List of contents
Introduction
The first meeting between the parents and the examiner
The Network Assessment
The child psychological examination
The examination of the caring ability of parents
The form of the statement
Final remarks

Introduction
Child Psychological Counselling (CPC) opened on the 1^st of October 1987. From the beginning, families – alongside private clients – have been referred in cases where an examination of the caring abilities of parents (“parental skill” or “parental competence”) has been called for. Previously, it was always the social worker who would contact CPC in order to refer a family. Over time, it has become increasingly common for parents themselves – or their lawyer – to establish contact. In that way, the family achieves influence on who will conduct the examination. No matter who approaches CPC, the social authorities always pay for the examination.

En examination of the caring abilities of parents may be conducted in different ways. At CPC it is usually a three-in-one examination entailing:

1: A NETWORK EVALUATION
2: THE CHILD PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINATION – AND
3: AN EXAMINATION OF THE CARING ABILITIES OF THE PARENTS

The sequence is described in detail in the following.

The first meeting between the parents and the examiner
The first meeting has four purposes.

1) The parties must be introduced to one another
2) The parents must be informed about what an examination of their caring abilities entails
3) If the parents are capable, their accept of examination and examiner is sought
4) The parents help make a list of the persons who will be part of the network assessment (see below).

The parents are informed that they can delay their accept of examination and examiner until they have had the chance to assess the situation after the meeting and they are encouraged to ask any question they may have. If the parents accept the initiation of the examination it is discussed which persons it will be possible and appropriate to contact as part of the network evaluation.

1: The Network Assessment
The Network Evaluation centers on the social network of the family in question. Participants are persons who – through their work or by other means – have a special knowledge of the family or of individual family members.

Examples of persons in the formal social network of a family are the health visitor, the family doctor, kindergarten and school teachers. To maintain a suitable distance to the referring authority, the caseworker and social workers who go into the home of the family are not called upon.

Parents often spontaneously suggest that members of their family or circle of friends should also participate. This may be relevant if the persons in question have an actual care relation to the child or children. If such care is not taken into consideration, the result of the assessment may be too negative.

2: The child psychological examination
To become capable of evaluating the caring abilities of the parents – not only in general, but also concerning the specific needs of their child – a child psychological examination is conducted as required. For young children, this examination is normally limited to a developmental screening test possibly supplemented by observation. For older children, conversation and observation is used. As a supplement, testing may be considered. In this regard, it must be mentioned that the last couple of years have seen increasing scientific criticism of the so-called personality tests (for instance, the Rorschach test, the TAT test, the CAT test and the Draw-a-Person test). For this reason, use of such tests in CPC has been discontinued (1)(2)(3). If a psychological examination of the child has already been made it is considered whether that examination eliminates the need for a new test. In general, it is considered important that the child is not exposed to psychological examination beyond what is strictly necessary.

3: The examination of the caring ability of parents
The examination of the caring ability of parents falls in three parts.

1: In conversations with each of the parents they communicate their perception of the childhood and development conditions of the child. Similarly, although more briefly, the parents communicate their perception of their own childhood and development conditions. The conversations may take place in the clinic or in the home of the parents. As with the Network evaluation, the raw texts are sent to parents for possible corrections.

2: Parent and child are observed directly. Normally, three observations are carried out, each lasting 2 to 3 hours. Ideally, these are scheduled at different times of day. Time and place is agreed upon in advance with the parents. Preferably, the observations should take place in the home but if this isn’t possible the observations may be made in another place – for instance in and around the residential home where the child and possibly the parents stay.

3: On the basis of 1 and 2 and supplemented by the results of the child psychological examination and the network evaluation the caring ability of the parents is assessed on each of 7 specified areas (4). The results of this assessment are communicated for all seven areas in the statement. In this way, it is ensured that the central part of the statement is nuanced and does not come across as a catalogue of the parents’ limitations and problems. The same ambition is present in the entire examination process and during the writing of the statement.

The form of the statement
A central principle in the writing of the statement communicating the results of the examination is that gathered results are kept separate from the evaluation of the results. Thus, the statement text regarding the ‘network evaluation’, ‘the child psychological examination’ and ‘the examination of the caring ability of the parents’, through to the heading ‘Assessment of the caring ability of (parents’ names) in regard to (name of child) is factual in nature.

‘Assessment’ in the heading indicates that the following is exactly that. Just as it is the case with the subsequent main section which is entitled ‘Assessing summary’. In this section, all the gathered results are assessed with the objective of making clear the background of the sections to come: ‘Conclusion’ and ‘Recommendations’. Before the statement can be sent to the referring authority, a final meeting is held with the parents. Here, conclusion and recommendations are communicated and the parents are encouraged to voice their opinions. These opinions are reproduced as the final part of the statement under the heading ‘The opinions of the parents as to the recommendations’.

Final remarks
In a number of cases, the conclusion and the recommendations suggest that the family may remain united. In other cases, the caring ability of the parents is found to be insufficient. In cases of the latter type where the parents cannot accept a placement of their child – possibly, with the parents – the social authorities may decide to carry out a placement without the consent of the parents.

Such a decision is among the most radical that the state can exert on citizens. The considerable scope of the examination of the caring ability of parents must be seen on this background. The actual number of hours used on an examination of parents and child depends, among other things, on the size of the family and on whether there are conditions that necessitate extended travel time and expenses.

The examination method described is continuously improved. Thus, changes can be expected.

The italicised text above constitutes the most important change in 2002.

Literature
(1) Robyn M. Dawes: House of Cards : Psychology and Psychotherapy Built on Myth. Free Press. 1996. [Buy this book at Amazon.co.uk].
(2) Scott o. Llienfeld, James m. Wood & Howard N. Garb: What's Wrong With This Picture?. Scientific American [Read the article -  PDF-format].
(3) Garbs HV. Studying the Clinician. Judgement Research and Psychological Assessment. APA 1998 [Buy this book at Amazon.co.uk].
(4) Kari Killén: Omsorgssvigt er alles ansvar. København. Hans Reitzels Forlag. 1999. [Buy this book at Stop4u.com].

See also
http://hjem.get2net.dk/sfsmith/
artikleremneopdelt.htm (in Danish). Many of these articles discuss the prevention of neglect. Almost all of the articles are in full versions.

Søren Friis Smith,

01.04.2002

Sidst opdateret den 04.05.2006
post@sfsmith.dk