Child Abuse and Neglect Group Portfolio > Practice and Treatment Approaches

 Agency/Case Management
 Practice Approaches

1. Case managers should complete a proper assessment. ACE scoring, in some cases,
would be an excellent approach. There are ten different childhood traumas measured
by ACES. Five personal and Five are related to other family members. ACE scoring is a
guideline to help social workers better understand their clients' types of treatment or
resources. The ACE Pyramid represents the conceptual framework for the ACE Study.
The ACE Study has uncovered how ACEs are strongly related to developing risk factors
for disease and well-being throughout the life course. It is essential to understand your
client's situation and break it down into understandable and researchable parts.
Therefore, allowing social workers to determine what treatment or resources are
needed. Evidence-based interventions like Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral
Therapy or TF-CBT.
2. Case managers handling child abuse cases should be in touch with the other
professionals working on an individual's issue. Communication and being on the same
page can allow the social worker to identify the best approaches for the individual and
minimize repetitive, potentially retraumatizing conversation. The case manager should
be especially receptive to the individual's physician's assessment suggesting the
individual evaluated by a child abuse pediatrician familiar with the best methods to
utilize when working with potentially abused children. Rather than using a base model, a
more investigative approach utilizes a dynamic family model is the best way to complete
consultation to gain the complete information without instigating additional trauma
(Keenan & Campbell, 2015).
3. For case managers, it is in best practices to prioritize the best interest of the child. There
can be many people involved in a case where children are involved, and best practices
must be put in place to do no harm and keep the child's best interest in mind. For this to
happen, a case manager should continually evaluate the risks present to the child and
work to mitigate the negative consequence that can directly impact the child. The Child
Protection Working Group explains that "All actions should ensure that the child's rights
to safety and ongoing development are never compromised" (p. 17). The child's best
interests should always be at the forefront of all decision-making with the parents, the
case managers, and the agencies with which they are involved (Child Protection Working
Group, 2014).
 Clinical Treatment Facilities (therapy and counseling)
 Treatment Approaches
 
1. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) is an approach that can be
useful in helping children and families work through trauma, such as neglect and abuse.
It is an evidence-based therapeutic approach. TF-CBT "helps children address the
negative effects of trauma, including processing their traumatic memories, overcoming
problematic thoughts and behaviors, and developing effective coping and interpersonal
skills" (Children's Bureau, 2018). This treatment approach's primary population is
children and adolescents between the ages of 3-18 who have a memory of at least one
traumatic experience. Caseworkers can review the Children's Bureau (2018) fact sheet
shares that TF-CBT is typically completed over 12 to 16 weekly sessions. If the
caseworker deems necessary, the sessions can be increased to 25 to assist youth
struggling from more significant trauma. Both children and parents have shown overall
improvement after TF-CBT sessions, including diminished PTSD symptoms, anxiety,
depression, conduct issues, and emotional distress. Parents are also more likely to
become more supportive of their children and work through behavioral issues more
easily (Children's Bureau, 2018). 
 
2. EMDR is a treatment approach that utilizes eye movements, vibrations, and sounds to
stimulate the brain (Huso, 2010). This treatment can help both children and adults who
have survived childhood abuse and/or neglect. "Using these sensory experiences in
conjunction with focusing on a traumatic memory can create changes in the brain that
help a client overcome symptoms of depression, anger, and anxiety, among other
conditions" (Huso, 2010). EMDR allows the client to safely visit and process their
traumatic memories while being guided by the therapist. The idea with EMDR is to move
the memory from the part of the brain that processes emotion and fight or flight
response to another part of the brain that can store the memory and allow for healing.
"It helps people process their memories and put them in the past instead of the
present" (Huso, 2010). EMDR gets both sides of the brain working at once. 
 
3. Interventions must be useful to the child and parent or lose their motivation to attend
the sessions. Clarifying the purpose and intent of the intervention and making it
relevant to the child's current situation are two methods that facilitate the client's
interest and involvement in therapy. Asking the child or parent to evaluate therapy's
effectiveness also helps the therapist learn if the interventions are useful. Individuality
42 Children and parents have the right to be treated as individuals who have issues and
experiences unique to their experience. By making assumptions or telling the client how
he/she feels, the therapist overlooks the client's need to be treated as a particular
person. Asking the client to confirm or deny a hypothesis helps the client feel that
he/she is part of the discovery process. Mentioning that some victims have felt a certain
way about what has happened to them can give a child permission to consider if he/she
feels that way too. Telling a child how all victims think, feel, or behave is presumptuous
and decreases the child's sense of integrity and individuality (Urquiza and Winn). 
 References

Child Protection Working Group. (2014). Inter-agency guidelines for case management & child
protection. Retrieved from http://www.cpcnetwork.org/resource/inter-agency-
guidelines -for-case-management-child-protection/

Children's Bureau. (2018) Trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy: a primer for child

welfare professionals. Retrieved
from: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/trauma.pdf#page=1&view=Introduction

Huso, D. (2010) Treating child abuse trauma with EMDR. Social Work Today, 10(2). Retrieved
from: https://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/032210p20.shtml

Urquiza, Anthony J., and Cynthia Winn. "Treatment for Abused and Neglected Children: Infancy
to Age 18." childwelfare.gov, https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/treatmen.pdf.
Accessed 12 November 2020.

Keenan, H. T., & Campbell, K. A. (2015). Three models of child abuse consultations: A qualitative
study of inpatient child abuse consultation notes. Child Abuse & Neglect, 43, 53-60.
doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.11.009