Your practicum placement is in child welfare services in a state in the northern plains, where you have had opportunities to observe work in investigations, foster care placement, and permanency planning. In your current rotation, you are part of a Family Support Team. The team, which includes child welfare staff, families, and community partners, has a mission to provide assessment, intervention, and planning to support families at risk of removal of a child and those working toward reunification. With your field instructor’s supervision, you are working to engage River’s family in the Family Support Team. River is a 7-year-old boy whose mother has struggled with substance use disorder, which has contributed to concerns about River’s well-being. River does not have contact with his biological father, who is an enrolled tribal member, but he has spent two summers living with his paternal grandparents on the Blackfeet Nation reservation, located several hours away. River’s mother is not indigenous, and she is estranged from her own biological family. River came to the attention of the department of Child Family Services when his first-grade teacher made a report about his frequent school absences and evidence of neglect.
When you meet with River’s mother, Candace, she is extremely distressed by the child welfare investigation. She acknowledges that her home is in disrepair and that River lacks sufficient clothing and school supplies. She works only intermittently cleaning homes for other families and admits to frequent misuse of prescription opioids, which she was originally prescribed when she hurt her back as a motel housekeeper a few years ago. She emphasizes that River is the most important thing in the world to her, and she vows to do whatever she can to retain custody of him. When Candace arrives at the first Family Support Team meeting, she appears to be under the influence of substances.
River is a bright and very shy child who loves dinosaurs and recently learned to ride his bike. He is hesitant to say much about how things are going for him at home, but he does explain how he uses the microwave to fix dinner if his mom is not home or is asleep, and he assures you that he knows not to open the door to strangers. River gets animated when he describes his last summer with his grandma and grandpa, where he got to build a fort in the creek, meet his aunts and cousins, and learn drumming. He has no memory of his father and even seems somewhat confused by questions about him.
In supervision, you talk with your Field Instructor about questions you have about River’s case, options you might pursue to ensure his safety, and ethical conflicts you face in contributing to planning for River. You are tasked with presenting a proposal for potential approaches to your Field Instructor in advance of the next Family Support Team meeting in 10 days. You know you have a lot to learn and many different—and conflicting—priorities to reconcile, in pursuit of the best outcomes for River and his family.
River’s concerns and goals:
- River is scared about potentially having to leave his mom and becomes upset when he thinks about living somewhere else.
- He knows his mom is sick and wants her to get help.
- River would like to see his grandparents and other relatives again.
Candace’s concerns and goals:
- Candace wants treatment to address her substance use and help in finding a steady job.
- She is open to helping River’s grandparents have a role in his life but does not want to have contact with River’s father.
- She is upset about the child welfare investigation and feels that the school judges her unfairly.
Other constituencies’ concerns and goals:
- The Blackfeet Nation has notified the Department that they need to be included in any permanency planning for River, given his father and grandparents’ statuses as tribal members.
- River’s grandparents have not yet been contacted by the Department, and Candace has not spoken with them in a few months.
- River’s school is worried about his math performance, attendance, and hygiene, but assessments at the school have not revealed any significant behavioral health concerns.
- Child & Family Services’ top priority is River’s safety. The Department is also committed to avoiding out-of-home placement when possible and is cognizant of the need to comply with the requirements of the ICWA.
Questions for you to consider:
- Child & Family Services does not use an explicitly strengths-based approach in its work but, having been exposed to strengths principles in your social work education, you want to incorporate a strengths assessment into your work with River and his family. Begin by identifying at least three strengths that leap out at you from the case scenario, then outline 2–3 questions you could use to probe for more.
- How does the Indian Child Welfare Act come into play in River’s case? What do you need to know about the ICWA, to be effective in this work?
- What are River’s father’s rights in this case? How could you incorporate him into your assessment and planning?
- How do you define River’s “family” in this case? What are the roles for his grandparents and other extended family members, and how might you engage them? Who from the community should you involve in your efforts?
- Who is your “client” in this case? How would you approach your work differently if River, Candace, or the tribe, respectively, were considered the “client”? Similarly, how might your involvement be different if you were a social worker in the Blackfeet Nation, rather than working for the state department?
- What ethical dilemmas do you anticipate in your work with River? How can you incorporate in your practice approaches the time to tend to your own self-care, particularly given the vicarious trauma of child welfare work and the high stakes of making decisions in cases like this?
- What does culturally congruent child welfare practice look like in a case like River’s? How can you, as a nonindigenous worker, engage effectively with River’s family? What should a social worker understand about the history of child welfare intervention with indigenous and tribal families, to approach this case from an antioppressive perspective?
- How do River’s feelings and priorities figure into the planning? What do you need to know about theories of child development to inform your assessment of River and your inclusion of him in the planning process?
- How might Candace’s substance use affect her participation in the process of planning for River? To make decisions in this case, what do you need to understand about resources for treatment of addiction, potential pathways to recovery, and interventions that contribute to family functioning in the recovery process? What do you need to understand about substance use and its effects on individuals and families, to inform a biopsychosocial assessment of Candace?
- At the macro level, identify at least two policy interventions that could make a difference in the context that shapes River’s outcomes. What in the health care and education systems, labor market, and child welfare system could reduce the risks River and his family face? What do you need to understand about laws at the state and federal levels that shape what you can—and must—do in River’s case?