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8.13 Casework with the Triad

8.13.1 Casework with the Relative Caregiver and Child | 8.13.2 Casework with the Birth Parent and Relative Caregiver | 8.13.3 Casework with the Parent/Child Dyad | 8.13.4 Casework with the Relative

After assessing the triad, it is imperative that workers structure their interventions so that all assessed factors are addressed. These family issues tend to go to the very heart of family matters and must be treated in a sensitive caring manner.

The worker will need to take an active role in raising and resolving kinship care issues. Crumby suggests key clinical activities that will promote safety, well-being and permanency for children placed with relatives.

8.13.1 Casework with the Relative Caregiver and Child

In working with the relative caregiver and child, the following points should be considered:

• It is essential that caregivers address issues related to the daily routines, schedules, appropriate discipline, mutual expectations and other structural family issues. The child is coming into this home and is now in a different role than he/she was in the past. While the routines and the household may be familiar, the child does not really know what the home is like until she lives there. These issues must be discussed so the child can be comfortable and adjust to the expectations of the caregiver. Caregivers may also have to make accommodations based on the child's age, development and physical functioning. Parents also need to understand these routines and rules so that conflict can be reduced with the caregiver.
• Engage the relative caregiver and the child in a loss and grief process related to the changes in their relationship and roles. Grandmother or Auntie is now in a parent role. This has created a change in their normal relationship. The grandparent who lavished gifts on the child or the aunt who occasionally could spend an entire afternoon with the child is now gone and instead has become the primary caretaker.
• If reunification is not going to occur, engage the caregiver and child in a loss and a grief process related to the birth parents. The child must grieve the loss before they can fully attach and bond with the new parent.
• Establish a method of testing and earning trust and developing loyalty and mutual respect in this related but new situation. Trust is earned over time when both child and caregiver consistently respond to situations which occur. This predictability creates trust and builds the loyalty and respect that is essential to the relationship.
• Engage in a bonding process using the common losses, grief, common heritage and culture and the time that the child and caregiver have spent together.
• Minimize any projection and transference that may occur between the relative and child. While the transference and projection may be inevitable, working with it can make all parties aware of its existence and the need to avoid it.
• The child needs to be seen as different and distinct from the parent.
• Redefine the relationship and activities with the birth parents and the child's immediate and extended family. New rituals and traditions need to be developed which are based on the new roles that each of the members of the triad assume.

8.13.2 Casework with the Birth Parent and Relative Caregiver

The goal of work between the birth parent and the relative caregiver is to minimize and manage the child's confusion, manipulation and resistance to placement by focusing on the following:

• Redefine the roles, interaction and activities with each other and the child.
• Keep the child out of the middle. The adults must identify methods of decision making, conflict resolution and problem solving that does not triangulate the child. The last thing the child needs is to be caught in a tug of war between the parent and the caregiver.
• Identify and minimize each other's projections and transference resulting from unresolved issues and/or current conflicts. Agree to a truce for the benefit of the child. The negatives can only divide the family further. Rally around the child and look for strengths.
• Identify and de-escalate each other's desire to compete or sabotage the placement or relationship. Strive to come together for the benefit of the child regardless of the permanency direction. Placement is not a game where the winner gets the child.
• Engage the relative and parent in sharing and reality testing and assist them in exploring and evaluating the reality of any existing fantasies. Deal with the losses and go through a grief process related to their relationship with the child. The adults in the child's life must understand and agree to abide by what is real given the legal situation, the parent(s) situation, the caregiver's ability and most importantly the child's needs.
• Establish long-term goals for the child and develop joint objectives for accomplishing these goals. This prepares the caregiver, whether it is the parent or someone else in the kinship network, for meeting the long-term needs of the child. If all the adults can agree on the long-term needs, the child will receive a consistent message and achievement is more likely.

8.13.3 Casework with the Parent/Child Dyad

Depending on the permanency goal, parents and child must address a number of clinical issues. Some of the following relate to the adjustment that the child must make in whatever kinship setting they reside in and do not change whether placement is short- or long-term. Other issues relate to the permanency goal and promote the achievement of the permanency goal. These clinical issues are as follows:

• Parents must work on identifying with the child the new role they have with the kinship caregiver and recognize the change in authority which happens when they lose legal and physical custody.
• Parents can help the child adjust to the new placement by giving approval and permission for the child to live with the caregiver. This sanctioning of the placement arrangement can facilitate the child's overall adjustment.
• If the parents can incorporate the relative caregiver's rules, discipline and expectations during contacts and visitation with their child they can validate the placement and minimize the inevitable loyalty conflicts which develop. This also goes a long way in minimizing hostility between the parent and caregiver.
• De-escalate any collusion with the child to compete with or sabotage or undermine the relative's authority or image.
• Allow the child to express their anger and/or hurt to the parent about the placement as part of the child's loss and grief process.
• Allow the child to address any past trauma and memories of unresolved issues involving their birth families as a way to minimize fantasies and promote their overall adjustment an emotional development.

8.13.4 Casework with the Relative

In working with relative caregivers, the following points should be kept in mind:

• Clarify each person's role, relationship and authority. It is important that the needs and expectations of the formal child welfare system be communicated clearly to all parties.
• Identify a method of conflict resolution, decision making and problem solving that will not result in being manipulated by the parent, child or relative caregiver.
• Develop methods to avoid competition, sabotage and undermining of others' roles and authority. Create an environment where interaction is based on trust and respect.
• Help the participants identify appropriate roles and involvement. The birth parent and caregivers must come to agreement on the level of contact and interaction that will occur. This can range from actively pursuing reunification to long term support of the child in placement with the relative.
• Engage the relative in reality testing. Safety, well-being and permanency are the ultimate goals which are being pursued. As one moves towards accomplishing this, the final decisions are made based on fact and not fantasy.

Kinship care represents both an opportunity and a challenge for child welfare professionals. It is hoped that by using this guide workers will have a better sense of how to work with the family network to promote safety, well-being and permanency for children.

8.13.1 Casework with the Relative Caregiver and Child | 8.13.2 Casework with the Birth Parent and Relative Caregiver | 8.13.3 Casework with the Parent/Child Dyad | 8.13.4 Casework with the Relative

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