)Considering Risk Assessment and Safety Planning in Child Protection Work with Domestic Violence Cases

Background and Purpose:The concepts of risk and safety are central to social work practice with survivors of violence against women. Within child protection agencies, concerns have been raised about the use of standardized risk assessment tools at the neglect of relationship-based work with clients. Although central to intervention, little is known about the risk assessment and safety planning process between child protection workers and the women with whom they are working. In particular, how discrepancies between client and worker perceptions of these concepts may create barriers to developing effective intervention strategies. The purpose of this study was to examine how synchronized child welfare workers and mothers’ perceptions are with respect to safety in violent relationships, how this conversation unfolds, what "tools" are used for assessment and how both separate and mutual conclusions are reached in the helping context.

Methods: Employing grounded theory methodology, focus group and interview data were used to explore how both child protection workers (n=17) and client (n=11) experiences of the process of risk assessment and safety planning influenced the course of intervention. Child protection workers were recruited from 5 different agencies across a large metropolis, with the majority of participants working for over 6 years in the field. Client participants self-identified as having been in an abusive relationship, having a child under the age of 18 years and as having been investigated by child protection services for domestic violence. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded thematically.

Findings: Emergent results reveal that workers and clients held a similar set of beliefs about the social construction/collective representation of woman abuse and the work of child protection. Specifically, for both, the concept of ‘doing the right thing’ reflected the goals for both workers and women to achieve the desired outcome from their interaction; to manage risk and increase safety. Data indicated parties attempt to gauge their approach to one another based on the nature of the referral, client’s history of involvement with CPS, and how the client’s perspectives of their abuse influence worker’s perceptions. Child protection workers typically relied on their clinical judgment and experience and found available risk assessment tools inadequate on their own. As clients enter the system, they attempt to interpret the level of risk involved in the investigation (e.g., having their children apprehended, managing an abusive partner in this context) and try to do the right thing for themselves and their children.Women’s ideas about what constituted risk often contrasted with professionals’ ideas, inadvertently putting clients at risk for more intrusive intervention. It became clear that how women consider risk is often not in line with what professionals think.

Practice Implications: Findings illustrate how narrative structures shape interactions that take place within the context of care and prevention, manifesting themselves in complex ways that can lead to multiple risks for both clients and workers, in recognizing the complexity of the concept of safety, misunderstanding the impact on children, and neglecting the role of men in addressing DV in the lives of their children.