CERAP ALL COMPREHENSIVE QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS SET A+
✔✔Prevention Services - ✔✔Non-investigatory services directed to preserving families
where children remain in their home without a threat to their safety.
-Prevention services can take the form of providing families with
neighborhood/community linkages and advocacy services on a voluntary/self-referral
basis
-They may also include, but are not limited to, court ordered services such as
assessments and visitation orders from Marriage and Dissolution court
✔✔Safe - ✔✔After considering all reasonably available information/evidence
concerning the presence of each of the 16 potential safety threats, and taking into
account the vulnerability of the child, and considering the caregiver(s)'s displayed
ability/action to mitigate any identified threats, it is determined that a child in the
household or in custodial care is not likely to be moderated or severely harmed
immediately or in the near future
✔✔Safety Plan - ✔✔Voluntary, temporary, short-term plan designed to control serious
and immediate threats to children's safety as a result of an unsafe finding on the
CERAP.
-Safety Plans can take a variety of forms and are developed with the input and voluntary
consent of the children's legal caregivers and other family members
-Safety plans are typically short term environmental manipulations to ensure child
safety; they are not interventions designed to change behaviors over the long term
✔✔When Are Safety Plans Not Completed - ✔✔During investigations of foster homes,
residential facilities, schools or day care facilities
✔✔CFS 1441-A (Safety Plan) - ✔✔Carbonized form intended to be completed by the
investigator or worker in the home with copies left with the primary caregiver and the
person most responsible for carrying out the safety plan, if different than the child's
primary caregiver
, ✔✔Unsafe - ✔✔After considering all reasonably available information/evidence
concerning the presence of each of the 16 potential safety threats, and taking into
account the vulnerability of the child, and considering the caregiver(s)'s displayed
ability/action to mitigate any identified threats, it is determined that a child in a
household or in custodial care is likely to be moderately or severely harmed immediately
or in the near future.
✔✔In the Event A Child is Considered Unsafe, What Must Be Done? - ✔✔A safety plan
or protective custody must be implemented by the worker completing the CERAP, and
approved by the supervisor
✔✔Safety and Risk are Different In Two Ways: - ✔✔-Time Element
-Safety considered danger of harm now or in the very near future
-Risk considers a longer-term threat
-Potential Degree or Severity of Harm
-Safety is concerned with the potential for moderate to severe harm
-Risk is concerned with the full range of severity of harm - from low to severe
✔✔Purpose of Intervention (Risk and Safety) - ✔✔Safety: Control the situation to
prevent harm from occurring in the short term
Risk: Resolve or Reduce the problems that lead to the risk
✔✔How Must Safety Be Assessed? - ✔✔Quickly - often in one visit
✔✔How Must Risk Be Assessed? - ✔✔Over a longer period of time, allowing time to
gather, assess, and evaluate information
✔✔Who Is Included in the CERAP Safety Assessment - ✔✔All alleged child victims
must be seen and, if verbal, interviewed out of the presence of the caregiver and
alleged perpetrator
✔✔Marked SAFE - ✔✔If no safety threats are marked or safety threats that are marked
can be mitigated
✔✔Marked UNSAFE - ✔✔If safety threats marked cannot be addressed by family
strengths or mitigated
✔✔Safety Threats - ✔✔Behaviors or conditions that may be associated with a child or
children being in danger of moderate to severe harm immediately or in the near future
✔✔Safety Threat Assessment- Child Vulnerability - ✔✔Each safety threat must be
considered from the perspective of the threat it poses for the particular children involved
-Some children are more vulnerable than others.
ANSWERS SET A+
✔✔Prevention Services - ✔✔Non-investigatory services directed to preserving families
where children remain in their home without a threat to their safety.
-Prevention services can take the form of providing families with
neighborhood/community linkages and advocacy services on a voluntary/self-referral
basis
-They may also include, but are not limited to, court ordered services such as
assessments and visitation orders from Marriage and Dissolution court
✔✔Safe - ✔✔After considering all reasonably available information/evidence
concerning the presence of each of the 16 potential safety threats, and taking into
account the vulnerability of the child, and considering the caregiver(s)'s displayed
ability/action to mitigate any identified threats, it is determined that a child in the
household or in custodial care is not likely to be moderated or severely harmed
immediately or in the near future
✔✔Safety Plan - ✔✔Voluntary, temporary, short-term plan designed to control serious
and immediate threats to children's safety as a result of an unsafe finding on the
CERAP.
-Safety Plans can take a variety of forms and are developed with the input and voluntary
consent of the children's legal caregivers and other family members
-Safety plans are typically short term environmental manipulations to ensure child
safety; they are not interventions designed to change behaviors over the long term
✔✔When Are Safety Plans Not Completed - ✔✔During investigations of foster homes,
residential facilities, schools or day care facilities
✔✔CFS 1441-A (Safety Plan) - ✔✔Carbonized form intended to be completed by the
investigator or worker in the home with copies left with the primary caregiver and the
person most responsible for carrying out the safety plan, if different than the child's
primary caregiver
, ✔✔Unsafe - ✔✔After considering all reasonably available information/evidence
concerning the presence of each of the 16 potential safety threats, and taking into
account the vulnerability of the child, and considering the caregiver(s)'s displayed
ability/action to mitigate any identified threats, it is determined that a child in a
household or in custodial care is likely to be moderately or severely harmed immediately
or in the near future.
✔✔In the Event A Child is Considered Unsafe, What Must Be Done? - ✔✔A safety plan
or protective custody must be implemented by the worker completing the CERAP, and
approved by the supervisor
✔✔Safety and Risk are Different In Two Ways: - ✔✔-Time Element
-Safety considered danger of harm now or in the very near future
-Risk considers a longer-term threat
-Potential Degree or Severity of Harm
-Safety is concerned with the potential for moderate to severe harm
-Risk is concerned with the full range of severity of harm - from low to severe
✔✔Purpose of Intervention (Risk and Safety) - ✔✔Safety: Control the situation to
prevent harm from occurring in the short term
Risk: Resolve or Reduce the problems that lead to the risk
✔✔How Must Safety Be Assessed? - ✔✔Quickly - often in one visit
✔✔How Must Risk Be Assessed? - ✔✔Over a longer period of time, allowing time to
gather, assess, and evaluate information
✔✔Who Is Included in the CERAP Safety Assessment - ✔✔All alleged child victims
must be seen and, if verbal, interviewed out of the presence of the caregiver and
alleged perpetrator
✔✔Marked SAFE - ✔✔If no safety threats are marked or safety threats that are marked
can be mitigated
✔✔Marked UNSAFE - ✔✔If safety threats marked cannot be addressed by family
strengths or mitigated
✔✔Safety Threats - ✔✔Behaviors or conditions that may be associated with a child or
children being in danger of moderate to severe harm immediately or in the near future
✔✔Safety Threat Assessment- Child Vulnerability - ✔✔Each safety threat must be
considered from the perspective of the threat it poses for the particular children involved
-Some children are more vulnerable than others.
