PCE’s are a thorough and comprehensive evaluation of a parent’s risk for neglect and/or abuse. It combines specific and extensive interviewing, psych testing, records review, and other data as necessary into a concise and complete evaluation. Recommendations for visitation, treatment, and placement, are made. Below are sample questions we answer in our assessments:
- How well is this parent able to respond flexibly – that is, pause before they act and stop an impulse before acting on it?
- What are this parents reflective capacities, both in begin attuned to their own experience and internal world and the experience and internal world of their child/others?
- What would be the risk/benefits to terminate the parent-child relationship?
- What are the barriers to effective treatment of person….)
- What is the likelihood of intervention being effective?
- What are the current strengths/challenges that are present in this parent caregiving state of mind?
- What are the parental strengths and challenges?
- What is the parents capacity to provide safe and adequate care-giving to the child?
- What is the likelihood the parent will accept and be open to receiving help for parenting?
- What is the likelihood that child may be exposed to violence in the household?
- What is the likelihood that parent will be able to maintain a protective mindset and ability for their child?
- What is the likelihood that the parent can assess safety issues accurately?
- What is the likelihood that the parent will respond to the child’s safety needs appropriately?
- What is the likelihood that parent will be able to be sensitive to the caregiving needs of child?
- What is the likelihood that child will be P,S, E abused by parent?
- What is the likelihood that child will be P,S, E abused by a member of the household?
- What is the quality of the child’s attachment to perpetrating parent in cases of P, E abuse/incest?
- What is the parent’s ability to protect child from P,S,E abuse by other?
- What challenges are present for this parent in regards to their capacity to provide a haven of safety and base of security for this child and keep the child safe from further victimization?
- To what degree are the child’s difficulties related to the past or current caregiving by parent?
- What is the likelihood that the parent can provide a base of security for the child’s exploration and maintain safety?
- What is the quality of the attachment relationship between this child and parent?
- What is the quality of the attachment relationship between this child and ____________ (other)?
- What is the ability of PARENT A to parent her (number of children) effectively and safely?
- What are the behavior management strategies used in parental discipline of children?
- What concerns exist regarding the capability of _____________ to parent a ____ year old and ____ year old child?
- Are the children afraid of ___________? if yes, why?
- How well does this parent have the ability to extinguish fear inside of themselves?
- What are the child representations and expectations about the availability, responsively, and safety of the current caregivers?
- How confident is this child in his caregivers ability to provide a haven of safety to return to and a base of security from which to explore from?
- How does the discord in the relationship affect the caregivers’ ability to:
- support exploration
- expressed delight
- scaffold the child
- share joint attention
- watch over the child
- be available and responsive
- welcoming comfort the child
- protect child
- organize the child’s internal emotional world
- co-regualte the child
- What are the risks, vulnerabilities, and buffers in the attachment caregiving relationship?
- How any given arrangement affect influence the child’s developing mind?
- What kind of arrangements will lead to a growth facilitating versus growth inhibiting environment?
- Who can best fulfill the crucial role of predictable, consistent, and emotionally available primary caregiver?
- Who can be intuitively sensitive to the child’s emotional needs that are communicated in a nonverbal way?
- Who can act as a psychobiological regulator of infants emotional states?
- What types of emotional experiences provided by each parent will optimize the experience–dependent maturation of the right Hemisphere of the infant/child’s brain?
- At what point in time are different experiences needed?
- What are the certain experiences which this child will be exposed to any care arrangement which are so negative on development that it would be better to withdraw the child out of that context?
- What does it take for this child to make a relationship with both parents?
- How does this parent’s childhood attachment experiences contribute to the stressors associated with parenting/expectations of self/expectations of the other parent/ and response to conflict?
- What does this child need to process the experience of loss/trauma/etc?
- What are my recommendations for visitation?
- What are my recommendations regarding placement?
- What are my recommendations for therapy?