Values & Beliefs

• Safety is paramount
• The safety of clients, therapists, and other members of the community is of utmost importance and is our highest priority.
• It is in the best interests of the child to be raised in their immediate home or extended family environment whenever possible

• We are most effective when we work in partnership with our clients
• Clients have the best information about themselves and their lives, and treating them as partners and colleagues is the best way to gain access to that information. Everyone has strengths, skills, and unique cultural experiences. If we recognize these experiences and treat clients with respect we will be most likely to develop positive working relationships and to be successful in our work with them.
• People are doing the best they can
• People's behavior is influenced by many factors, including their past and present environments, the skills they have learned, and the social support that they have available. It is critical that we remain non-judgmental while assessing the effects of these factors on each individual.
• All people have the potential to change
• People change constantly, as a result of planned and incidental learning. The knowledge that people can and do change helps us maintain an optimistic outlook. A skills-based teaching approach helps us influence the direction and nature of that change.
• We cannot tell which situations are amenable to change
• Historical information can help us assess each family's situation, but is not sufficient to predict which families will make changes during our intervention. Therefore we must remain open-minded about each family's chances of success.
• A crisis is an opportunity for change
• In a time of crisis, clients may find that their usual ways of doing things no longer work. This presents us with an opportunity to help them develop new and more effective skills.
• We are accountable to our clients and ourselves for service quality
• It is essential that we provide services that meet the needs of both the families we are trying to help and the people who refer them to us. In order to do so all of our consumers must become involved in the process of evaluating our work. Only with this involvement can we be truly accountable for the quality of the services we provide.
• It is important to reduce barriers to services
• It is the job of the practitioner to do everything possible to reduce the barriers that make it difficult for clients to take advantage of our services. We can reduce these barriers and increase motivation by being accessible and flexible, and taking the service into families' homes. When the help that we offer is attractive, comfortable, and culturally responsive, clients will be inspired to believe that change can occur.