Team Decision Making meetings are designed to assist agencies in making decisions regarding a child’s placement. The practice brings together parents, the child (if age appropriate), family members, extended family and other support persons, foster parents (if the child is in placement), service providers, other community representatives, the caseworker of record and the supervisor. The meeting is a sharing of all information which relates to the protection of the children and functioning of the family. The goal is to reach consensus on a decision regarding placement and to create a plan which protects the children in the least intrusive, least restrictive environment.
Topics include:
- The philosophy and values of TDM
- TDM key elements
- Structure of the TDM meetings
- Who, what, when of scheduling TDM meetings
- Roles of participants
- Phased implementation sequencing of TDM meetings
- Data collection and analysis – efforts to outcomes
- The importance of quality assurance
Participants gain a greater understanding of TDM and its role in improving placement decisions. This training is ideal for sites considering TDM implementation or newly implementing TDM as well as those supporting TDM practice.