Safety Assessment and Planning Revisions The CPS safety intervention process plays a critical role towards achieving DCF’s Putting Families First effort to keep families and children together by serving them in-home with resources and services. As part of Putting Families First, the Division of Safety and Permanence (DSP) convened a workgroup charged with identifying opportunities to support case management practice approaches and strategies in order to serve more children in their family homes. As a result of this workgroup and input from various stakeholders, DSP identified a need to make improvements to the current safety planning and assessment process. Safety Revisions Overview The Safety Revisions workgroup is charged with making strategic revisions to Wisconsin’s safety analysis and planning process. Currently, the language and process for safety assessment and planning in Wisconsin is complex, cumbersome and inconsistent statewide. This can result in a narrow identification of safety threats without holistic consideration of the family. The resulting experience disempowers families and impacts outcomes. Revisions to the safety planning process aim to engage families early in the child protective services’ (CPS) safety assessment process, gather rich information about their family to inform understanding of safety and address the impacts of implicit biases and systems of oppression. This work is divided into two categories: Changes to safety threat language Changes to process and documentation in eWiSACWIS Safety Threat Language Revisions Objectives Refine the safety assessment process and safety threat language to be culturally responsive, equitable and just. Refine and improve the safety assessment and planning framework that facilitates upfront safety decisions that are informed by engagement with families to guide the case process and keep more children and youth safely in their homes. Information & Resources 2022 Release Safety Revisions FAQ Safety Revisions Participation Map Safety Revisions Talking Points Safety Revisions Workgroup Members Present Danger Threats to Child Safety Impending Danger Threats Job Aide Safety Revisions June 2022 Update "Safety Process Improvements - June 2022 Updates" (video) Information on Current Work Safety Revisions Talking Points - Fall 2023 Safety Revisions Talking Points - Summer 2023 Safety Revisions Institute - 2022 Public Child Welfare Conference Safety Revisions Contact Information For further questions about the Safety Planning Revisions workstream, please contact DCFMBBSWBCWPP@wisconsin.gov.
