“Gold Standard” Practice in ICWA Court – Safety Guide (Duluth, Minnesota) –
On May 9th 2023 approximately 70 judges, attorneys, GALs, and social workers from the St. Louis Co. ICWA Court and the Carleton Co. ICWA Court gathered together with the goal of creating a common language in assessing family safety. And learning that “safety planning is not case planning.” The Safety Guide for Attorneys and Judges is a framework to assessing child safety and creating safety plans through: specific observable safety threat(s); child vulnerability to the threat(s); and protective factors.
This approach is considered “gold standard” lawyering/social working and aims to assist families in understanding the clear parenting behaviors of the removal of a child and the clear conditions of return of a child to their custody. Many attendees had positive reflections of the 5 hour training that included a delicious lunch on the shores of Lake Superior and time for the teams to consider and strategize the implementation to their jurisdiction.
The Safety Guide training is available to all ICWA Courts.
