SAFE provides the Home Study practitioner an array of tools to assist in the effective and efficient conduct of home studies.
The SAFE information gathering tools are specifically targeted to:
SAFE uses two sophisticated and yet seemingly simple questionnaires for initial information gathering. Questionnaires take the place of the autobiography traditionally required of applicants. SAFE questionnaires are designed to provide a rich source of information to focus, support, supplement and facilitate the social work interview.
The Psychosocial Inventory and SAFE Desk Guide provide home study practitioners with a structured method to process and analyze the information they have gathered and to evaluate family functioning. They lead the practitioner beyond description and into meaning. The Psychosocial Inventory assesses an array of key psychosocial factors:
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The SAFE computer assisted preformatted home study report provides social workers with uniform tools to complete their home study reports in an efficient manner.
There are two preformatted report templates: one for a child-specific home study and one for a consolidated home study (home study for either foster care licensure or adoption or both simultaneously). Each report is available in a format suitable for either two applicant or single applicant home studies.
The templates for these home study reports are tailored to the specific SAFE-using jurisdiction and are provided to practitioners on a protected section of the SAFE web site.
Structured in parallel with the other SAFE tools, the format is designed to elicit comments from family-nominated references that add relevant information to the home study process rather than the global summary commonly provided.
The Matching Inventory helps placement workers determine which families have the capability to meet the needs of a child or youth and to deal effectively with the child's or youth's characteristics and behaviors. This includes those already in the home or those for whom a placement is being sought.
The Matching Inventory uses two parallel, comprehensive-rating systems derived from the SAFE home study report and an assessment of the child or category of children the family may be best successful with.