Marin Advocates for Children

The purpose of the Differential Response project is to provide support and services to families who come to the attention of Child Protective Services but don’t meet the criteria for CPS involvement. Many of these families would never reach the level for CPS intervention but could be made stronger by being linked to services in the community. Differential response is a truly preventative strategy that we expect will strengthen families who may never have reached the level of entering the CPS and legal system but who are struggling with issues that put children at risk of abuse.

Differential Response works on a three path system. Cases that require immediate attention from the Marin Department of Social Services are labeled Path Three. Path Two cases are typically what are called “ten day response cases.” These reports need follow up but the immediate risk to a child is not perceived to be great. Path One cases are what have been called “evaluate out” cases. They do not meet the requirement for either immediate or ten day response. Services might be indicated, but they don’t reach the level mandated for CPS intervention.

Over a year ago, the director of the Marin Child Abuse Prevention Council began meeting with the CPS Program Manager and other CPS staff to implement differential response in Marin County. Working closely with the Breakthrough Series Collaborative, the Marin Differential Response group began by developing a strength based questionnaire which was given to those who called to report abuse. Making a report of child abuse is a daunting task, but CPS staff and caller both found it a more positive experience if they could ask/were asked about the strengths of the person being reported. Those strengths could then be accessed to provide more resources for the family. The group also took a closer look at the “evaluate out” cases, ascertaining that the majority would have benefited from resources available in the community.

During this initial startup time, the Marin Child Abuse Prevention Director attended meetings both in Marin and in the sites where BSC held their two day conferences. She set up meetings, took minutes and distributed them. She participated in some of the early experiments, including following up on an “evaluate out” call to see if an intervention by a community member would be beneficial to the family.

Over time the group began adding agencies to its membership. The agencies currently involved in Differential Response include:

	Marin Department of Social Services
	Marin Child Abuse Prevention Council, a program of Marin Advocates for Children
	Canal Alliance
	Child Trauma Program, a program of Family Service Agency
	Full Circle
	Coordinated Youth Services Council

We expect this list of community based organizations will grow as we begin to see what the needs of the “evaluate out” calls are.

Marin Social Services has begun calling the “evaluate out” families to offer them services and support. We will begin to collect data and find out what is working, what isn’t and what we need to do to strengthen families.

The Marin Child Abuse Prevention Council Director will continue in her role as coordinator of this project. Her responsibilities will include setting meetings, taking and distributing minutes, assisting in writing grants, networking with other CBOs, and coordinating the various functions of the Differential Response Project, ensuring that the project continues to run smoothly.

For a full overview of this project, please click here.

View full project overview
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