Imagine you are a case worker for the Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS). It is the middle of the night and you are the only person on call for your county. You get a call from the local police force and you drive out to respond to a crisis.
Maybe the parents are high. Maybe there is a domestic violence situation. Maybe poverty-related neglect. Whatever the case, there are three children. Three little faces looking at you, wondering "what are you going to do next?"
And all alone, at 3 o'clock in the morning, you are in the position of making a big decision to keep kids safe.
Tiffany Wright is the director of the Division of Children and Family Services, but she has spent her time in the trenches as a case worker in circumstances just like this.
"From 2009 to 2016, when I was on the front lines, I felt alone most days," she admits and it is her years of experience and her informed perspective of the system that is compelling her to make a change.
Wright has already started working closely with community partners and outside agencies to strengthen her own workforce and prioritize prevention. At the Restore Hope Training Academy where local community leaders and family advocates gathered, Wright shares her future vision and expresses there is even more that can be done by working together.
Among the practices she is implementing is an "At One Table" Model where DCFS is called to have real conversations with other people in the community so that they can unite in shared values to keep kids safe.
Another practice is Team Decision Making, wherein a group of providers and advocates can quickly and efficiently come together in a case like the one at the beginning of this article in order to come alongside the DCFS worker on call, not only for the benefit of that case worker, but majorly for the benefit of the family and children. Being able to connect them to a wider variety of resources and provide wrap around support can lead to quicker problem solving, reunification, and even prevent removals altogether.
By training her staff and partners with tools like structured decision making and safety organized practice, Wright is creating a lasting strategy to build safety plans and get children more quickly into safe and permanent homes.
To the room of community members gathered, Wright declares, "I believe in what you all are doing." Her vision is collaboration and to make it happen she says agencies and leaders need to have compassion for one another and transparency.
"We are in a pivotal position right now to change families' stories together."
Related Stories:
Smart Justice is a magazine, podcast, and continuing news coverage from the nonprofit Restore Hope and covers the pursuit of better outcomes on justice system-related issues, such as child welfare, incarceration, and juvenile justice. Our coverage is solutions-oriented, focusing on the innovative ways in which communities are solving issues and the lessons that have been learned as a result of successes and challenges.
The podcast is available on all major podcasting platforms.
Subscribe to the Smart Justice newsletter.