Free Essay Describing the Assessment Strategy for Children and Families Module

Even though family theories and therapies are set in place to serve different purposes in life, they provide a root for ways of nursing a family issue. The whole essence of these family interventions is to access the entire family system and design ways in which problems and children can be taken care of. This paper will be addressing the objective factors on how certain families thrive and adapt when faced with challenges while others tend to separate and disintegrate when faced with similar constraints. Over the life cycle of a family, issues are part of the day to day activities, and so it is essential to know ways in which to handle such matters when they arise so that the whole family moves on together in harmony. Additionally, the paper will also address conflict theories that result in a family set up. A family being a social arrangement, it is fair to say that most of these conflicts occur due to cultural views which at times are patriarchal.

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Family Theories

Family assessment is the comprehensive and dynamic process of gathering, synthesizing and analyzing information that arises from different sources and letter agree on the best ways of keeping the children safe and their well being. An assessment of the family is the root and foundation of proper planning for all the events that occur during a person's lifetime. In assessing the family issues, critical factors that are supposed to be considered vary and they are s follows: first and foremost, one should be able to understand the functioning of family systems then identify the strengths that enable a family to properly function and finally all the required efforts needed for the betterment of the family domain. In scenarios where these crucial factors are not considered, then the possibility of the family crumbling are very high. In understanding the whole module of family assessment, one should follow the following rules of efficiently running a family.

Child safety

Children are the future of society, and their welfare and safety must continuously be assessed using some safety constructs that are put in place by the organizations for the children's welfare. The very first threat to a child's safety is mistreatment which arises when their emotions, perceptions, and motives are not adequately considered when correcting them or punishing them for wrongdoing. On top of that, children are always vulnerable to their environments since on their own at times they cannot tell whether or not there is an impending danger to their lives. Finally, there should be protective capacities of children by the family which in other words refer to resources that can reduce and control any threat of mistreatment. Additionally, specific domains are supposed to be considered when choosing the best ways of looking at the children's welfare. First and foremost their current health and mental status should be checked from time to time make sure they are in perfect health condition. On the same note prevalence of mental health, history should be a factor to consider while taking care of their health. Secondly, children's behavioral function should be carefully monitored, and any concern should be reported and taken care of before it is too late to take precautions. Again, school is a prestigious institution that makes responsible men and women in the future. It is for this reason that children should be continuously monitored regarding their attendance, grades, completion of their home works, discipline and respect towards the others.

Assessment in child protection

Over the years, some legislation laws have been enacted to help parents, teachers and other members of the society on ways to treat children. The rules also appeal to people who witness any child abuse to report to the relevant authorities for actions to be taken to prevent future abuse of the child. In assessing such situations, the law gives guidance to (TUSLA) on ways in which reported child abuse could be investigated to determine whether there was abuse then finally coming up with ways to prevent future maltreatment. The assessment procedures of child protection are as follows: identification, intake, investigation, family assessment and finally evaluating the progress in the family.

Identification

The very first step which is at the periphery is to identify whether indeed a child has been abused by either the parents or other people in the society. Medical personnel or childcare educators are then invited to come to observe, screen and identify any form of abuse or neglect within the family. Other private citizens such as friends and the neighbors may also be invited to come and testify on incidents of suspected child abuse.

Intake

Intake is the second face where the reports of suspected maltreatment of a child are received by child welfare agencies such as Tusla or even at times the police. The agency that receives the complaint whether the cops or Tusla must make two critical decisions before the case goes to the next stage of assessment. First, they check whether the reported case meets all the criteria's that are considered to be a child abuse then secondly, the urgency of response that is required so that the child is helped before it is too late. If the reported incident meets the two guidelines, then the case is carried on.

Investigation

At the investigation stage, an assessment is carried and conducted in regards to the reports that were received at the intake stage to determine whether the claims of child abuse can be substantiated. At this stage, professionals that are specialized in different fields of child development such as the teachers and the medical personnel are invited to come and check the health, and mental status of the child reported to have been abused. This stage addresses some questions regarding the status and development of the child. The discussed issues are as follows:

Is the reported case of child abuse-able to be evidence in regards to the law?

Is the child in question at any risk of future violence?

At what level is the danger in future?

Is the child's safety in the family guaranteed in the future?

If the question of guaranteeing the future of child's safety is not answered, then the next question would be: what type of home care does the child need for better future development?

Finally, the last question is: should the agency responsible for offering child services offer help to the family to reduce the potential reoccurrence of child abuse?

After all the above questions are answered by the authorities in place, then the case moves to another level of assessing the family comprehensively.

Family Investigation

This is a critical stage where all factors affecting the life of a child's development and well being are identified, considered and weighed to determine whether or not the family is capable of taking care of their child. In other words, the family assessment stage is mainly designated to help in understanding the strengths, weaknesses and all the needs of the children and whether the family is capable of providing all these critical necessities. The importance of this stage of child's development cannot be fathomed and requires the collective strength of both family and the society to manage appropriately.

Evaluation of the Family Progress

At this final stage, the abusive behaviors are assessed to confirm whether they have changed to help the child's future development or not. At this point, the case is carefully monitored to the point that outcomes that are beneficial are achieved. The questions that evaluating a family's progress towards childcare are as follows:

. Is the safety of the child guaranteed?

. Are the problems that warrant changes been taken into consideration?

. What changes have been made in regards to the previous case of child abuse?

. Last but not least, have there been some progress reports towards achieving the goals of child safety?

. Lastly, has the whole procedure helped in any way for the future improvement of the child's welfare?

Family Conflict theories

All differences and problems in a group set up are caused by the struggles with one another for the available resources in one's life. In other words, conflict perspectives are parameters that tend to describe ways in which inequalities in society exists. Some theorist's assert that a family set up mainly works towards the betterment of their status quo. For instance, when one is born in a family that is deemed to be wealthy, in the future, they inherit their parent's possessions and maintain their social status in the society that they exist in. On the other hand, when an individual is born and raised from a family that is poor, they try to work very hard so that in the future they may be able to gain some respect from the others just like those who a are rich. In a traditional family set up, more inequalities are evident between the sexes. The males received better treatment and held more power than their female counterparts. The men were given roles which had more values in the society than their wives who were only reduced to taking care of the children and keeping the house safe. According to Statistica, around 60% of all mothers who have children under the age of six and are working, spend almost the same time some even more at their place of work just as their husband but at home, they do more housework and childcare than their husbands.

Conflict Perspectives

Families and family member regularly compete for power especially in the scenario where there are assets to be inherited and can make them very rich. In this case, money is the primary reason for conflicting with the other family members. It is also imperative to note that social systems are not always static and at times they could rise to fall. Some theorists have stepped forward to claim that conflicts mainly arise in a family when others feel that there is an unequal distribution of power on the available resources. However, there are specific issues other than the distribution as mentioned earlier of resources that always initiates conflicts between family members. Decision making and choosing of partners over the years have led to more fighting between brothers or sisters or even the entire extended family. These fights can lead to inequality in power-sharing, others having more authority than others on the available scarce resources, at times physical fighting and lastly emotional cruelty.

Family Resiliency

Family resiliency is the ability of a family to bounce back from their conflict and solve their differences and later develop a healthy relationship with the others. It is however imperative to note that resiliency does not help to explain stress that might have been generated during the different periods, but it can help by providing strength to manage and tackle the effects of stress. Through the lifespan of a functioning family, resiliency develops naturally after going through faces of misunderstanding and fights. Resilience can come in different ways; from relationships with parents and peers, traditional beliefs or even actions that are got from experience in an individual's whole lifespan. A family resilience system covers a specific framework which is: a belief system, organizational pattern and finally communication and ways of solving problems.

A Belief System

A belief system is merely a positive outlook and confidence on ways to overcome difficult times such as conflicts within the families. In this setup, family members are expected to encourage and persevere with other to achieve the common goals all the family members are trying to reach.