Core Trainings
Core courses are offered to build foundational skills at the beginning of a social worker’s tenure and when they first promote to a leadership position.
Workforce Core Training
Workforce Core Training (WFC) is Washington state’s redesigned foundational training for all newly hired social service specialists for child welfare for the State of Washington, Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF).
WFC is officially launching Sept. 1, 2025!
WFC is designed to support all child welfare social service specialists to begin to perform their basic job functions. This training will build on the knowledge, value, and skill learning objectives. Throughout WFC, individuals have opportunities to learn via experiential learning activities, eLearning, in person and virtual group learning, simulation and one-on-one skill development support that encourage the transfer of learning and increase critical thinking.
WFC has four blocks: Foundation, Engagement, Assessment, Case Planning and Service Delivery. Learning is scaffolded from one block to the next and building on the knowledge, skills and values objectives from one activity to another. The learning is advanced using a singular case scenario and allowing participants to understand the progression of a single families experience and consider the decisions made as it is determined that they would benefit from DCYF intervention, following the “life of the case” through the blocks.
Woven throughout WFC are several critical concepts, integral to best practice in child welfare and designed to maximize learning within context and with relevance to the work:
- Child safety, permanency and wellbeing;
- Critical thinking;
- Trauma-informed practice;
- Disproportionality and racial equity in child welfare;
- Increased cultural awareness;
- Motivational Interviewing and family engagement;
- Safety and risk assessment;
- FamLink function and content documentation; and
- Written and verbal communication with courts.
Cohort calendars for 2025-2026:
Regional Core Training
The final Regional Core Training started Aug. 16, 2025.
This training will be sunset Oct. 31, 2025.
Regional Core Training (RCT) is Washington state’s foundational training designed to prepare newly hired social service specialists to begin their careers in public child welfare for the State of Washington’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF).
RCT is no longer available for new Social Service Specialists. If you have hired a new Social Service Specialist, you will now enroll them in Workforce Core using the link above.
Woven throughout RCT are several critical concepts, integral to best practice in child welfare and designed to maximize learning within context and with relevance to the work:
- Child safety, permanency and wellbeing;
- Critical thinking;
- Trauma-informed practice;
- Disproportionality and racial equity in child welfare;
- Cultural competency/cultural humility;
- Reflection and recognizing bias;
- Documentation skills in FamLink; and
- Program-specific job skills.
Supervisor Core Training
Supervisor Core Training provides the foundation for effective supervisory practice in the child welfare system. This program prepares supervisors through learnings and field-based activities for their new responsibilities.
Supervisor Core Training is divided into three parts and builds on knowledge, value and skill objectives. Supervisors will be able to begin Part 1 on the first day in their new position. Each part of SCT runs consecutively. New supervisors are coordinated into small groups for peer-based learning activities throughout Part 2. Upon completion of Part 2, the new supervisor will receive coaching and professional development support as they need.
As required by legislation to maximize learning, SCT utilizes multiple modalities, including eLearnings, field-based learning, team-based learning, simulation, webinars and coaching sessions. This allows supervisors much more scheduling freedom. The time commitment is no more than four hours on any day.