Identifying a Gap Between Policy and Practice

Effective family engagement is a cornerstone of the mission, vision, and values of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF). The agency's policy for initial family assessment and case planning emphasizes a family-centered approach to partner with families and communities in making decisions, setting goals, and achieving desired outcomes for children and families. As part of continuous quality improvement (CQI) and case review processes, the agency observed a downward trend in parent engagement.

Facing an upcoming Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) and underperforming on engagement measures, DCF Leadership prioritized improving parent engagement. To work toward that goal, DCF partnered with the Capacity Building Center for States (Center) and combined the Center's Change and Implementation approach with DCF's use of Agile Scrum processes for managing change under compressed timeframes. Indepth problem exploration brought greater insights into related challenges, particularly with engagement of Black and Hispanic fathers, and pointed to a lack of clearly articulated practice behaviors for social workers and supervisors.

As explained by Jacque Carl, DCF Director of CQI, "We had policies that were good at directing social workers on what they had to do and by when, but not how to do it. While the policy went into great detail, it did not lay out how to go about the rather difficult engagement processes that take quite a bit of skill. … So, this work filled in some of the gaps."

We had policies that were good at directing social workers on what they had to do and by when, but not how to do it.

Working Collaboratively to Define Behaviors

Through a series of rapid cycle activities supported by the Center, DCF developed a practice profile to describe what quality parent engagement looks like in everyday practice. A practice profile is a tool that builds shared understanding of expected practice behaviors and supports consistent application. It provides a frame for training, coaching, and assessing fidelity.

Inclusive teaming was an essential part of the practice profile development process. Recognizing the importance of diverse perspectives, DCF brought together a team that included supervisors and social workers responsible for the work and parents who reflected the racial and ethnic populations in the communities served. Their input was essential to the development of practice behaviors and helped the team put the families' experiences at the center of the work.

Through facilitated small- and large-group activities, members of the team worked collaboratively on multiple aspects:

• Identification of core components. Drawing from their policy and looking at sample practice profiles from other jurisdictions, the team prioritized core elements—parent, caregiver, and family voice; authenticity and transparency; and partnership.
• Description of a standard set of behaviors and requirements. Teams identified practice behaviors, actions, and examples that described what social workers needed to do during engagement and case planning to operationalize the core components. Recognizing that implicit bias contributed to engagement challenges, the team integrated practices to address cultural and racial bias throughout the profile.
• Development of a continuum of practice. This continuum shows:
  • Optimal practices (e.g., the social worker elicits the family voice by asking them to describe their strengths, skills, and areas of need)
  • Developmental practices (e.g., the social worker partially elicits family voice by asking some but not all family members to describe their strengths, skills, and needs)
  • Unacceptable practices (e.g., the social worker does not elicit family voice and does not include the family's perspective in the assessment)
• Testing and revision of the practice profiles. Team members vetted profile pieces, simplified and revised language as needed, and considered feasibility.

Reinforcing, Testing, Adapting, and Moving Forward

DCF reinforced the use of the practice profile with training, coaching, and other learning supports. A community of practice met regularly to strengthen social workers' and supervisors' understanding of how to use the practice profile, discuss cases, and share their experiences. Throughout implementation, the Center offered ongoing support, tools, and specialized expertise where needed.

DCF's Agency Improvement Leadership Team piloted and monitored use of the practice profile in four selected area offices. Interview findings pointed to strengths in how the practice profile helped guide social workers during assessment processes and supported supervision, and case reviews revealed evidence of desired and developmental practices. The evaluation also pointed to areas for improvement, particularly in the engagement of fathers. Building on the findings, DCF refined the profile, encouraged team recruitment of Black and Hispanic fathers, introduced anti-bias training and related supports, and expanded use of the profile among new groups while continuing to monitor.

Receiving Center Services

To learn more about how the Center for States can support your state child welfare agency with defining practice behaviors, advancing meaningful family engagement, or making other practice and system improvements, contact your Center for States Liaison.