THE FIELD CENTER
for Children's Policy, Practice & Research

City of Philadelphia Department of Human Services
Child Protective Services Training and Program Development Project

The City of Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS) Child Protective Services Training and Program Development Project is a part of an ongoing effort to provide assistance to the local child welfare system in improving the delivery of services. This project was initiated in 2004. Initial goals of the project were:

1. To improve the overall timeliness and quality of child protective investigations and decision making.
2. To improve the capacity of front end staff and supervisors to conduct and complete comprehensive and timely investigations and make appropriate decisions.
3. To improve the capacity of supervisors to manage the flow of work and oversee the quality of investigations and decision making.
4. To develop a factual basis for assessment and decision making.

To accommodate the critical needs of DHS administrators, staff concentrated their efforts on developing several modules for a user-friendly practice manual which would be utilized to guide and direct front line workers in the investigation process.  The priority areas of work have been Fatality Investigations and Safety Planning.  Some of the accomplishments of this project are:

1. A review and assessment of the current Children and Youth Division (CYD) policy manual and its adequacy in providing direction to front line staff resulting in a set of findings and recommendations for improvement.
2. A compilation of statutory mandates and regulations and the DHS procedural guidelines impacting front end services.
3. A compilation of development and training curricula from DHS and other agencies.
4. In collaboration with DHS staff and administrators, the development of an outline for a comprehensive Practice Manual.
5. The review of policy and practice manuals from other jurisdictions for content and format.
6. The review of literature on child abuse decision making.
7. Facilitation of ongoing working sessions focused on the development of the Child Fatality Investigations chapter for the practice manual.