Last Friday, on October 11, 2013, the Parental Defense Alliance (PDA) held a free Lunch and CLE at the Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo, Utah. The presenters were from the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) and instructed us regarding the new Structured Decision Making (SDM) process that they are implementing throughout the state.
The DCFS has been training their caseworkers regarding SDM, but the PDA is the first group to request and receive the training outside of the division. Those who attended received helpful instruction regarding how the DCFS caseworkers will be making decisions regarding families and services.
One attendee let us know:
"Having a good understanding of SDM is extremely helpful to determine whether DCFS used correct criteria to remove children from custody of parents and whether children can be safely returned or maintained at home with ongoing services."
Another said:
"This training offered information absolutely necessary to understand the decision making process behind DCFS decisions to get involved in a family. If the decision is to get involved, how intrusive the involvement will be and what considerations to decide when to get out of the case."For those of you who missed the training, we are excited to let you know that we are working on providing a video recorded version on our website.
