Family Engagement

OCFS is committed to supporting and enhancing frontline case practice related family engagement. The Program Improvement Plan is targeted at capacity building at the local level, including addressing basic underlying beliefs and principles of family engagement. Developing the caseworkers’ and supervisors’ knowledge base and skills, supporting cultural competency of frontline casework staff, and enhancing organizational culture and infrastructure are necessary to support family engagement.

Our decision to make Family Engagement our key practice initiative is based on our belief that families are the experts in their own family, and best able to identify their own strengths. Solutions to family issues are most likely to be found within the context of the extended family. The nature of the casework relationship is the key to engaging families. The ability and willingness of families to participate in planning and working toward the common goals is directly related to the beliefs, values, attitudes and engagement skills of the caseworkers. As you know, caseworkers need to exhibit empathy, genuiness, respect and cultural awareness in their everyday relationship with families. These core conditions for helping, along with interpersonal, assessment, critical thinking and decision-making skills require development, and reinforcement through effective supervision.

From the initial contacts and through-out the life of the case, family engagement is at the core of helping a family address their children’s need for safety, permanency and well-being. In addition to the casework relationship itself and the impact of that relationship on influencing change, stakeholders involved in developing the PIP identified several key aspects of casework where family engagement is particularly vital. Several of these began during our first program improvement plan and will continue during the current PIP. These included: