Chapter VIII:Protective Services 1409- DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

XIV. CASE CLOSURE

When considering closure of a domestic violence related CPS case, it is important to realize that despite the social worker’s conscientious efforts towards safety planning, education, and referral services, some of the non-offending parents/adult victims will not be ready or able to escape from the abuser and may return to their violent relationships. DSS efforts will not ensure that the violence will not reoccur.

A CPS case is considered appropriate for closure when parents or caregivers are willing to provide a safe home and demonstrate their ability to do so; or the agency receives legal custody or placement responsibility. The CPS case should never be closed until the Risk Reassessment and other Structured Decision Making tools support case closure.

The following circumstances should be considered as factors impacting case closure:

• Domestic violence incidents have reduced in frequency and/or severity as demonstrated in the Family Services Agreements,
• The children and non-offending parent/adult victim feel relatively safe in their home,
• A plan ensuring the child’s safety has been developed with the family.
• The perpetrator of domestic violence has completed treatment, and
• The degree to which the risk of domestic violence and child maltreatment has been lessened to the children and non-offending parent/adult victim.

The recommended scaled assessment tools may be used in determining whether safety and risk factors have decreased enough to warrant case closure. Their use is not required by policy but may be best practice.

It is difficult to determine a specific time frame as to when the home environment is safe because of the difficulty in assessing the likelihood that the domestic violence perpetrator’s violent behavior has ceased. Some factors to consider in assessing how violent behavior has changed include:

• Family Interaction
• Criminal Behavior
• Environment of the Home

When the risk of abuse/neglect remains intensive or high, services should continue until the risk is lowered. The period of time in which the risk is reduced should be of a significant amount to suggest that safety has been well established.