Alliance Course Catalog

All children deserve the best start in life and new scientific discoveries deepen our understanding of how to create the best environments for children. The team at I-LABS creates new and effective ways to bridge the gap between the science and the practice of learning by disseminating the latest science of child development. Our team shares the latest scientific discoveries in relevant and actionable ways with those who can best put it into practice: early learning professionals, parents, and policymakers. Partners use cutting-edge research to create evidence-based policies, practices, and programs that grow the next generation of lifelong learners.

This hour long class covers the following key points:

• From the first day of life, children watch others and imitate their actions to learn about the physical world and their culture.
• As they grow older, they can remember actions for longer (deferred imitation), and use them to navigate situations (generalizations).
• Children’s brains seem ready to imitate-studies have found similar changes in infants’ brain activity whether they are doing an activity or just watching it.

All children deserve the best start in life and new scientific discoveries deepen our understanding of how to create the best environments for children. The team at I-LABS creates new and effective ways to bridge the gap between the science and the practice of learning by disseminating the latest science of child development. Our team shares the latest scientific discoveries in relevant and actionable ways with those who can best put it into practice: early learning professionals, parents, and policymakers. Partners use cutting-edge research to create evidence-based policies, practices, and programs that grow the next generation of lifelong learners.

This hour long class covers the following points:

• Language learning begins before birth. A young brain is particularly ready to learn language.
• When listening to language, infants engage in statistical learning. This helps them become sensitive to the specific sounds of their native language.
• Face-to-face interactions are critical for language learning. In the first year of life, social interactions expose children to language. They also prepare the infant brain for speaking.

All children deserve the best start in life and new scientific discoveries deepen our understanding of how to create the best environments for children. The team at I-LABS creates new and effective ways to bridge the gap between the science and the practice of learning by disseminating the latest science of child development. Our team shares the latest scientific discoveries in relevant and actionable ways with those who can best put it into practice: early learning professionals, parents, and policymakers. Partners use cutting-edge research to create evidence-based policies, practices, and programs that grow the next generation of lifelong learners.

This hour long class covers the following points:

• Attachment is a dyadic relationship. This means that an attachment relationship depends on both the adult and the child.
• Attachment security is on a continuum. Children’s attachment behavior can be more or less secure. Their behavior depends on the caregiving they receive.
• A child is more likely to form a secure attachment when her caregiver provides consistent and sensitive care.

All children deserve the best start in life and new scientific discoveries deepen our understanding of how to create the best environments for children. The team at I-LABS creates new and effective ways to bridge the gap between the science and the practice of learning by disseminating the latest science of child development. Our team shares the latest scientific discoveries in relevant and actionable ways with those who can best put it into practice: early learning professionals, parents, and policymakers. Partners use cutting-edge research to create evidence-based policies, practices, and programs that grow the next generation of lifelong learners.

This hour long class covers the following points:

• Babies begin making vowel-like sounds soon after birth. They soon add consonant sounds. Then they transition to syllables, words, and finally sentences. This pattern is similar across different cultures and languages.
• Children use different strategies to learn words and word combinations. During the process of learning, they sometimes make errors in word or sentence use. As they hear more language, their use of words and sentences becomes more adult-like.
• Language learning begins at birth! Those children who hear more language and experience more high quality interactions tend to produce more words and longer sentences.

All children deserve the best start in life and new scientific discoveries deepen our understanding of how to create the best environments for children. The team at I-LABS creates new and effective ways to bridge the gap between the science and the practice of learning by disseminating the latest science of child development. Our team shares the latest scientific discoveries in relevant and actionable ways with those who can best put it into practice: early learning professionals, parents, and policymakers. Partners use cutting-edge research to create evidence-based policies, practices, and programs that grow the next generation of lifelong learners.

This hour long class covers the following points:

• Babies are born with different temperaments or ways they approach everyday events and challenges. Biology helps determine temperament, but environment and experiences also influence a child’s temperament and development.
• Temperament consists of three dimensions: positive reactivity; negative reactivity; and attention, soothability, and regulation. Each dimension is a continuum, meaning a child can show more or less of a behavior.
• You cannot change a child’s temperament, but you can adapt your behavior and environment to meet the child’s needs. This is creating goodness of fit between your expectations and a child’s temperament.

All children deserve the best start in life and new scientific discoveries deepen our understanding of how to create the best environments for children. The team at I-LABS creates new and effective ways to bridge the gap between the science and the practice of learning by disseminating the latest science of child development. Our team shares the latest scientific discoveries in relevant and actionable ways with those who can best put it into practice: early learning professionals, parents, and policymakers. Partners use cutting-edge research to create evidence-based policies, practices, and programs that grow the next generation of lifelong learners.

This hour long class covers the following points:

• Race is meaningful in our social world and racism still exists today.
• Our actions matter - what parents do – or don’t do – is a strong indicator of children’s attitudes about race.
• Our words matter too! Research suggests that not talking about race with kids increases racist thinking and racism. But talking about race can be one of the best ways to counteract racism.
• Kids are aware of race, form racial identities and observe and integrate ideas about race from those around them and reflect it in their own attitudes and behaviors.
• Preventative and Reactionary ‘race chats’ are an effective way to discuss race and racism with children. These conversations with evolve and change over time, as a child grows.
• We do not need to have all the answers to have effective ‘race chats’ with children. We just need to be open, and be able to offer a safe space to talk.

All children deserve the best start in life and new scientific discoveries deepen our understanding of how to create the best environments for children. The team at I-LABS creates new and effective ways to bridge the gap between the science and the practice of learning by disseminating the latest science of child development. Our team shares the latest scientific discoveries in relevant and actionable ways with those who can best put it into practice: early learning professionals, parents, and policymakers. Partners use cutting-edge research to create evidence-based policies, practices, and programs that grow the next generation of lifelong learners.

This hour long class covers the following points:

• Spoken language skills serve as the foundation for literacy development. Literacy involves years of systematic instruction and practice.
• Children may enter kindergarten with a range of pre-literacy skills. It is important for teachers to provide a rich literacy environment for all children. Reading to and with children is a great way to boost pre-literacy skills.
• The brain is not born to read. With practice, our brains learn to recognize words, match words with sounds, and associate those words with meaning.
• Some people have more difficulty learning to read than others. But this does not mean that they won’t ever learn how or that they are less intelligent. Many different factors contribute to a child’s pre-literacy skills.

All children deserve the best start in life and new scientific discoveries deepen our understanding of how to create the best environments for children. The team at I-LABS creates new and effective ways to bridge the gap between the science and the practice of learning by disseminating the latest science of child development. Our team shares the latest scientific discoveries in relevant and actionable ways with those who can best put it into practice: early learning professionals, parents, and policymakers. Partners use cutting-edge research to create evidence-based policies, practices, and programs that grow the next generation of lifelong learners.

This hour long class covers the following points:

• In the first year of life, babies already start to make predictions about what things are causes and what are effects.  By the time they are in preschool, children are proficient causal learners, ready to engage in and learn from causal lessons.
• Children of all ages learn how to make things happen on their own from watching what other people do.  They do this even if the people they are watching make mistakes or things don’t work perfectly.
• Cause-and-effect relations also occur between living things. Figuring out how to cause people to change their behavior is important for children’s social development.  
• Lessons about cause-and-effect happen at home and in the classroom all the time, with little or no need for special tools, toys, or preparation.

All children deserve the best start in life and new scientific discoveries deepen our understanding of how to create the best environments for children. The Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington (I-LABS) is an interdisciplinary center dedicated to discovering the fundamental principles of human learning, with a special emphasis on early learning and brain development.

The Alliance for Child Welfare Excellence is excited to partner with the Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences in order to offer the I-LABS online training modules to caregivers for training credit. These I-LABS are available in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, or English.

Each I-LAB module explores a particular topic in child development, such as brain development, language acquisition, or imitation. Modules share evidence-based information about how young children learn. The modules are useful for understanding everyday interactions with children and for informing systems-level programs and policies.

Currently there are 18 online modules ranging from 20-25 minutes and covering a variety of relevant topics such as a child’s first days, early interactions, learning, emotions, language, attachment, temperament, race and equality, music, literacy and more.

This 90-minute in-service level course will help caregivers identify and support youth who are at risk for or are being commercially sexually exploited.  The training will provide a framework for understanding this issue that greatly impacts adolescents in the child welfare system, as well as for understanding the basic practices that support helping these youth reach positive outcomes. 

Learning Objectives:

• Know the legal definition of commercial sexual exploitation of children
• Understand how commercial sexual exploitation might happen to a youth
• Understand how experiencing commercial sexual exploitation may impact a youth
• Be able to spot signs that youth are at risk for becoming (or are) commercially sexually exploited
• Have strategies for caring for youth who are at risk for becoming (or have been) commercially sexually exploited

Participants will be engaged to consider their 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 also be discussed. Finally, participants will receive resources for services and interventions that promote the reduction of risk associated with parental mental illness and enhance protective factors for family well-being.

This 3 hour In-Service level eLearning for Caregivers focuses on Infant Safety and Care and the ways that the 0-12 month old population is most vulnerable, has their own language and development, and requires specific knowledge and skills to create and maintain safety and care.  You will learn about observing infant behaviors and cues, as well how to establish home and sleep environments for the improved safety of the infant.  You will learn how some infants experience prolonged periods of persistent crying – known as the Period of Purple Crying – so you can develop strategies for infant soothing and caregiver self-management to prevent harm to the infant.  You will learn about child car seats, including installing and using different types of car seats, and how to schedule local, in-person trainers from the community.  

Using objective evidence, recognizing patterns of behavior, considering families’ perspectives, and utilizing collaterals can improve decision-making in child welfare.  Skills to ensure incorporation of new information and to identify biases, including confirmation bias, will be examined in this course to improve decision making.

Qualifications of presenter: Dee Wilson has worked in the child welfare field since 1971. Mr. Wilson worked as a caseworker in public child welfare in Colorado Springs, Colorado from 1971-74 and in Canon City, Colorado from 1974-78. From 1978-2004, Dee Wilson worked in various capacities for Washington State's child welfare system: CPS caseworker (1978-85), CPS supervisor (1985-89), area administrator in the Spokane office (1989-1995), training director (1995-97) and regional administrator in southwest Washington (1997-2004).  Since 2004, Mr. Wilson worked at the University of Washington and then went to work at Casey Family Programs as a consultant in child protection.

This is Session 1.2 of the Intake In-Service course, which will support new staff working at Intake to gain the knowledge and skills they need to be effective in gathering and documenting information and in screening intakes. The course is divided into three modules which occur at different times during the employee’s first six months at Intake.

Participants will learn critical information about how to make screening decisions using the standardized tools in FamLink – the sufficiency screen and the SDM for Intake. Participants will learn about the state definitions of child abuse and neglect, and the SDM Intake tool, which helps ensure accurate and consistent screening decisions for screened in CPS Intakes. During much of the training, participants will be applying what they have learned to a series of intake scenarios, and will receive feedback on their work.

This is Session 1.4 of the Intake In-Service course, which will support new staff working at Intake to gain the knowledge and skills they need to be effective in gathering and documenting information and in screening intakes. The course is divided into three modules which occur at different times during the employee’s first six months at Intake.

This training will identify the problem of racial disproportionality in our state’s child welfare system, focusing on disproportionality at intake. The importance of Cultural competence for intake workers is presented, and practical tips related to Intake’s role in child welfare are provided. Participants will learn how they can work to best serve persons with Limited English Proficiency. Additionally, the training will provide guidance about Intake’s role in complying with the Indian Child Welfare Act and in supporting early identification of children who are Native American.

This is Session 1.6 of the Intake In-Service course, which will support new staff working at Intake to gain the knowledge and skills they need to be effective in gathering and documenting information and in screening intakes. The course is divided into three modules which occur at different times during the employee’s first six months at Intake.

This brief e-leaning will orient you to some basic considerations related to screening intakes which involve licensed or other state regulated facilities.

This is Session 2.2 of the Intake In-Service course, which will support new staff working at Intake to gain the knowledge and skills they need to be effective in gathering and documenting information and in screening intakes. The course is divided into three modules which occur at different times during the employee’s first six months at Intake.

This e-learning will help you ask the screening questions most likely to provide you with information about domestic violence if its occurring, identify domestic violence based upon the information you have gathered, consider the impact of identified domestic violence on the child’s safety, and adequately document the information you obtain.

This e-learning will introduce Intake workers to the new FamLink tools during the 5.0 release.

An Introduction to Positive Discipline is a 2-hour in-service level training for foster, kinship and suitable adult caregivers.  This introductory training will help caregivers learn the basic parenting approach of the Positive Discipline model by providing several group activities and discussions based in real life scenarios.  Positive Discipline focuses on teaching valuable social and life skills to children instead of using any form of punishment, rewards, praise, permissiveness or logical consequences.  Positive Discipline focuses on helping participants learn how to use effective discipline that is kind and firm, creates connection before correction, is empowering and encouraging to children to believe in their own capability, and keeps the joy in caregiving.

In addition to this introductory course, the Alliance invites caregivers to attend the full 15-hour Parenting the Positive Discipline Way training series.

Additional Resources

Click one of the images below to hear about Positive Discipline from Dr. Jane Nelsen (author and co-founder of Positive Discipline), and Darcey Hancock (Statewide Administrator of the Division of Licensed Resources in Washington).  You will hear them discuss some of the foundational concepts of Positive Discipline; and how WA State Law around discipline fits with Positive Discipline techniques.

Registration is required.Need help? Call 1-866-577-1915 or email help@acwe.on.spiceworks.com
Please include your name, phone number or email, and the course title in your request for assistance.

Inscribirse para asistir a la clase es necesario.Si necesita ayuda favor de llamar al 1-866-577-1915 o mandar un correo electrónico a help@acwe.on.spiceworks.com
Por favor incluya su nombre, número de teléfono o dirección de su correo electrónico y agregue el nombre de la clase por la que está solicitando ayuda.

This 3-hour In-Service level training provides Caregivers with an introduction to the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), tribal sovereignty and the impacts on foster parenting.  The Indian Child Welfare Act obliges child welfare agencies and caregivers to take certain steps to protect and preserve the rights and cultural and familial connections of children covered by the act.  For non-Federally recognized tribes (and in other circumstances), Washington State enacted policy related to Local Indian Child Welfare Advisory Committees (LICWACs) to staff tribal cases and these impacts and supports are also discussed.  This training explores the legal, historical, and social biases which have impacted and continue to have a disproportionate impact on Native American children and families.  Caregivers will review basic information and skills needed to work with families and children who are covered under ICWA and LICWAC.  The State of Washington’s legal and policy guidelines around placement and permanency preferences for children covered by ICWA and LICWAC are explored, as well as the various manners in which Tribes can take jurisdiction or chose to otherwise be involved in Child Welfare cases.  Skills and resources are also discussed to help caregivers support and develop a child’s cultural identity and tribal connection.