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© 2009 Jordan Institute
for Families

Vol. 15, No. 1
December 2009

Questions Workers Can Ask Themselves to Enhance Visits with Families

These questions, which appear in a 2006 report from the National Conference of State Legislatures, are designed to spark improvements in individual child welfare worker and agency performance. When assessing a visit, caseworkers might ask:

  • Did I spend sufficient time planning the visit? Did I meet the goals established for the visit? What were the positive outcomes for the family associated with meeting my goals?

  • What worked well during this visit, and how might I share my successful approaches with other agency staff? How will I track patterns in the success of specific approaches so that I might report those to my supervisor for possible incorporation into the agency’s case practice procedures?

  • What types of challenges did I experience during the visit? How might I have addressed those better? Are there specific areas in which I need additional guidance or training?

  • What did I learn through the visit that needs to be addressed (family needs/goals and caseworker performance goals)?

References for this and other articles in this issue