FY25 Course Launches

Course Launches

Click each title for a description of courses launched this year.

This training is an online refresher class for WA State law enforcement, CPS, prosecutors and child interviewers who have previously attended the four-day Child Abuse Interviewing and Assessment courses (CAIA).The class will review and reinforce research-based best practices in child forensic interviewing and discuss recent modifications to best practices in child forensic interviewing.

 

 

You will learn how to write a strength-based, trauma-informed, culturally responsive and LGBTQIA+ affirming Child Information and Placement Referral (CIPR, CHIPR or 15-300). Understanding how the Child Information and Placement Referral (15-300) impacts child and youth placements is a primary focus. 

This training is intended to give you the information you need to provide Qualified Expert Witness (QEW) testimony in Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) Indian Child Welfare cases. This training provides an overview of background information on the history and impacts of colonization on Native American and Alaska Native children and families that led to the passage of the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, an introductory level overview of the Indian Child Welfare Act and Washington Indian Child Welfare Act, an overview of DCYF Dependency Cases, and a detailed look at QEW purpose, qualifications, and procedures. You will review two precedent-setting cases for Washington state and understand how QEW testimony can impact court cases. You will also have an opportunity to practice the knowledge and skills presented in this training. This training is composed of 9.5 hours of group learning, including 3.5 hours of in-person simulation for court testimony.

You will examine how adverse childhood experiences become normalized and perpetuated through social construction, how it can and does inform our decision making, and ways we can partner with our tribal partners to improve outcomes and promote wellness.

Grief and loss are powerful experiences in the lives of youth in out-of-home care. This module in the Engaging Youth in Group Care series concentrates on the way this history can create expectations or associations that can interfere with a child’s ability to form healthy relationships.

In this course you will learn about the types of grief and loss and what impact each may have on a youth, including the teen’s ability to attach. Learning how to promote healthy relationships is an important component of this training, as so much of building a supportive relationship lies with developing a sense of security. With than in mind, you also will learn about developing “felt safety,” which happens when a youth truly believes they are safe; and developing structure and nurture, essential components of safety and healing

This eLearning course provides a foundational understanding of Chronic Neglect, a complex yet common issue within the realm of child welfare. Chronic Neglect refers to ongoing failure by caregivers to provide for the basic needs of individuals under their care, such as food, shelter, clothing, medical care and supervision, leading to serious physical, emotional and developmental harm.

This session of Engaging Youth in Group Care equips you with practical strategies to support youth in developing strong, positive identities. You will explore how to affirm and incorporate each youth’s race, culture, sexual orientation and gender identity into the group care environment. Through reflection, discussion and real-world scenarios, the course builds skills for identity-affirming care. The goal is to foster safety, connection, and resilience by ensuring every young person feels seen, respected and supported in their identity.

This course explores the ethical responsibilities and challenges faced by child welfare professionals. You will examine the core values and ethical standards that guide decision-making, including confidentiality and professional boundaries.

This course provides participants with an overview of cultural humility and helps participants recognize the importance of honoring a child’s cultural identity. Content also covers respecting families from varying races, religions, ethnicities, and economic statuses. Openness to a child’s sexual orientation and gender identity and expression and viewing these differences from a strengths-based perspective is highlighted. Course learnings include strategies for parents who are fostering or adopting to respect as well as navigate differences in values from the children and families while acknowledging imbalances of power and inequities.

This course explores the critical concept of the best interests of the child in child welfare. You will learn to identify factors such as the child’s wishes, needs, safety, permanency, and well-being. Through case analyses, you will apply this framework to various scenarios, developing skills to advocate effectively while navigating legal, ethical, and cultural considerations, essential for articulating to the courts. Join us to become a more impactful advocate for children’s rights in the child welfare system!

This training is designed for both new and experienced FRS case workers who wish to learn more about the Family Reconciliation Services (FRS) program. The course is structured to support the steps of an FRS case from intake to case closure with the goal of increasing opportunities for statewide consistency in practice when serving families seeking FRS services. You will also explore strategies to engage families to complete a family assessment. Working through a case scenario, you will think through service and legal recommendations.

This course will help you learn new skills in conflict management and resolution while using culturally responsive approaches to communication. Through deepening your understanding of communication styles and interpersonal dynamics, supervisors will be able to identify the components contributing to workplace dynamics.

This eLearning focuses on DCYF’s Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) Notice process.  This training covers the procedures for Social Support Specialists, Active Efforts Specialists, and ICW Legal Specialists.  The eLearning also covers the forms needed to initiate the process, timeframes to follow, and the components needed to meet the “Reason To Know” requirements when a child is or may be an Indian Child.

Mandatory Reporters play a vital role in safeguarding vulnerable children when they believe abuse or neglect is occurring. This is done through reporting to the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) Intake, or by supporting families with community referrals when they have identified risk factors present that could contribute to the potential of abuse or neglect. 

This eLearning course is designed to guide you through the essential steps of Mandatory Reporting and is divided into three key sections—Recognize, Record, and Report. Throughout this eLearning, you will be introduced to indicators of abuse, how to support a family in your community when you have a concern about the potential for abuse or neglect to occur, how to accurately document concerns of abuse or neglect, and the reporting process. You’ll explore the influence of biases on reporting decisions and racial disproportionality within our state’s child welfare system. You will also be provided with a number of resources to support your role as Mandatory Reporter.

This training will increase your commitment to, and skills for, engaging with Tribes so that children, youth and families have cultural continuity and culturally relevant safety, permanency and wellbeing.

This course will offer ways to learn about Tribal resources, and to support Indigenous families with meaningful cultural connections. Cultural continuity is a protective factor, and when cultural relationships have been interrupted, facilitating reconnection can be healing of the issues that brought the family to the attention of child welfare. We will explore Tribes’ traditional supports, cultural activities, community knowledge keepers and Tribes’ structured service programs. Each Tribe has a unique culture and their particular approaches to supporting their families.

Nurturing Conversations with Children about Race focuses on supporting both kinship caregivers and licensed foster parents to practice new skills, and to increase their confidence with conversations about race. This training builds on what’s learned in Parenting in Racially and Culturally Diverse Families. In this class, you will continue to explore how to create an environment where conversations about race become a normal part of home life, both proactive (you start the conversation) and responsive (when a child comes to you for support around racism).
 

Pathways to Permanency is a collection of courses designed for caregivers to strengthen their understanding of permanency options for children in out-of-home care, with a focus on the role of the Family Team in the permanency planning process. In this session, you will deepen their understanding of the alternative permanent plans of Guardianship and Adoption in Child Welfare. You will explore common misconceptions that can occur between caseworkers and caregivers when discussing concurrent planning for children in out-of-home care. Additionally, best interest of the child will be discussed as it relates to the dimensions of permanency, and least restrictive plans.

Pathways to Permanency is a collection of courses designed for both caregivers and workforce professionals to strengthen their understanding of permanency options for children in out-of-home care, with a focus on the role of each team member in the permanency planning process. In this session, you will explore the pathway of reunification, gaining insights into the child safety framework and how it informs decision-making for reunification. You will review concurrent planning and best interest considerations for children. You will have the opportunity to reflect on the emotional experiences of all parties involved in the reunification process and will engage in discussions around trauma-informed strategies to support children during these transitions.

This eLearning is Part 1 of a two-part introduction to service referrals. This course offers step-by-step guidance on utilizing the Service Referral tool in the FamLink case management system, specifically focusing on In-Home or Reunification service types. Participants will navigate through the basic workflow, covering the process of creating, completing, and submitting a referral for approval, and ultimately service delivery.
This eLearning is the second part of a two-part introduction to service referrals. Building upon the foundational concepts introduced in Part 1, this course revisits the basic workflow for initiating an In-Home or Reunification service referral in the FamLink case management system, augmented by a practical case scenario.
 

CAIA Refresher

CAIA Refresher

This course reminds you how to critically examine race and racism, how implicit bias can negatively impact an organizations culture and efficacy, and how to effectively employ strategies to interrupt them. It also helps you learn how to employ Courageous Conversations to better address and mitigate racial bias.

 

Strive Online for Family Time Providers serves to train family time supervisors in the principles for supporting parents, ensuring greater consistency in family time supervision across a state and maximizing the quality of family time. We utilize a strengths-based, trauma-informed approach to increase the quality of family time between parents and their children; reduce the trauma; and increase the likelihood of successful reunification. The course is composed of three parts: Foundational Learning, Tools for Supporting Parents, and a Rapid Training Library.

 

This course will use kin-first culture principles to help DCYF workers engaging with kinship and relative caregivers to prepare them for successful placements of youth.

The fundamental concepts, tools and frameworks used will be:
• Trauma-informed engagement skills
• Incorporating the lived experiences of both kinship caregivers and youth
• Tools, forms and processes that will help workers provide support throughout the life of a case
• Consideration of family dynamics, culture, age and implicit bias existing that are unique to a relative or kinship caregiver placement

The goal of foster care is to reunify the child with their original family, but the journey from placement to permanency can be long and winding. Sometimes it feels like you are all living in limbo between planning and permanency. 

During this topic support group, you will talk through the different types of permanency, the emotional challenges of concurrent planning, and some of the ways you can support the child during the waiting. You will also have a chance to consider the supports you need. Lastly, you will create an action plan to help you navigate the unknowns.

During this 1.5-hour topic support group, you will listen to a 30-minute, trauma-informed podcast from a variety of child welfare, child development and caregiving experts. After the podcast, you will talk through your questions, aha! moments, and new strategies in a guided conversation with fellow kinship and foster caregivers.  

Join us for one podcast episode or all of them. Each session provides 1.5 hours of training credit.

Emotion Coaching® is a research-based method from the Gottman Institute that gives caregivers a way to help children learn about emotions. Research shows that when caregivers value and guide emotions using this important method, children do better in many ways. These children tend to: 
•    Form stronger friendships with peers 
•    Have higher self esteem 
•    Regulate their moods more easily 
•    Be more successful in their problem-solving skills 
•    Bounce back from emotional events more quickly 
•    Get sick less often 
This course will help you recognize how trauma impacts emotional development and provides opportunities to practice identifying and responding to emotion. You will evaluate your parenting style and emotional intelligence and practice the 5 Steps of Emotion Coaching®. By learning and practicing the 5 steps of Emotion Coaching, you can make an important investment in a child’s future.

This course provides examples of on-the-ground applications of trauma-informed and healing-centered principles and concepts. Each of the commonly recognized Six Key Principles of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) are discussed during the training, as are foundational concepts behind the Healing-Centered Approach.
 

Participants will consider effective ways to engage and assess families where neglect is present and how to evaluate each child’s unique characteristics, including how each child’s needs are impacted by neglectful behaviors and conditions in the home.  We will look at how the impacts of substance misuse, unaddressed mental health concerns, domestic violence and cognitive challenges may interrupt the parent/child relationship resulting in unmet child needs. 

Specific child vulnerabilities, parent characteristics and home conditions identified in the SDM-RA will also be a focal point.  Participants will learn about how they can support children and families where chronic neglect is present to reduce risk and increase safety using formal and informal supports. 

Finally, participants will also spend time exploring when risk becomes a safety threat in chronic neglect cases and how to share that information in staffings and court proceedings that effectively express the concerns regarding the family.

People born outside of the United States often face challenges when adjusting to life in a new culture. Immigrant communities may encounter xenophobia, racism, discrimination and bigotry.

This workshop helps you better engage and support immigrant communities by looking at different factors related to human migration and race. You will learn how to anticipate core challenges immigrant communities typically face and integrate skills to improve cross-cultural communication.