Home Program Solution-Based Casework

Solution-Based Casework (SBC)

Topic Areas
Scientific Rating
Child Welfare Relevance
Casework Practice
3  — Promising Research Evidence
High

About This Program

Target Population: Families who have an open child welfare case due to allegations of abuse and neglect; also been used with families involved with juvenile agencies and as a preventative program

For children/adolescents ages: 0 – 17

For parents/caregivers of children ages: 0 – 17

Program Overview

Solution-Based Casework is a case management approach to assessment, case planning, and ongoing casework. The approach is designed to help the caseworker focus on the family in order to support the safety and well-being of their children. The goal is to work in partnership with the family to help identify their strengths, focus on everyday life events, and help them build the skills necessary to manage situations that are difficult for them. This approach targets specific everyday events in the life of a family that have caused the family difficulty and represent a situation in which at least one family member cannot reliably maintain the behavior that the family needs to accomplish its goals. The model combines the best of the problem-focused relapse prevention approaches that evolved from work with addiction, violence, and helplessness, with solution-focused models that evolved from family systems casework and therapy. By integrating the two approaches, partnerships between family, caseworker, and service providers can be developed that account for basic needs and restore the family's pride in their own competence.

The approach was developed through consultation with workers and supervisors who were attempting to remedy problems contributing to re-occurrence of abuse and neglect. However, it is applicable to a wide range of family problems such as mental health or work related issues.

Program Goals

The goals of Solution-Based Casework are:

  • Develop a partnership with the family
  • Focus on pragmatic everyday family life tasks in areas of safety concerns
  • Promote specific prevention skills tied to the family's tasks of concern
  • Establish a documented record of behavior change
  • Notice, support, and celebrate that record of behavioral change

Logic Model

View the Logic Model for Solution-Based Casework (SBC).

Essential Components

The essential components of Solution-Based Casework include:

  • Developing a partnership with the family:
    • Assumes that the family members want to be successful
    • Normalizes the stresses and challenges that have made solving the problem difficult
    • Isolates and externalizes the problem pattern
  • Focusing on pragmatic everyday family life tasks:
    • Morning and evening routine
    • Arranging for care of young family members
    • Getting children up and off to school
    • Arranging for supervision of older family members
    • Caring for ill family members
    • Keeping clean and healthy
    • Controlling anger with family members or others
    • Staying motivated to perform daily care tasks
    • Controlling substance use that interferes with family life
  • Promote specific prevention skills tied to the family's tasks:
    • Identify high risk situations that lead to difficulties
    • Identify early warning signals in the pattern
    • Develop a plan to avoid the high-risk situations
    • Develop a plan to interrupt the pattern early if not avoided
    • Have a backup or "escape" plan if all else fails
  • Solution-Based Casework has been shown to serve as a common conceptual framework for integrating disparate segments of a response network. Because the model provides for specific outcome skills necessary for relapse prevention, all providers in a service system can work toward common goals. Because the model utilizes a partnership approach based on what is successful, Solution-Based Casework provides a method for tapping a family's competence without diminishing the absolute need to meet certain criteria. Developing partnerships that lead to identifiable solutions in everyday family life is the best way to prevent future relapse.

Program Delivery

Child/Adolescent Services

Solution-Based Casework (SBC) directly provides services to children/adolescents and addresses the following:

  • Child or adolescent in a family who has an open child welfare case due to allegations of abuse and neglect; who is involved with juvenile agencies; at risk for abuse

Parent/Caregiver Services

Solution-Based Casework (SBC) directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:

  • Parent or caregiver in a family who has an open child welfare case due to allegations of abuse and neglect; who is involved with juvenile agencies; at risk for abuse

Recommended Intensity:

Varies according to family needs

Recommended Duration:

Varies according to family needs

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

  • Adoptive Home
  • Birth Family Home
  • Foster / Kinship Care
  • Hospital
  • Outpatient Clinic
  • Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
  • Group or Residential Care
  • School Setting (Including: Day Care, Day Treatment Programs, etc.)

Homework

Solution-Based Casework (SBC) includes a homework component:

Solution Based Casework often involves the parents doing work on their own between visits since they are empowered to be central to the change process and are assisted in making decisions on how to best accomplish the outcomes within their home.

Languages

Solution-Based Casework (SBC) has materials available in languages other than English:

Mandarin, Spanish

For information on which materials are available in these languages, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed at the bottom of this page).

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

When a state or private agency decides to adopt the Solution Based Casework practice model, the first step is to review the jurisdictional needs, then train all levels of staff, assist in modifying its new employee training academy, develop internal training and coaching expertise, and help them modify and adapt their information system and data forms.

Manuals and Training

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

There are no additional educational requirements aside from what is required by the child welfare agency for their caseworkers.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Program Manual(s)

Manual details:

  • Christensen, D., Todahl, J., & Barrett, W. C. (1999). Solution-based Casework: An introduction to clinical and case management skills in casework practice. Routledge.

The manual is available for purchase online at Amazon.

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact:
Training Type/Location:

Once discussions about program needs, jurisdictional readiness, and contract specifics with the training contact above and/or the model developer Dr. Dana Christensen, the staff attends SBC Initial Training (line staff, supervisors, and managers) and then supervisors and managers attend the SBC Supervisor’s Course. These are offered in live or virtual formats.

The SBC Supervisor’s Course follows the SBC Initial Training Course and is an advanced training, with a more in-depth review of the practice model concepts, this time based on their role as supervisors and mentors. Part of this time will be spent on issues of coaching and mentoring their staff toward implementing the ideas on new and existing cases. Case Consultations and concept integration will be the focus.

Number of days/hours:

The SBC Virtual Classroom may be used any time during the week and requires about 60 -90 minutes a week of self-study for a period of 5 weeks (a total of 5 to 7.5 hours of online learning spread over the 5 weeks). Additionally, staff members also attend a weekly 75-minute webinar throughout the 5-week training experience to help deepen their understanding and learning. These weekly webinars may also be delivered in live Seminar format.

SBC Supervisor’s Course (for all Supervisors and Managers) is also offered in a hybrid model with both SBC Virtual Classroom and weekly Webinars or in some cases live Seminars. The course requires about 60–90 minutes a week of self-study for a period of 5 weeks (a total of 5 to 7.5 hours of online learning spread over the 5 weeks). Additionally, supervisors and managers also attend a weekly 75-minute webinar throughout the 5-week training experience to help deepen their understanding and learning. These weekly webinars may also be delivered in live Seminar format once training conditions allow.

The training length varies by staff position, however the caseworker can be quickly oriented and prepared for immediate use in the field in only about 2 weeks, if necessary. The full implementation systemwide takes several months, however time out of the office is designed to be short and very manageable.

Implementation Information

Pre-Implementation Materials

There are pre-implementation materials to measure organizational or provider readiness for Solution-Based Casework (SBC) as listed below:

Readings are provided to new agencies implementing SBC that include Jurisdiction Readiness, Lessons Learned from Past Implementations, and pre-reading discussion groups with supervisors and agency leadership. Please contact the training contact above for more information.

Formal Support for Implementation

There is formal support available for implementation of Solution-Based Casework (SBC) as listed below:

It is required and part of every contract for implementation. Its primary focus is centered on assisting the agency’s level of readiness. This process includes coaching, pre-readings for supervisors with discussion groups led by an experienced implementor.

Fidelity Measures

There are fidelity measures for Solution-Based Casework (SBC) as listed below:

Fidelity Measures are methods to assess the level of practitioner/organizational adherence to the program model (fidelity assessment only measures outcomes of the program if contracted since each jurisdiction is uniquely measured). Example methods to assess fidelity include practitioner self-report assessments, observations made by a trained staff member, or audio/video recordings of treatment sessions that are submitted to the developer for evaluation.

Fidelity Measure Requirements:

Fidelity measures are required to be used as part of program implementation.

Implementation Guides or Manuals

There are implementation guides or manuals for Solution-Based Casework (SBC) as listed below:

Programs that adopt Solution Based Casework have full access to all of the materials, both those that are generic to the model, and those that have been adapted in various jurisdictions. Please contact the training contact above for descriptions and samples of implementation guides.

Implementation Cost

There are no studies of the costs of Solution-Based Casework (SBC).

Research on How to Implement the Program

Research has not been conducted on how to implement Solution-Based Casework (SBC).

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

Child Welfare Outcomes: Safety, Permanency and Child/Family Well-Being

Antle, B. F., Barbee, A. P., Christensen, D. N. & Martin, M. H. (2008). Solution-Based Casework in child welfare: Preliminary evaluation research. Journal of Public Child Welfare, 2(2), 197–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548730802312891

Type of Study: Other quasi-experimental
Number of Participants: Set A: 48 cases; Set B: 100 cases

Population:

  • Age — Not specified
  • Race/Ethnicity — Set A: 66% Caucasian, 12% African American, and 6% Biracial; Set B: 56% Caucasian, 42% African American, and 2% Biracial
  • Gender — Not specified
  • Status — Subjects were from child welfare cases that were opened after the completion of training by the caseworker, or child welfare case plan evaluation was used to identify groups for comparison based on implementation score.

Location/Institution: Social Services Associates, LLC

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Solution-Based Casework (SBC) model for child welfare practice. Two case review studies were conducted. The first study compared 48 cases from two worker groups differing in degree of training and implementation of the SBC model. The second study compared the outcomes of 100 high-risk cases based on implementation level of the SBC model. Results indicate that SBC can be implemented across cases differing in type of maltreatment, comorbid factors, and other demographic variables; and that workers were more actively involved in case planning and service acquisition for families when SBC was implemented. Families in the SBC groups were significantly more compliant with casework requirements and achieved more case goals and objectives. The model was particularly effective for families with a history of chronic involvement with the child welfare system. Limitations include possible selection bias in how workers were selected for SBC training, differences in geographic locations, and the small sample size.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: Not specified.

Antle, B. F., Barbee, A. P., Christensen, D. N., & Sullivan, D. J. (2009). The prevention of child maltreatment recidivism through the Solution-Based Casework model of child welfare practice. Children and Youth Services Review, 31(12), 1346–1351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2009.06.008

Type of Study: Pretest–posttest study with a nonequivalent control group (Quasi-experimental)
Number of Participants: 77

Population:

  • Age — Not Specified
  • Race/Ethnicity — Not Specified
  • Gender — Not Specified
  • Status — Participants were child welfare workers working with families with histories of child maltreatment referred by child protective services.

Location/Institution: Kentucky

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Solution-Based Casework (SBC) model on lowering child maltreatment recidivism. Participants were assigned to an intervention or non-intervention comparison group and recidivism data for workers’ caseloads were tracked for 6 months post-intervention. Measures utilized include the Learning Benefit Inventory and the Team Learning Conditions Sub-Scale of the Training Transfer Inventory. Results indicate that the SBC group had significantly fewer recidivism referrals for child maltreatment than the comparison group during the follow-up time period. Limitations include lack of randomization and the limited follow-up time period for the recidivism outcome.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 6 months.

Antle, B. F., Christensen, D. N., van Zyl, M. A., & Barbee, A. P. (2012). The impact of the Solution-Based Casework (SBC) practice model on federal outcomes in public child welfare. Child Abuse and Neglect, 36(4), 342–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2011.10.009

Type of Study: Other quasi-experimental
Number of Participants: 4,559

Population:

  • Age — Not Specified
  • Race/Ethnicity — Not Specified
  • Gender — Not Specified
  • Status — Participants were from public child welfare cases that were selected for the state’s Continuous Quality Improvement process.

Location/Institution: State of Kentucky child welfare

Summary: (To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of the study was to test the effects of the Solution-Based Casework (SBC) model on federal outcomes of safety, permanency, and well-being. Measures utilized include the Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) tool. Results indicate that the use of the SBC model is associated with significantly better scores on all 23 Child and Family Service Review items and the seven federal outcomes of Safety, Permanency, and Well-Being. In addition, a higher degree of use of the SBC model resulted in exceeding federal standards for safety, permanency and well-being. Limitations include lack of randomization and limited data on case characteristics.

Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: Not specified.

Additional References

Christensen, D., & Todahl, J. (1999). Solution-Based Casework: Case planning to reduce risk. Journal of Family Social Work, 3(4), 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1300/J039v03n04_02

Christensen, D., Todahl, J., & Barrett, B. (1999). Solution-Based Casework: An introduction to clinical and casework skills in social work practice. Aldine DeGruyter Press.

Contact Information

Natalie Bowlds, LCSW
Title: National Operations Manager
Website: www.solutionbasedcasework.com
Email:
Phone: (502) 741-2620

Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed by CEBC: September 2022

Date Program Content Last Reviewed by Program Staff: July 2023

Date Program Originally Loaded onto CEBC: May 2008