Safety and Risk Assessment

A safety assessment is the systematic collection of information on threatening family conditions and current, significant, and clearly observable threats to the safety of the child or youth. The purpose is to determine the degree to which a child or youth is likely to suffer maltreatment in the immediate future.

Risk assessment is the collection and analysis of information to determine the degree to which key factors are present in a family situation that increase the likelihood of future maltreatment to a child or adolescent.

Many child welfare agencies use safety or risk assessment instruments to help workers assess families. These tools can provide a structure for assessing current and future harm to the child. However, used alone they do not provide a comprehensive picture of the family or help engage them in problem solving. These tools are considered to be most effective when they are directly connected to service planning and monitoring ongoing progress of the case. Resources include State and local examples.

ACTION for Child Protection
Provides training and technical assistance to child welfare agencies on safety decision-making. View their archives for articles addressing a number of issues related to safety and risk assessment.

Assessing Abusers' Risks to Children
Bancroft & Silverman (2004)
In Protecting Children From Domestic Violence: Strategies for Community Intervention
View Abstract
This chapter outlines 13 factors that should be assessed when determining the risk presented to children who continue to have contact with an abusive parent.

Assessing Dangerousness: Violence by Batterers and Child Abusers
Campbell (2007, 2nd ed.)
View Abstract
Addresses risk assessment and prediction of child physical abuse, fatal child abuse, and intimate partner violence, including descriptions of instruments to measure the likelihood of violent behavior.

Best and Evidence-Based Practices That Enhance Safety of Children in Foster Care (PDF - 204 KB)
Planning Council for Health and Human Services (2009)
Reviews best practices related to screening and assessment, recruitment and retention, foster parent training, health-care issues, and workforce issues. The paper examines current programs that are using evidence-based practices.

Breakthrough Series Collaborative: Safety and Risk Assessments (PDF - 2,529 KB)
Casey Family Programs & American Humane Association (2010)
Describes the efforts of 21 teams across the country to establish a common definition for safety and risk assessments and to implement improvements within agencies both to help children find permanent homes—often with their birth parents—and also to decrease the number of children who reenter the system after a repeat allegation of abuse or neglect.

CARA: A Web-Based Learning Environment for Child Protection Workers
The Children and Family Research Center
A learning environment for child protection investigators, caseworkers, and follow-up workers to explore the complexity of safety and risk factors for children.

Child Safety: A Guide for Judges and Attorneys
Lund & Renne (2009)
Provides information about child safety decision-making, including safety assessments and safety planning. This guide is targeted to the legal community and contains appendices with expanded definitions and examples of key concepts. (PDF - 871 KB)

A Comparison of Approaches to Risk Assessment in Child Protection and Brief Summary of Issues Identified From Research on Assessment in Related Fields (Word - 235 KB)
Child Welfare League of America (2005)
Summarizes issues and findings related to actuarial vs. theoretical empirically-guided approaches to assessment based on research in related social science fields.

The Foundation of Safety Assessment
ACTION for Child Protection (2003)
Discusses the differences between present danger and foreseeable danger in child welfare practice, and the difficulties in assessing foreseeable danger.

A Guided Tour of Risk Assessment in Child Welfare (PDF - 102 KB)
Minnesota University, St. Paul, School of Social Work (2000)
Contains several checklists that can be used to assess strengths and risks of families and to direct reasonable efforts for family reunification. Two background reports, relevant to Minnesota service providers, are included.

Issues in Risk Assessment in Child Protective Services
Hughes & Rycus
Journal of Public Child Welfare, 1(1), 2007
View Abstract
Summarizes findings of the risk assessment literature and recommends strategies to improve decisions that promote child safety by utilizing a continuum of empirically supported decision-making tools, each designed for a specific purpose during the life of the case.

Risk and Safety Assessment in Child Welfare: Instrument Comparisons (PDF - 263 KB)
University of California, Berkeley, Center for Social Services Research (2005)
Current approaches, research evidence for various tools/instruments, descriptions of instruments, and implications for practice. California's efforts to standardize the process across the State are discussed.

The Safety Decision (PDF - 73 KB)
ACTION for Child Protection (2007)
Explains what a safety assessment is, its purpose, the decision-making process, and conclusions of safety assessments.

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State and local examples

Child Protective Services Safety Intervention Standards (PDF - 167 KB)
Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services (2006)
Discusses principles of practice for safety intervention and responsibilities related to access, initial assessment and investigation, and ongoing monitoring. Standards are then provided for assessing child safety in a number of areas.

Illinois Child Endangerment Risk Assessment Protocol: FY09 Annual Evaluation (PDF - 373 KB)
Fuller & Nieto (2009)
Evaluates the effectiveness of the protocol's use in reducing maltreatment recurrence and considers policy reforms.

Massachusetts Department of Children and Families Assessment Field Test Results (PDF - 289 KB)
Massachusetts Department of Children and Families & Children's Research Center (2008)
Examines the usefulness of three assessments in field conditions and whether they can be conducted effectively with families. The assessments consist of danger and safety, risk assessment, and a risk reassessment.

Oregon Medical Guidelines for Evaluation of Sexual Abuse in Children and Adolescents (PDF - 1340 KB)
Reichert, Keltner, Reilly, & Skinner (Eds.) (2004, 2nd ed.)
Reflects many of the advancements in efforts toward honing diagnostic and intervention skills of professionals providing care for young victims.

Oregon Safety Model
Oregon Department of Human Services (2007)
Explains the model for ensuring child safety when providing child welfare services, addressing the difference between present danger and impending danger, protective capacity, conditions for return, safety threats and the safety threshold, and other issues. The report includes an explanation of the facilitator role in child safety meetings, an example of a case plan, and a matrix illustrating the reforms made by the Oregon safety model.

Safety Assessment
Pennsylvania Child Welfare Training Program (2006)
One-day training session providing information on how to conduct a safety assessment in Pennsylvania, including a standard assessment tool to conduct a strength-based family assessment and develop a safety plan and as a precursor to developing a family service plan.

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