Susan Smith posted:A March 4th 2018 blog in New Zealand warning about relying on ACEs checklists.
The problem with checklists in child protection work
As she finally concludes - after a considerable focus on ACEs limitations - ACEs are a tool.
We know! A very valuable tool.
What disappoints me most about the blog article is that it appears to have a number of very low expectations and assumptions about social workers who may be utilizing ACEs in their work. We do not think it is a quick fix to holistic needs assessment, we do not think it is a stand alone tool AND we do not just blindly take the results without analysis and considering the time it was first developed.
It is part of our kite (basket) of tools to challenge us to look wider and deeper.
thanks for trying to introduce us to some Maori (indigenous NZ) words -- but I thought the word for "basket" was "kete"??
also might be a good idea not to use the word "we" too often in a universal sense, applying to all members of a profession
" We do not think it is a quick fix to holistic needs assessment, we do not think it is a stand alone tool AND we do not just blindly take the results"
-- even if only one person, over-worked and underpaid, with little time for ongoing professional development and supervision, does use a tool "inappropriately" it proves the opponent correct. Best to just keep the caution in the discussion; while maintaining the educational process.
But the same precautions can be, and need to be, applied to other areas of "risk assessment and management" -- like the use to which SW's from Child Services would like reports from AOD services concerning parents' behaviours to be applied, in my experience.