Child and Family Welfare Services In-Service
This two-day in-service training will prepare new CFWS caseworkers and experienced CFWS caseworkers who wish to improve their practice to engage parents and families from the point of transfer or case assignment. Participants will learn how to make the most of the first meeting and monthly visits with the parent in building a working relationship geared toward safe reunification and timely permanency.
9 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 20 and 21
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Domestic Violence in Child Welfare
In this course, you’ll learn more about the policy and legal guidance for child welfare work with families experiencing domestic violence. More importantly, you’ll learn the best practices for this work and get to practice applying these best practices.
9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Oct. 4, 5, 18 and 19
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Ethics in Child Welfare
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.
1-5 p.m. Oct. 28
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Foundations of Motivational Interviewing in Child Welfare
This course will introduce you to the Spirit of MI; provide the opportunity to begin developing core skills, including using OARS (Open Ended Questions, affirmations, reflections and summaries) responding to the way people talk about change; and understand how to work with resistance. You will get practice opportunities to increase your skill at strategically responding to sustain talk and change talk and helping families make Brief Action Plans.
8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Oct. 27, 28, 29 and 30
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Identifying and Supporting Commercially Sexually Exploited Children for Workforce
This course will help you build skills to more accurately identify youth who are or may be commercially sexually exploited. The training will provide a framework for understanding this issue, as well as for understanding the basic social work practices that support helping these youth reach positive outcomes. You will leave understanding Department of Children, Youth, and Families’ policy and legal requirements related to screening and supporting these youth, will practice and consider approaches to supporting these youth, and will be provided with a list of statewide community resources.
5-8:30 p.m. Oct. 21, 22 and 23
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Impacts of Parental Mental Health on Child Safety
You will be engaged to consider your own thoughts, beliefs, and biases about mental illness; understand basic definitions associated with parental mental illness and child safety; and identify family assessment strategies that can focus on the intersection between parental mental illness and child safety. Additionally, ideas and tools for drafting effective case plans and objectives to achieve child safety with parental mental illness is a factor will be discussed.
8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Oct. 15
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Infant Safety: Assessing the Infant’s Environment
Assessment of every environment in which an infant lives and sleeps, as well as all individuals providing care, is critical to ensuring the safety of this vulnerable population. Emphasis will be placed on developmental needs, attachment, and the infant’s relationships.
9 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 24
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Infant Safety: Period of PURPLE Crying
This class will provide you with an understanding of the importance of assessing for both prolonged crying in infancy and the caregiver’s ability to manage long periods of crying. Emphasis will be placed on safety in terms of the connection between prolonged crying and child abuse/neglect, as well as completion of the Period of PURPLE Crying Training Certification through dontshake.org (if not previously completed). 
12:30-4:30 p.m. Oct. 27
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Infant Safety: Plan of Safe Care
The Plan of Safe Care is an element of case planning for families with infants born with and affected by substance abuse or withdrawal symptoms resulting from prenatal drug exposure, or a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, or born to a dependent youth. The Plan of Safe Care focuses on access to a network of community-based providers and support services and addresses the needs of both the infant and the family/caregiver.
8:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Oct. 17
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LGBTQIA+ Youth: Guiding the Work for Licensing Staff
This course builds on knowledge-based learning objectives and related information presented in the pre-requisite LGBTQIA+ Basics for Supporting Youth eLearning for general audiences.  You must first complete that course before registering for this one. In this course, licensing staff will learn to center the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ youth in conversations with licensed providers, both in childcare and out-of-home care systems. 
1-4 p.m. Oct. 14 and 15
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Permanency for Every Child
The focus of this course is on the role of the CFWS caseworker in achieving permanency for children taking into consideration how safety threats, risk factor and protective factors apply to achieving timely permanency. You will explore how to work a case from the beginning to achieve permanency through concurrent planning, having difficult conversations with parents about concurrent planning and the permanency process, how to assess for reunification, including the conditions for return home, determining best interest and choosing alternate plans.
9 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 2 and 3
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Secondary Trauma: Impact and Solutions
This course will help you with identification of and responses to secondary trauma. The training will increase knowledge and understanding of the levels of secondary trauma, its impact, and how to manage the impact in our environment.
9 a.m.-12 p.m. Oct. 16
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Strategies for Interrupting Oppression
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.
1-4 p.m. Oct. 20
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Supporting Children’s Mental Health in Child Welfare
In this course, you’ll learn about childhood mental health, including common symptoms and screenings, assessment, effective interventions, and ways to engage children, caregiving adults, and professionals.
9 a.m.-1 p.m. Oct. 8 and 9
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Supporting LGBTQ+ Children, Youth and Families
This course will focus on providing information and engaging in conversation about LGBTQ+ children, youth and families. You will learn about identifying and addressing systemic institutional and personal biases when serving LGBTQ+ children, youth and families. Activities and self-reflection exercises will prepare you to return to your work and create a welcoming, safe and affirming space. Included in this training is updated terminology, resources, and current data/statistics.
1-4 p.m. Oct. 14 and 15
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The Autism Basics: Behaviors and Coping Strategies
Training is designed specifically for foster parents, caregivers, and social workers. This comprehensive training aims to provide participants with valuable insights and practical strategies to support individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) throughout their developmental journey. Throughout the training, we will explore essential topics such as ASD diagnosis and characteristics from birth to adulthood. We will address attachment dynamics, transitions, sensory sensitivities, and emotional support strategies.
9 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 10
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Trauma-Informed and Healing-Centered Fundamentals Training
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.
10 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 10
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Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) for DCYF
TBRI for DCYF Staff is a foundational level training for DCYF workforce. This introductory training will help you learn the basic approaches of the three TBRI Principles (Connecting, Empowering and Correcting) by engaging participants in group activities and discussions based on real-life scenarios. TBRI uses effective techniques that help you help children gain a sense of belonging through connection, empowering and correction. TBRI tools are designed to create and heal connection and empower and encourage children to realize their own capability.
9 a.m.-12 p.m. Oct. 7
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Understanding Bias and Impacts on Engagement
Through a series of interventions and strategies, you will learn how to interrupt unconscious bias and address subtle acts of exclusion. You will develop behaviors that reflect Cultural Competence; engage in discussions about the negative effects of stereotypes, microaggressions, and bias on effective case work; and practice courageous conversations to develop appropriate responses to these issues.
9 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 14
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