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Surfacing Caregiver Strengths With the New SOP Hotline Tool

Safety Organized Practice: Tools from the Kit and Stories from the Field

  • by Jason M Borucki

Child welfare Intake/Hotline workers are often the first touchpoint between families and child welfare services, making their role critical in assessing risk and determining the appropriate response. The time-sensitive decisions they make can shape the course of families' lives. 

But what if those decisions could be guided by a tool that not only assesses risk, but also highlights caregiver strengths?

The new Safety Organized Practice (SOP) Hotline Tool does just that. Developed by the SOP Backbone Committee, this powerful resource provides solution-focused questions designed to surface protective factors and caregiver resilience, leading to more balanced, informed and effective assessments.

What’s in the Kit? 

Screenshot of the SOP Hotline Tool, available as download

Now available for download, the SOP Hotline Tool organizes its inquiry into five critical protective factors:

  1. Parental Resilience
  2. Social Connections
  3. Concrete Support
  4. Knowledge of Parenting & Child Development
  5. Social & Emotional Competence of Children

This structured framework ensures that every call is assessed fairly, holistically and with an eye toward strengths—not just risk.

Shifting the Culture of Child Welfare

The SOP Hotline Tool is part of a larger movement in child welfare: one that prioritizes engagement, empowerment and partnership over punitive action. When strengths are surfaced alongside concerns, interventions can be more thoughtful, proportionate and supportive—ultimately leading to stronger, safer families and communities.

Ready to Use the Tool? Download the SOP Hotline Tool.
Explore More Resources in the SOP Toolkit! Access the full toolkit here.

Stories from the Field: SOP Success in Glenn County

A picture of multiple hands reaching out to a common heart at the center.

The impact of Safety Organized Practice isn’t just theoretical—it’s happening in the field every day. One of our colleagues recently shared this success story from Glenn County, where SOP Champions are making a difference:

"I really appreciate the SOP Champions we have in Glenn County. Some of our supervisors have collaborated with Dionne Puckett from [UC Davis Human Services] to bring SOP coaching to various units in our CWS team. Dionne’s practical coaching style and deep understanding of child welfare challenges have been invaluable.

"SOP coaching is helping new leaders and staff develop their skills while supporting seasoned professionals in strengthening their practice. The result? More intentional, safety-focused engagement with families—shifting interventions away from poverty or imperfect parenting and toward real safety concerns."

Big thanks to Glenn County’s SOP Champions for leading the way!

Share Your Own SOP Success Stories, Tips and/or Tools!

Have you developed a new SOP tool for your own county? Or do you have a success story to highlight? If you have a specific tool or a story from the field you’d like to share, you can do so through our submission form. Simply fill in the fields, attach the tool, and we’ll be in touch from there!

Reminder: The SOP Toolkit Has Moved!

Be sure to update your bookmarks and to visit the new Safety Organized Practice (SOP) Toolkit website.

Check out the SOP Toolkit blog!

Read about more Tools from the Kit and Stories from the Field on the SOP Toolkit blog.

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2025 California Safety Organized Practice (SOP) Conference

UC Davis Conference Center: May 28-29

Enrollment now open!