Child Protection

Case Management
Workshop

Afghanistan

27th Sept to 1st

October 2020

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 Child Protection
Case Management
Process

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 Identification and
Registration

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 Case Management Process
1. Identify and register 2. Assess the needs of
vulnerable children, individual children and
including raising awareness families
among affected communities

3. Develop an individual
6. Close case case plan for each child

4. Implement the case

5. Follow-up and review plan, including direct
support and referral services

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 Case Identification
 Caseworkers should be assigned communities or
areas

- Train CBCPCs on child protection needs and

signs of abuse, how to identify and refer cases
- Train SHLS facilitators on child protection needs
and signs of abuse, how to identify and refer
cases
- Establish case management rooms in SHLS or
create safe opportunities for children to self-
report to IRC caseworkers
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 Sources of Identification
Sources of Identification

 Children and families

 Community members/
civil society Registration
 Schools and education by
services
 Health services Case Worker
Identified Referral
 Population registration to (CP agency or
services (asylum Government
seekers/refugees) Social Welfare)
 Law enforcement agencies
Vulnerable
 Child protection agencies
child
 Other humanitarian
agencies/sectors

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 Referrals

Takes place during 2 different case management

steps :

1. At identification: individuals that come into

contact with a child and/or family in need of case
management should know how to make a referral

2. During implementation of the case plan

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 Identification and engagement

- Engagement starts first time meet with child and

/ or child’s caregiver
- Introduce yourself, explain purpose of meeting
and your role
- Start building a trusting relationship by providing
information and offering healing statements
- Begin to assess maturity level and age/stage of
development

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 Sample script

“ Today I want to ask you some questions

about what happened. The reason I need
this information is so I can understand and
know how to help you. I know this might be
scary. We don’t have to discuss everything
today; we can take it step by step. And you
can decide to stop at anytime. I want to help
you as much as I can…”

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 Seek consent or assent

- At initial intake and before assessment

interview
- Obtain permission to proceed with
collecting and storing information
- Obtain permission for making referrals

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Consent and Assent

Consent should always be sought from

children and their families / caregivers before
providing services
 Consent – voluntary agreement of an individual
who has the legal capacity to give consent

 Assent – expressed willingness to participate in

services

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 AGE IF NO CAREGIVER or NOT
CHILD CARE GIVER MEANS
GROUP IN CHILD’s BEST INTEREST

Other trusted adult’s or

Informed Written
0–5 – caseworker’s informed
consent consent
consent
Oral
Other trusted adult’s or
Informed Informed assent,
6 - 11 case worker’s informed
assent consent Written
consent
consent

Other trusted adult’s or

Written
child’s informed assent.
Informed Informed assent,
12 - 14 Sufficient level of maturity
assent consent Written
(of child) can take due
consent
weight

Obtain
informed Child’s informed consent &
Informed Written
15 –
12 18 consent with sufficient level of maturity
consent consent
child’s takes due weight
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 Form 1A: Consent
When to complete:
1. At the start of case management services (i.e. after the child
meets the eligibility criteria)
2. During the case management process to obtain their permission to
share information with other service providers

Who should complete: Assigned caseworker together with the child

or the child’s parent/guardian (depending on age and level of maturity
of the child, the presence of the parent/guardian, and the best
interests of the child)

Purpose of form: To record the case’s permission to participate in the

CM process, to collect and store information about their case, and to
share information with other service providers.

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Activity #6: Seeking consent and assent

- Work in partners practicing seeking consent and

assent using the new format

- One person act as the child and the other as the

caseworker

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Registration and Initial Assessment

- Begin by asking the child some simple

questions
- Use child-friendly communication techniques
and effective questioning:
• Examples: “Maybe you could tell me a
little bit about what happened?” or “Can
you tell me your story?”
• Instead of “Who hurt you?”

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 Form1B: Case Registration and Initial Assessment

When to complete:
Directly after consent/assent is obtained

Who should complete:

Assigned caseworker to the case

Purpose of form:
To register the case for case management and to record
data from the initial assessment after the case has been
found to be eligible for case management (based on the
eligibility criteria).
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Activity #6: Practice Initial Assessment

- Continue to work in partners using the case study to

fill out the registration and initial assessment form

- Share back in plenary

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Safety and Health Planning
- If it is not possible to go directly into full
assessment during
identification/registration, the child’s
current safety and health status should
be assessed before ending the interview
- Ask about and observe:
• Child’s sense of personal safety
• Child’s health status
- Take immediate action if the child is not
safe going home or is injured and needs
immediate care
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 Safety Assessment
Determine whether:
• the child’s caregiver cannot or will not protect the child
from further abuse
• if the perpetrator lives with the child or can easily access
the child at home
• the child is fearful of family members and does not want
to return home
• or any other reasons for feeling unsafe
As a part of service mapping – assess safe shelters for
children in case there is need for an immediate
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referral
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Health Assessment

Determine whether:
-the child is in pain
-the child shows any signs of physical
injuries
Take immediate action if the child is
bleeding, has a serious injury or
complains about physical pain
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 Assessment

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 Case Management Process
1. Identify and register 2. Assess the needs of
vulnerable children, individual children and
including raising awareness families
among affected communities

3. Develop an individual
6. Close case case plan for each child

4. Implement the case

5. Follow-up and review plan, including direct
support and referral services

22

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 Comprehensive Assessment

•Build on initial assessment

•Is the basis on which all other

work is done

•Looks at the child’s needs in a

more holistic way

•Is an ongoing process

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 Elements of the Comprehensive Assessment
Child’s development needs – including effects of abuse
and the child’s skills and capacity to protect themselves

Socio-cultural context – including community attitude to abuse

Parenting/caregiving capacity – ability to protect the child and

respond to their needs, the way the family functions

Community & extended family – other supportive adults,

assistance available, and community protective mechanisms.

Economic factors - such as the poverty level of the family and

living conditions

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 Form 2A: Comprehensive Assessment
When to complete: depending on the level of risk

High: immediately after registration, before leaving the child.

Medium: within 3 days after registration.
Low: within 1 week after registration.

Or after a case review found a significant change in the context of the

child that warrants another assessment.
Who should complete: caseworker assigned to the case
Purpose of the form: to record information gathered on the case
regarding both risks and needs, as well as strengths and resources.
The information recorded in this form will be analysed and used as a
base for developing the case plan
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 Stages of the Comprehensive Assessment
1. Planning: deciding how to carry out the assessment,
where will information be sought and who will be
involved.
2. Gathering Information: what information to collect
and how.
3. Verifying Information: cross checking where there
are differences between information, information is
incomplete or contradictory.
4. Analysis: making sense of information - how it relates
to the situation for the child, their needs and risk.

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Who should participate in the assessment
 It is very important to think about who will partcipate in the
assessment and how the caseworker will maintain
confidentiality throughout the process (teachers, religious
leaders, friends, etc.)

 Include both parents or caregivers where possible and

safe:
- have primary responsibility for the child
- should be supported to care for their child

 Encourage participation of the child (of all ages) from the

beginning of the process
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Activity #7: Participation o no Participation

• In plenary discuss who should participate in the

assessment

• Think about age, gender, security, risk factors, protection

factors and the child’s environment

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 Module 5:

Case Plan

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 Case Management Process
1. Identify and register 2. Assess the needs of
vulnerable children, individual children and
including raising awareness families
among affected communities

3. Develop an individual
6. Close case case plan for each child

4. Implement the case

5. Follow-up and review plan, including direct
support and referral services

30

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What is a case plan?
A written document that lists:
•Needs identified in the assessment
•What should happen to meet the needs
(goal/result/objectives)
•Actions needed to address them:
o In the short, medium and long term
o Including direct support /services or referrals
and/or community interventions.
•Who should do the actions.
•Frequency / dates of follow-ups and reviews
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Form 3A: Case Plan
When to complete: depends on the level of assessed risk
High: within 3 days after the assessment
Medium: within 1 week after the assessment
Low: within 2 weeks after the assessment
Or after a case review found that the case plan needs to be revised .

Who should complete: caseworker assigned to the case; approved

by supervisor

Purpose of form: to record and plan the agreed upon interventions

needed to ensure the child’s protection, ensure her/his care and
wellbeing is supported, and address the child’s needs (as identified in
the assessment).
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How to create the case plan goal?

Identify an overall child protection goal/result

(agreed by all) that is SMART.

–S Specific
–M Measurable
–A Achievable / Agreed Upon
–R Realistic / Relevant
–T Time bound

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 Examples of Case Plan Goals

1. Decrease the bullying Brenda experiences at school and

increase her well-being and school attendance by end of
term.

2. Provide James (16) with a safe place to stay and means

of meeting his basic and psychosocial needs while his
father’s mental health stabilizes within the next 1 week.

3. Provide immediate health and psychosocial support to

Hawa over the next three months to decrease her level of
risk.

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Activity #8: Case Plan

• In groups of 3, use the comprehensive assessment case

study to complete the case plan

• Present your case plan to the group: discuss the goal of

the plan and how you determined the actions

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 Case Conferences

• A meeting between agencies o child protection

professionals to discuss and coordinate an individual
high risk or complex case

• Case conferences can be called by the caseworker or

supervisor

• The meetings have a specifc agenda and are very

important to develop a case plan for high risk cases to
make a decisión in the best interest of the child
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 Implementing the Case
Plan / Follow-up and
Review

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 Case Management Process
1. Identify and register 2. Assess the needs of
vulnerable children, individual children and
including raising awareness families
among affected communities

3. Develop an individual
6. Close case case plan for each child

4. Implement the case

5. Follow-up and review plan, including direct
support and referral services

38

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 Case Plan Implementation

• Direct support / services

according to need (e.g.
information, negotiation or
psychosocial support)

• Referral to link child and family

to an appropriate service
provider for necessary services
(with consent).
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 Types of Alternative Care in Afghanistan

Referring a child to an orphanage can only be use

as a last resort

 Identify foster families

 Temporary shelters
 Extended family
 Restore family links
 What other alternative care options exist at
provincial level?

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 Best Practice for Referrals

• Accompany the child / family to the service

• Be familiar with the services offered and staff

providing them

• Caseworkers maintain overall responsibility to

follow up on the case plan with the child and
service provider to ensure needs are met

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Form 4A: Services Provided

When to complete: whenever a service has been

provided to the child and/or family

Who should complete: caseworker assigned to the

case

Purpose of form: to record information on the

services provided to the child and/or family

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Follow-up

Carried out regularly throughout the case management

process with the child and his/her family and other actors.

Checks:
•Child and family are receiving appropriate services to
meet their needs, as outlined in the case plan.
•Situation is stable and progressing positively in line
with case plan.
•If child or family’s circumstances have changed.

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Follow-up: Home Visits, Calls, Safe Meeting
Point

1) Scheduled Home Visit

May be part of the implementation plan for
direct service delivery or routine
monitoring
2) Ad hoc Home Visit Possible?
Visits that are unscheduled
3) Phone calls
When visits are not possible, and for regular check-ins
4) Safe meeting points
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Form 5A: Follow-up
When to complete: whenever follow-up is conducted at any point during the
case management process from when the child is first registered and support
begins (i.e. responding to a child’s immediate needs) until case closure
From the moment case plan implementation starts, it is dependent on the risk
level of the case:
• High: at least twice a week
• Medium: at least once a week
• Low: at least once every two weeks
Who should complete: Assigned caseworker to the case together with the child
and the caregiver(s); other service providers (where possible and appropriate)
Purpose of form: to record information captured during the review meeting
which looks at how the case is progressing and whether the case can be closed
or whether there is a need to return to the case management steps of
assessment or case planning

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Case Review

Done with the child/family and caseworker

(sometimes the manager/supervisor as well).

Looks at:

• How the case is progressing towards goals

/objectives set
• Whether the child requires additional / different
services

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Form 5B: Review
When to complete: whenever a case review meeting is held. From
the moment case plan implementation starts, it is dependent on the
risk level of the case:
• High: at least once a month
• Medium: at least once every two months
• Low: at least once every three months

Who should complete: assigned caseworker to the case together

with the child and the caregiver(s) (where possible and appropriate)

Purpose of form: to record information captured during the review

meeting which looks at how the case is progressing and whether the
case can be closed or whether there is a need to return to the case
management steps of assessment or case planning
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 Case Closure

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 Case Management Process
1. Identify and register 2. Assess the needs of
vulnerable children, individual children and
including raising awareness families
among affected communities

3. Develop an individual
6. Close case case plan for each child

4. Implement the case

5. Follow-up and review plan, including direct
support and referral services

49

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Criteria for Case Closure
Most often cases are closed when:
• The goals as outlined in the case plan have been met
• The child is safe from harm and their care and well-being is
being supported
• There are no additional protection concerns
Other reasons cases can be closed:
• The family / child no longer want support and there are no
grounds for going against their wishes (the child is safe)
• The child is over 18 years old (unless there is a reason)
• The child dies (analyse and report)
• The child moves
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Best Practices for Case Closure
Closure is normally authorised by a manager to prevent
premature closure

When to Close? After a set period of time and several

follow-up visits to ensure the child’s sustained well-
being.

Final Follow-Up: Within 3 months of closure to:

• Ensure the situation remains stable
• Seek feedback from the child and their family on the
service provided (sometimes called ‘service
evaluation’).
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Re-Opening a Case After Closure
• Closure does not mean that all documentation is
erased

• Cases can be reopened at any time whenever new

information becomes available or the child’s situation
changes.

• Closed cases should be stored in a safe place for a

specific period of time in accordance with:
- Information management protocols
- National legislation

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What is a Case Transfer?

Transfer = full responsibility for case management is

being handed over to another agency / department

When transferring whole caseloads the process should

include:

•Review of all case files to confirm consent for

sharing information where this is needed

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Form 6A: Case Closure

When to complete: when case closure criteria are met,

but (if possible) after a set period of time during which
several follow-up visits and at least one case review
meeting took place to ensure the child’s sustained
wellbeing
Who should complete: Assigned caseworker with the
approval of the supervisor
Purpose of form: to record information on the closure of
the case

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Activity #9: Case Closure

- Work in pairs practicing how to close a case using

the form

- One person act as a child and the other as the

caseworker using the case study

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