Exhibit I
Indicators Distinguishing Families in Acute Crisis from Those in Chronic Crisis

Acute Crisis –
Parents Fundamentally Able To Cope but Temporarily Overwhelmed		 Chronic Crisis –
Parents with Continual and Serious Child-Rearing Difficulties
  • Major crisis or series of crises

  • History of adequate child care

  • Regular employment

  • Sufficient income and skills

  • Emotional support from friends and relatives

  • Average problem-solving abilities

  • Generally good physical health, minimal use of illegal substances, and essentially no illegal activity

  • Adequate education and housing that allow for individual space and organization of belongings

  • Intimacy is non-sexualized

  • Acceptance of differences of opinion

  • Family members understand and accept their respective roles

  • Generally good mental health

  • Likely to be cooperative with genuinely supportive child protection personnel, welcoming offers of help

  • Likely to regain ability to solve problems themselves when crisis has passed
  • Constantly in stressful situation or crisis

  • Little parenting knowledge

  • Limited education/vocational opportunities and skills

  • Poverty

  • Extreme social isolation

  • Little support from relatives or community

  • Poor problem-solving skills; blame others

  • Ill health, substance abuse, drug dealing, legal problems, physical handicap

  • Overcrowded or run down housing, cluttered areas, economically disadvantaged

  • Prostitution, sex abuse, abuse between adults

  • Social, racial, or cultural discrimination

  • Poorly defined role boundaries in the family

  • Chronic mental illness or character

  • Distrustful of professional helpers

  • A new crisis arises, even though there is relief from a previous crisis

* Adapted from Crisis Intervention: A Manual for Child Protective Workers, by R. Borgman, M. Edmunds, and R. MacDicken, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, 1979, p. 7.