Protective Services at GCCS encompasses the work of the Casework Services Department. We are responsible for screening all reports of child maltreatment, conducting assessments accepted referrals and providing ongoing supportive services to families and children.
Guernsey County Children Services
Safety, Protection, and Permanency
Did You Know?
The Screening Department handled 1445 calls in 2009, up from 1249 calls in 2008. This was a 14% increase in contacts with our agency in 2009.
The Intake Screener is responsible for handling phone and walk-in reports of child abuse and neglect, providing information to the public on our services and making decisions (using state and agency guidelines) on what reports are accepted into our agency. We handled 1445 calls or contacts in 2009 or a 14% increase from the 1249 calls/contacts we handled in 2008. Cases may be assigned to what is called "Traditional Response" (TR) where there is a decision at the end of the assessment if there was maltreatment and who is "responsible" for this maltreatment, or "Alternative Response" (AR) where there is no formal determination of maltreatment and no associated "blame" to the parent or caregiver. There are circumstances where the AR approach is not appropriate and these cases will be accepted as TR. Such types of cases include sexual abuse, cases of serious child abuse or child endangerment. In all cases, child safety is our first priority and regardless of the response, is to ensure safety is assessed as quickly as possible.
Protective Services
Assessment Services
The Assessment Unit handles all accepted referrals for child maltreatment not already open for ongoing services. These assessments are generally handled by the assigned ongoing caseworker. This unit handled 555 assessments or services contacts in 2009, a slight increase from the 509 it handled in 2008. This unit also can provide short-term services to families, generally 30-90 days and generally within the AR pathway.
The initial focus of the assessment process is to conduct an assessment of safety as quickly as possible. Though state standards require that an attempt is made to see a child within 72 hours (for non-emergencies) GCCS has an internal standard that contacts with children are a priority and in most cases, this is attempted within 24 hours of report acceptance. For emergencies, the state and agency standard is that attempts to see the child is made within one hour of report acceptance. This unit also works very closely with local law enforcement and other community agencies through the Guernsey County Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) on cases where there is potential criminal child abuse.
Case Management Intervention
The Case Management Intervention Unit served 81 families in 2009 through the provision of voluntary services, court ordered protective supervision or temporary custody of children. The cases this unit handles are complicated and involve families impacted by substance abuse/addiciton, mental health concerns, difficulty with safe parenting, and other concerns.
