Key Elements
Meetings that include at least seven of the eight “key elements” result in recommendations to keep a child at home in 70% of the cases.
Experts believe that the most effective way to help children is to involve them and their families, friends and professionals in all decisions relating to out of home child placement. This case study examines how three jurisdictions — Cuyahoga County, Ohio; Denver County, Colorado.; and New York City — have woven a practice known as Team Decision Making (TDM) into standard child welfare procedures to create better, safer outcomes for children.
Since January 2020, the National Council on Crime and Deliquency has managed TDM, and is working to expand the practice’s reach, impact and evidence base.
Team Decision Making (TDM) is a collaborative practice used by child welfare agencies that includes family members for all decisions involving child removal, change of placement, reunification or other permanency plans. Team decision making is a much more effective way to approach the critical issue of placement for potentially at-risk kids compared to the traditional model of agency personnel telling the family what to do.