Carver County Community Social Services is now 10 years into their journey with Signs of Safety. With the support of their leadership, the Carver investigation team has adopted the Signs of Safety approach in a way that has redefined their role from “problem diagnoser” to “conduit for change.” By investing resources upfront, Carver has given their investigative team the space to dig in when leverage and energy are highest, resulting in significant overall savings of agency resources. his presentation will describe the thinking, strategies and skills that the Carver County Assessment Team employs to make their contribution as meaningful as possible for children, families and caseworkers. Case examples will be used to illustrate how assessment workers harness the energy of the initial crisis and place parents, children and naturally occurring networks at the centre of the work, to make as much progress towards lasting safety as possible. Learning to do this investigative work with compassion and creativity has grown the workers at Carver both individually and as a team in ways that they never anticipated. (Carver County Community Social Services, Minnesota, USA).