Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
Slide 1
Music up and out:
V/O Module 1 Section 3
Legal and Policy Basis of Child Welfare
Practice
Slide 2
V/O
The purpose of this section is 1) to provide
an overview of the statutes, policy, and
best practice governing child welfare
services including Child Protective Services
and Youth-in-Conflict, and 2) to familiarize
you with the organization of policy and
legal manuals.
Slide 3
V/O
This section relates to the following
Competency:

You will understand the legal and
policy and best practice basis of
child welfare practice.
1
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
Slide 4
V/O:
By the end of this section you will:
Understand the legal bases for child
welfare intervention.
Slide 5
V/O
Colorado is a state-supervised, countyadministered child welfare system. While
the statutes that govern our practice are
the same statewide, they may be
differently interpreted or applied across
the state. The Colorado Department of
Human Services is responsible for many
programs and services, and sets policies
and procedures for public child welfare
services. The state's public child welfare
services are provided directly through the
county social service offices but are guided
by state policy, procedure, and technical
assistance. All of the programs and services
provided by both the state and counties
are guided by three federal child welfare
outcomes; safety, permanency and wellbeing. You will hear more about this in all
of your upcoming modules.
Our work in child welfare is governed by
both laws and policy. The Colorado
Children’s Code provides the law and
Volume VII provides our policy.
In this section we are going to review some
information in the Children’s Code that
gives us the authority to intervene with
families. The policies from Volume VII will
2
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
be integrated throughout the training
academy and can also be accessed through
the Secretary of State Website. You can
click on the link below to explore Volume
VII on your own.
http://www.sos.state.co.us/CCR/Numerica
lCCRDocList.do?deptID=9&deptName=500,
2500 Department of Human
Services&agencyID=107&agencyName=25
09 Social Services Rules (Volume 7
Slide 6
V/O
Policies and procedures may change over
time as we learned in the previous section
detailing the history of child welfare.
Currently, there are a number of statewide
initiatives aimed at improving services and
outcomes for families and children
involved in Colorado’s child welfare
system. Two of these initiatives are
changing the face of child welfare practice
in Colorado. The first, the Colorado
Practice Model, developed by the Colorado
Department of Human Services and
collaborating counties, is introducing a
statewide practice model that will help
guide child welfare practice throughout the
State. The second has been termed a
reform to a “one size fits all child welfare
approach.” In this new approach, called
Differential Response (DR) or Family
Assessment Response (FAR), CPS offers
both traditional investigations and
assessment alternatives to families
reported for child maltreatment. Both
3
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
DR/FAR and the Colorado Practice Model
are being led by the state and rolled out in
the counties on a voluntary basis. DR
started with five pilot counties where a
study was conducted to determine its
efficacy. It is now being made available to
all counties. DR/FAR is voluntary so not all
counties are participating. DR/FAR
required changes in legislation and also has
been vigorously evaluated. If you are
interested in learning more about DR, or
FAR (as it is called in Colorado), please go
to:
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/CDH
S-ChildYouthFam/CBON/1251593257417.
Slide 7
V/O:
The Colorado Practice Model is also stateled and has been rolled out in the state.
The first roll-out involved 18 counties and
the second group involved an additional 18
counties. All counties in the state will
eventually be a part of the Practice Model.
For more information on the Practice
Model, go to
http://collaboration.omni.org/sites/cpm/P
ages/default.aspx.
We will talk more in future modules about
Differential Response as well as the
Practice Model.
Even with these differences, a case flows
through our system in a relativity similar
process. The main difference is for the
counties that have adopted Differential
Response and even among these counties,
there are some slight differences.
4
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
Slide 8
V/O
Refer to Handout 3-a: Child Welfare Flow
Chart. Cases come in through the county
screening process.
Cases are either screened-in for some sort
of assessment (Family Assessment
Response or Investigative Response) or
they are screened-out because the referral
does not contain a child welfare concern. If
a call is screened-in, a worker conducts an
investigative assessment to determine if
abuse or neglect occurred and then works
with the family to determine if the case
can be opened on a voluntary basis, if the
case should be filed with the court, and if
the children need to be placed and/or
what services might be useful.
In a Differential Response county, the case
could alternately be opened as a Family
Assessment Response, in which case there
is no determination of whether abuse or
neglect occurred and the assessment does
not have an investigative focus.
The rest of the flow chart is very similar
across counties and we will spend a great
deal of time discussing the assessment and
ongoing case process in future modules. It
is important to understand how the system
flows because now we are going to talk
about the policies and laws that impact
what we do.
5
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
Slide 9
V/O
Institutional, Intrafamilial, and Third-Party
Abuse
Laws that define and regulate child welfare
and child protective services are the basis
for child welfare practice. Without the
legal authority afforded by statute, child
welfare agencies would be unable to
intervene in situations in which children
are being harmed or are at serious risk of
future harm. Child welfare legislation
makes child protection possible.
While the law provides the child welfare
agency with the authority to protect
children, the law also protects the rights of
both children and their families. Even
though child welfare workers want to help
families, the intrusion of the state into
family life often creates chaos for families.
The intervention may ultimately help
families but it is intrusive. The law provides
that child welfare caseworkers must have
just cause for such intervention by
requiring the juvenile court to validate that
children have been harmed, or are at
serious risk of harm, before the child
welfare agency can intervene against the
parents’ wishes. The court must sanction
caseworker intervention at every step! We
are now going to look at how the
Children’s Code provides child welfare
workers the right to intervene.
6
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
Slide 10
V/O
We are going to begin our exploration of
the Children’s Code by looking at what
Human Services is and is not responsible
for. Review definitions in the Children’s
Code. Citations are provided if you are
interested in exploring the Code further.
The Children’s Code can be accessed
through the following link:
http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/Colo
rado/
We have also provided some basic
information for you on Handout 3-b.



Institutional abuse 19-1-103(66)
Intrafamilial abuse 19-1-103(67)
Third-party abuse 19-1-103 (108)
DHS is responsible for, or shares
responsibility, for assessments of:


Institutional abuse, which includes, but
is not limited to daycare, licensed day
homes, residential, and child
placement agencies.
Intrafamilial abuse, including any
family member or spousal equivalent.
DHS is not responsible for third-party
abuse (abuse by anyone not covered under
Institutional or Intrafamilial abuse), except
in those cases in which the person
responsible for the abuse is under the age
of 10 years. Generally, third-party abuse is
exclusively the domain of law
enforcement. However, in Colorado, you
must be 10 or older to commit a crime;
consequently, the cases of abuse
perpetrated by a young child become the
responsibility of DHS.
Law Enforcement may request DHS
involvement in any third-party
7
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
investigation if they believe that there may
be a child welfare issue.
The findings of third-party abuse cases are
forwarded to DHS by law enforcement, and
DHS is responsible for including them in
the Statewide TRAILS Data Base. For
example, police determine that there was
sexual abuse of a child by a neighborhood
person, this information would be passed
on to DHS so that a finding of “confirmed
sexual abuse” could be entered into the
TRAILS data base.
Slide 11
V/O
Just to make sure everyone understands
what child welfare is responsible for and
what they are not responsible for, let’s
have a brief quiz.
Question 1.
Would child welfare be
responsible for assessing a referral on
abuse by a child’s god-parent?
NOTE: IF THE QUIZ IS PROGRAMMED TO
GIVE FEEDBACK FOR EACH ANSWER
CHOICE, HERE ARE THE FEEDBACK
ANSWERS:
Yes-Think about this again
No- These individuals are not included
unless they are also relatives or are
regularly in the home and exercising
authority over or care for the child and are
not paid for doing so. This is third party
abuse.
8
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
Slide 12
V/O
Question 2.
Abuse by an uncle who
lives in another state but was in Colorado
staying with the child and family?
ANSWER FEEDBACK:
Yes-Technically, yes because he is a
relative. You may however need to contact
the department of human services where
he lives to ask for assistance.
No-Think about this again.
Slide 13
V/O
Question 3.
Abuse by a baby-sitter
(either in home or out-of-home)?
ANSWER FEEDBACK:
Yes- Think about this again.
No – Correct. Baby-sitters are not part of
the definition, unless they are a relative or
the out-of-home facility is licensed.
Slide 14
V/O
Question 4.
sex partners?
Abuse by parent’s same
ANSWER FEEDBACK:
Yes-- Typically the person would be
considered a spousal equivalent.
No – Think about this again.
9
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
Slide 15
V/O
Question 5.
Abuse by a school teacher?
ANSWER FEEDBACK:
Yes – Think about this again.
No-Correct. This is third party abuse.
Slide 16
V/O
Question 6.
Abuse by a staff in an
after-school program at an elementary
school?
ANSWER FEEDBACK:
Yes- This would be considered institutional
abuse since the day care would need to be
licensed if it is operating out of a school. It
is not a relative or a licensed group. But,
he or she would be entered into TRAILS as
a person responsible for abuse/neglect.
No – Think about this again.
Slide 17
V/O
Basis for Intervention: “Do We File or
Not?”
Now that we understand the kinds of
things that are the responsibility of DHS to
assess, we are now going to look at the
basis for filing a Dependency & Neglect
Petition (D&N).
A D&N is typically filed to bring the
respondents (parents) under the
jurisdiction of the court. If at all possible,
the worker tries to engage and motivate
the parents to participate in services on a
10
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
voluntary basis. This is less intrusive, less
adversarial, and often times the most
effective way to provide services to
families. However, if the parents do not
feel services are required and the
Department believes the children are
unsafe, there may be a need to file a D&N.
Slide 18
V/O
A D&N is filed by the department based on
the particular allegation that brought the
family to the attention of the department
as well as any other findings as a result of
the assessment. When a D&N is filed, it is
the department’s responsibility to prove
the allegations by a preponderance of the
evidence. This means it is more likely than
not that the allegation occurred. If the
child is Native American, the burden of
proof is even greater. The allegation must
be proven to a clear and convincing level of
proof. This is between preponderance and
beyond a reasonable doubt. The parents
may also admit to the petition if they
choose, and most parents do admit rather
than taking the case to a hearing. Either
way, until the D&N is proven or the
parents admit, they cannot be ordered to
participate in services or follow a
Treatment Plan. This is why a D&N is filed
in order to bring the family under the
jurisdiction of the court and to follow a
Treatment Plan. It is important to keep in
mind that the decision to file a D&N is
separate from the decision to place a child
out of the home. A D&N can be filed while
the child remains in the home or a child
11
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
may be placed on a voluntary basis. Filing a
D&N simply brings the parents under the
jurisdiction of the court in order to court
order services.
Now that we know why we file a D&N, let’s
discuss the grounds for filing a D&N.
Slide 19
V/O
From the Children’s Code 19-3-102
(1)
if:
A child is neglected or dependent
(a)
A parent, guardian, or legal
custodian has abandoned the child or has
subjected him to mistreatment or abuse,
or a parent, guardian, or legal custodian
has suffered or allowed another to
mistreat or abuse the child without taking
lawful means to stop such mistreatment or
abuse and prevent it from recurring;
(b)
The child lacks proper parental
care through the actions or omissions of
the parent, guardian, or legal custodian;
(c)
The child’s environment is
injurious to his welfare;
(d)
A parent, guardian, or legal
custodian fails or refuses to provide the
child with proper or necessary subsistence,
education, medical care, or any other care
necessary for his health, guidance, or wellbeing;
(e)
The child is homeless, without
proper care, or not domiciled with his
12
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
parent, guardian, or legal custodian
through no fault of such parent, guardian,
or legal custodian;
(f)
The child has run away from home
or is otherwise beyond the control of his
parent, guardian, or legal custodian;
(g)
The child tests positive at birth for
either a schedule-I controlled substance, as
defined in section 18-18-203, C.R.S., or a
schedule-II controlled substance, as
defined in section 18-18-204, C.R.S., unless
the child tests positive for a schedule-II
controlled substance as a result of the
mother’s lawful intake of such substance
as prescribed.
(2)
if:
A child is neglected or dependent
(a)
A parent, guardian, or legal
custodian has subjected another child or
children to an identifiable pattern of
habitual abuse; and
(b)
Such parent, guardian, or legal
custodian has been the respondent in
another proceeding under this article in
which a court has adjudicated another
child to be neglected or dependent based
upon allegations of sexual or physical
abuse or neglect has caused the death of
another child; and
(c)
The pattern of habitual abuse
described in paragraph (a) of this
subsection (2) and the type of abuse
described in the allegation specified in
paragraph (b) of this subsection (2) pose a
current threat to the child.
13
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
Slide 20
V/O
When looking at the definition of
Dependent and Neglected, it is important
to note that many of the terms are
somewhat ambiguous. Think about words
like proper parental care and prudent
parent. We have the ability to file a D&N
based on terms that are subjective and
hard to define
Slide 21
V/O
Let’s remember that these conditions are
the basis for filing a D&N petition, which
may or may not lead to out-of-home
placement.
 Prior to placement, the agency must
make reasonable efforts to prevent
placement according to 19-1-103(89).
In a case that falls under ICWA, they
must make active efforts to prevent
placement.
 Reasonable Efforts is:
“The exercise of diligence and
care throughout the state of
Colorado for children who are
in out-of-home placement, or
are at imminent risk of out-ofhome placement, to provide,
purchase, or develop
supportive and rehabilitative
services to the family that are
required both to prevent
unnecessary placement of
children outside of such
children’s homes and to foster,
whenever appropriate, the
reunification of children with
the families of such children.”
This is very brief explanation of some of
the information in the Children’s Code that
guides child welfare practice; however, it is
important to know what kinds of things are
14
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
the responsibility of DHS and under what
circumstances DHS can file a Dependency
and Neglect petition. Also, in the
Children’s Code is information on the
definitions of abuse and neglect but this
information will be provided in Module 3
of the Academy. There also is a separate
training for new workers entitled “Legal
Preparation for Caseworkers” that is a nonmandatory training. This training is very
helpful to new workers and includes skill
development such as testifying in court.
Online discussion
Spend time participating in an online
discussion with your other cohort
participants on the following questions




What is a prudent parent?
What is proper parental care?
How might community standards
impact the interpretation of these
terms?
Is an injurious environment subject to
community standards or could it be
subject to things such as the age of the
child?
(Provide some examples: would a prudent
parent let a 12-year-old drive in Denver
County? What about in Morgan County if
the child were driving farm equipment or
driving a truck to help out with harvest? If
you go to a house with peeling lead paint,
exposed wires, and broken glass littering
the floor, is this an injurious environment?
For a 2-year-old? For a 15-year-old? For a
developmentally disabled 15-year-old? )
There are some things in the definition
that are much less ambiguous. For example
in (g), a child testing positive for schedule I
15
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
or II controlled substance.
# 2 in the definition also is fairly clear cut
and gives the department the right to file a
D&N based on prior behavior on the part
of the parent. So, if a baby is born and
there has been no maltreatment to the
baby but the criteria in (a), (b) and (c) are
all met, DHS may file a D&N based on the
parent’s past behavior.
Before finishing up Module 1 it is time to
do the post test questions.
1. Child welfare is not responsible for
which investigations?
a. Intrafamilial abuse (incorrect.
Intrafamilial abuse, abuse that
happens within the family is the
most common abuse
investigated by child welfare.
The answer is third -party
abuse)
b. Institutional abuse (incorrect.
Child Welfare investigates
reports of abuse in day care
facilities, residential facilities
and child placement agencies.
The correct answer is thirdparty abuse)
c. Third –party abuse (this answer
is correct. The only exception is
if the person responsible for the
abuse is under the age of 10)
2. A D&N is filed in order to:
a. Get court jurisdiction in order
to place a child in out-of-home
placement ( incorrect. A D&N
does not need to be filed to
place a child. This can be done
on a voluntary basis. The
answer is b)
b. Get court jurisdiction so that a
Treatment Plan can be put into
16
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
place and the parents can be
ordered to participate in
services. (correct)
c. Get court jurisdiction so that
parents can be charged
criminally with child abuse.
(incorrect. A D&N is a civil
matter and is separate from a
criminal charge. The answer is
b)
d. Get court jurisdiction so that a
finding can be made to show
that the parent did abuse or
neglect their child. (incorrect.
A finding of abuse and neglect
is a separate decision and does
not necessarily result in the
filing of a D&N. The answer is
b)
3. Which is not grounds for filing a
D&N?
a. The child lacks proper parental
care (incorrect. This is grounds
for filing)
b. The child is homeless or
without proper care (incorrect.
This is grounds for filing a
D&N)
c. The child has run away from
home (incorrect. This is
grounds for filing a D&N)
d. The child is truant from school
(correct. This is not specifically
addressed as a reason for filing
a D&N)
4. The BEST description of the purpose of
“reasonable efforts” is to
______________
a. Determine parentage of a child and
to locate absent parents.(incorrect.
Reasonable efforts are used to
17
Module 1 Section 3 Legal and Policy Basis
prevent placement from occurring
and to reunify children)
b. Ensure that children are placed
within extended families when
possible and within the community
if family members are not viable
resources. .(incorrect. Reasonable
efforts are used to prevent
placement from occurring and to
reunify children)
c. Secure an array of services
available to the county to meet the
most common needs of families
and to establish contracts with
them. .(incorrect. Reasonable
efforts are used to prevent
placement from occurring and to
reunify children)
d. Prevent placement from occurring
and reunify children and their
families. (correct)
18