Policy directive: CW 003-20 – Approved tools for caregiver assessment and pre-service training, and for plan of care development

This policy directive is issued under s. 42 of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017 (CYFSA) to provide direction to children’s aid societies (societies) with respect to the Ontario Practice Model.

Effective date

This policy directive will come into effect on July 7, 2020. As of this date, Policy directive 001-09: The use of SAFE; Pre-service PRIDE; and OnLAC by children’s aid societies (CASs), will no longer be in effect.

Introduction

The intent of this policy directive is to provide direction to societies with respect to the Ontario Practice Model, which is comprised of:

• Assessment and pre-service training tools for individuals who seek to be approved by a society to provide foster, kinship, and customary care^{footnote 1[1]}, or to adopt a child or youth Structured Analysis Family Evaluation (SAFE) and Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education (PRIDE), Helping Establish Able Resource-Homes Together (HEART) and Strong Parent Indigenous Relationships Information Training (SPIRIT)
• Ontario Looking After Children (OnLAC) and its assessment tool for developing plans of care (the Assessment and Action Record (AAR)) for children and youth who are in the care of a society or in customary care for longer than one year.

Societies have been required by previous policy directives (Policy directive 003-06 and Policy directive 001-09) to use the SAFE, PRIDE and OnLAC tools, which previously comprised the Ontario Practice Model. SAFE was implemented on December 4, 2006, PRIDE on April 2, 2007, and OnLAC on December 3, 2007.

HEART and SPIRIT are new tools developed and validated by the Association of Native Child and Family Services Agencies of Ontario (ANCFSAO) as an integrated caregiver assessment and pre-service training model. These tools were developed as culturally appropriate alternatives to SAFE and PRIDE, for use when approving foster parents (including kinship care), customary caregivers, and prospective adoptive parents for Indigenous children and youth^{footnote 2[2]}. They are intended to engage and train potential caregivers in a way that supports and nurtures the cultures, heritages and identities of Indigenous children and youth. They have been added to the Ontario Practice Model.

As of the effective date of this directive and in accordance with the requirements set out below, societies may use HEART and SPIRIT as an alternative to SAFE and PRIDE, if deemed more culturally appropriate for the assessment and training of Indigenous and non-Indigenous foster parents (including kinship care), customary caregivers and prospective adoptive parents for Indigenous children and youth.

The requirements in this policy directive are consistent with the requirements in Policy directive 001-09 in every respect except for an amendment to permit the use of HEART and SPIRIT as an alternative to SAFE and PRIDE for the approval of caregivers for Indigenous children and youth. The other requirements related to SAFE, PRIDE and OnLAC remain unchanged in this directive.

It is important to note that as set out in HEART and SPIRIT, the tools are based on knowledge shared by Anishinaabe (Ojibwe/Chippewas), Haudenosaunee (Oneida) and Lenape (Munsee/Delaware) peoples representing seven distinct First Nations communities in southwestern Ontario. As such, HEART and SPIRIT does not necessarily reflect the cultural teachings, traditions and perspectives of all Indigenous peoples, or even all peoples from these communities and nations. Rather, the tools have been developed so that they can be customized to suit different cultural and historical contexts as appropriate, while still addressing core competencies. As ANCFSAO holds exclusive rights to HEART and SPIRIT, any customization of the tools must be done in collaboration with ANCFSAO and is subject to ANCFSAO’s confirmation that the core competency elements of assessment and training remain intact.

See Appendix A for definitions

Requirements

1. Caregiver assessment: Societies are required to use one of the following tools when conducting homestudy assessments and preparing assessment reports regarding foster parents (inclusive of kinship care), customary caregivers and prospective adoptive parents:
   1. The SAFE homestudy. The child protection worker who conducts the SAFE homestudy must have completed the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS) SAFE course.
   2. The HEART homestudy, when assessing Indigenous and non-Indigenous caregivers for Indigenous children and youth. The child protection worker who conducts the HEART homestudy must be trained by ANCFSAO to administer the tool.
2. Caregiver pre-service training: Societies are required to use one of the following tools to provide pre-service training and preparation for foster parents (inclusive of kinship care), customary caregivers and prospective adoptive parents. If SAFE was used to assess the caregiver, PRIDE must be used for caregiver training. If HEART was used to assess the caregiver, SPIRIT must be used for caregiver training:
   1. PRIDE pre-service training and preparation. The child protection worker and caregiver who co-deliver the PRIDE training must have completed the OACAS PRIDE Team Training course.
   2. PRIDE pre-service training and preparation, for Indigenous and non-Indigenous caregivers for Indigenous children and youth. The child protection worker and caregiver who co-deliver SPIRIT training must both be trained by ANCFSAO to deliver this training.

3. Integrated tools: For the purposes of the Ontario Practice Model, HEART and SPIRIT, and SAFE and PRIDE are integrated homestudy assessment and caregiver pre-service training and preparation models. As such, societies are required to utilize either HEART and SPIRIT or SAFE and PRIDE, in their entirety, for the homestudy assessment and pre-service training of caregivers applying to care for children and youth.

4. Customization of HEART and SPIRIT: HEART and SPIRIT has been developed so it can be customized to incorporate the traditions, customs and heritages of First Nations communities and communities of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people (e.g., the inclusion of traditional stories and teaching, spiritual practices, the role of elders). Societies are required to consult with ANCFSAO about any proposed customizations to HEART and SPIRIT, and to obtain ANCFSAO’s confirmation that the customized tools address core competency elements of assessment and training, prior to using customized tools.

5. OnLAC: For every child that has been in society care, either by court order or agreement, or is subject to a customary care agreement^{footnote 3[3]}, for a continuous period of 12 months, the society is required to complete an OnLAC Assessment and Action Record (AAR) for that child, for the purpose of informing the development of the Plan of Care. Societies are required to complete the AAR on an annual basis so long as the child remains in society care or is subject to a customary care agreement. If the child is being placed for adoption and an AAR has previously been completed in respect of the child, the AAR shall be reviewed prior to placing the child for adoption. Annual AARs are not required for children on adoption probation, regardless of the length of the adoption probation period. This does not prohibit a society from using the AAR if it would be beneficial to the child’s planning. However, upon placement for adoption, the society is required to use the Adoption Probation Recording format, which includes the seven dimensions of OnLAC.

6. Reporting: The society shall document the completion of the requirements set out in this directive in the appropriate case record (e.g., provider/resource record, child in care case) and/or appropriate reporting mechanisms. The society shall report any aggregate data to the ministry as required by the ministry.

Issuance of Policy directive CW 003-20: July 7, 2020

Original signed by:

David Remington
Assistant Deputy Minister
Child Welfare and Protection Division
Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services

Appendix A

Definitions

Structured Analysis Family Evaluation (SAFE): SAFE is a comprehensive set of homestudy assessment tools, techniques and values for the analysis and evaluation of prospective foster or adoptive parents. SAFE was developed by the Consortium for Children in California to determine if a family is a viable, safe placement for children and to determine the elements of a specific plan to support the family in the care of children.

Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education (PRIDE): PRIDE is a practice model and curriculum designed to strengthen the quality of family-based care by providing a competency-based framework for training and supporting caregivers. PRIDE was developed by the Child Welfare League of America. PRIDE is divided into two parts: Pre-service and in-service (or ongoing).

Helping Establish Able Resource-Homes Together (HEART): HEART is a culturally appropriate homestudy assessment tool designed to strengthen the capacity of societies to effectively engage, support and assess Indigenous and non-Indigenous caregivers to care for Indigenous children and youth in need of protection. HEART was developed by ANCFSAO and specially designed to focus on preparing Indigenous and non-Indigenous caregivers of children in need of protection with the tools necessary to care for Indigenous children and youth in a manner that supports and nurtures their cultures, heritages and identities. The tools also assess caregiver’s readiness to care for Indigenous children, areas of strength, areas of development, and to match to specific child in need of care.

Strong Parent Indigenous Relationships Information Training (SPIRIT): The SPIRIT program has been developed to prepare Indigenous and non-Indigenous caregivers to meet the needs of Indigenous children, and ensure that the child’s culture, heritage and identity are supported and maintained. SPIRIT was developed by the ANCFSAO.

Looking After Children (OnLAC): OnLAC includes an assessment tool (Assessment and Action Record) that is used at the case level to develop an individual child’s Plan of Care, at the management level providing outcome data that can assist an agency in developing needed services and programs for all children in care; and at the ministry level providing key marker outcome data to support continuous improvement in policy and program design. Research support for OnLAC is provided by the University of Ottawa. Looking After Children was developed in the United Kingdom.