Advanced Structured Decision Making System Training: Hotline Tools

Level: Advanced Practice – Hotline workers (regular and on-call) and supervisors

Credits: 3

Intended Audience: This class focuses on critical thinking and interviewing when making an assessment on the hotline. This class will give workers a framework to use when asking questions that will help them think through what information they need to get an accurate assessment and to use the SDM assessment to facilitate that process. Workers should bring the Hotline tool section of the SDM P&P manual.

Intended Objectives:

• To review hotline assessment policies, procedures, and definitions.
• To become familiar with relevant definitions and how these can help focus interviews with the reporting party
• To explore different ways to ask questions of the reporting party
• To practice applying definitions to case information
• To review the SDM assessment and process

Topics Include:

• Reviewing/refreshing basic hotline assessment policy and procedures
• Examining how to unpack a definition to identify component “links” that make up a definition “chain”
• Exploring ideas for questions that can be used to elicit information related to links in each definition chain
• Exploring critical thinking relevant to information gathering

CalSWEC Competencies Addressed:

1.3 Trainee demonstrates the ability to conduct an ethnically and culturally sensitive assessment of a child and family and to develop an appropriate intervention plan.

1.5 Trainee understands the importance of a client’s primary language and supports its use in providing child welfare assessment and intervention services.

3.2 Trainee demonstrates the ability to perform a preliminary safety assessment.