Alliance Course Catalog

This course is designed to teach social workers how to identify the service needs of families when trying to prevent out-of-home placement or to support reunification. Working through scenarios social workers actively engage in the decision-making process for appropriate services. Workers will learn the fundamentals of the referral process, engagement with providers and families as well as documentation.

Getting a new placement is a big transition, and there are many ways you can prepare for and navigate the process to make it as successful as possible for yourself, your family and the youth or child. This webinar addresses both the emotional elements to new placements and the practical details of requirements, paperwork, forms and expectations.

You will focus on four areas: Getting Ready; The First Day, Week and Month; Settling In; and Working With the System. You will share ideas with other participants around how to prepare for a new placement, including ways to make them feel comfortable and safety precautions to take. A big part of this training is understanding which forms you will receive and what they mean; what meetings, appointments or hearings you need to be aware of; and who the key players are during this time.

You will leave the training with an understanding of what is expected during the first 30 days of a new placement. You also will know how to access resources when you have questions – you will probably have many, but there is a great community of support available to you and the new child in your care.

LEARN is a suicide awareness training that helps participants identify and act on signs of suicide. The training was developed in the School of Social Work by noted Suicidologist, Dr. Jennifer Stuber, and is based on best practices outlined by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA). LEARN is designed to empower individuals to help others move in the direction of hope, recovery, and survival.

The Child Safety Framework and the Structured Decision Making Risk Assessment are the tools that should guide caseworkers in making their most important decisions. Both tools aim to improve critical thinking and objective decision making, and ultimately to help DCYF correctly identify what level of intervention – from placement out of the home to providing referrals and case closure – is the most appropriate for each child and family. As a supervisor, you must understand these tools, but you also have a responsibility to integrate the tools into your supervision. This eLearning aims to strengthen your understanding by providing an overview of each of these tools. It also asks initial questions about how you might continue to integrate these tools into your work within your unit.

The “Supervising for Safety” series comprises three webinars and an eLearning that aim to support supervisors in the understanding and application of assessment tools and integration of these tools into their supervision. 

In this training, you will first identify the legal, policy and practice guidance that requires children remain home, or return home, whenever safely possible. Then, you will practice guiding a case worker in applying the safety framework tools to their case, and making a decision about whether it’s safe to return a child home.  You will focus in particular on the safety threshold and safety plan analysis questions, which guide safety decisions once we have sufficient information about the family and situation.  You will review guidance on safety planning, and consider how your supervision can support case workers in developing strong safety plans, and monitoring these until the safety threat is no longer active. Lastly, you will make plans to integrate strategies into your supervision practice that help ensure that the safety framework is integrated into all discussions you are having on this topic.

The “Supervising for Safety” series is mandatory for Area Administrators. This individual webinar is mandatory for CPS/FAR and CFWS staff.

Supervisor Core Training provides the foundation for effective supervisory practice in the child welfare system. This program will prepare you to become comfortable in assuming your new role through learnings and field based activities about what it means to be a supervisor in the child welfare system and understanding the new responsibilities of this position.

You will be assigned a coach upon notification of hire to support you through the learning.

Part 1.1 of this course is designed to provide you critical information needed on Day 1 in your new role. When you complete this training, you will be able to effectively use FamLink, including managing cases and approvals and using the Tickler; recognize the structure and goals of Learner Centered Coaching; use the Administrative Incident Reporting Systems; understand the scope of Aiden’s Act Review; and be able to identify the components of clear documentation and your responsibilities around it. You will have reviewed your unit employees’ personnel information and identified gaps; be able to describe how power influences subordinate employees and develop a plan for self-awareness and self-management

This course consists of these eLearnings:

• Welcome to FamLink for Supervisors
• Introduction to Learner Centered Coaching
• AIRS/Critical Incidents
• Aiden’s Act
• Professional Documentation/Human Resources Division

These activities are part of this course:

• Personnel File Review (field-based learning activity completed prior to webinar)
• Everyday Leadership (video and field-based learning activity completed prior to webinar)
• Welcome and introduction to SCT overview with assigned coach (approximately 90 minutes)

This three-hour course covers Situational Leadership and Supervisor Readiness (4Rs). The course will review the three necessary components and strategies to impact performance. The Situational Leadership Theory developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard presents a model that suggests that to be effective leaders, supervisors must match their leadership style to an individual worker’s level of job readiness (job maturity). The manager’s effectiveness depends on their ability to correctly identify the supervisor’s readiness level and to employ the appropriate leader style in that particular situation. Supervisor readiness for any task is determined by the supervisor’s ability and willingness.

Supervisors and supervising program managers from Department of Children, Youth, and Families will come together to learn how to strengthen their supervisorial skills and discuss current practice. Sessions are pertinent to the daily work you do as front-line supervisors and supervising program managers.

Treehouse Education Advocates work with schools, caregivers, social workers and youth in foster care statewide to resolve difficult issues and remove barriers to school success.

In this training, learn how to access education-related support services; including special education services; and how to advocate for youth who may experience discipline or behavioral issues at school. Treehouse facilitators will also discuss the importance of stabilizing school placements and the educational rights of students experiencing foster care. Finally, caregivers will have the opportunity to learn about the basics of establishing and maintaining positive school relationships in order to create educational success for children and youth in foster care.

In this facilitated discussion group, we will share experiences, resources, and best practices for caring for infants and children who have been exposed to chemicals in utero. We will discuss signs of withdrawals in infants; what works best in caring for an impacted infant including therapeutic handling techniques and share parenting experiences and Resources. We will also discuss issues, behaviors, interventions, effective parenting techniques, and resources for the children in your care.

Join us for a Book Club! The CaRES team leads you through a reading and discussion of “Trying Differently Rather Than Harder: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders” by Diane Malbin. “Trying Different Rather Than Harder” is a readable, narrative discussion of the neurobehavioral approach to working with children and youth with FASD. The book focuses on understanding behaviors differently through case studies and examples of how FASD impacts everyday life. During four sessions, you will be discussing themes including: adaptions, common challenges, cognitive changes and strategies to address them, working with memory disruptions, and talking about FASD in a supportive informative manner.

Welcoming a child into your home, even temporarily, means accepting and affirming their whole selves. When a child has a different racial, ethnic, or cultural background than yours, it can be challenging to know the best ways to properly care for their unique physical, spiritual, and cultural needs.  

During this facilitated discussion, caregivers will share their racial, ethnic, or cultural perspective and develop strategies for meeting the needs of a child who has a different background or perspective. The discussion will also include some tips and tricks for finding resources, maintaining community connections, and addressing biases in the community.   

Facilitated by caregivers with lived experience in transracial and multi-cultural caregiving, this group aims to discuss the full scope of multi-racial, ethnic, and cultural foster families. 

When you have children who live at home with you, becoming a foster parent also means becoming a foster family. Growing up with foster siblings comes with unique challenges but there are strategies you can use to help your bio and adopted kids adapt and thrive!

During both sessions of this supportive facilitated discussion, you will collaborate with fellow caregivers to identify some of the unique challenges bio and adopted kids face, consider the impact fostering may have on your children, and share strategies you can use to nurture strength and resilience as a family unit.

As a parent of an infant or toddler, the earliest development years are among the most critical to a child’s long-term development. Children under 2 who are in foster care often require supports and approaches that are not so typical for their peers. You will talk through their needs, develop strategies to address those needs, and identify the resources available to help you support the littlest lives in care. You will also be able to build community with other caregivers of kids under 2 to share resources, experiences and problem-solving strategies.

Ready access to smart phones, tables, and computers has created a whole new world of challenges for parents of pre-teens and teens.  Youth do not need to leave their bedrooms be introduced to risky situations. And it is challenging for caregivers to know how guide children to appropriate use while keeping them safe. 

During this single session supportive discussion group, you will talk with fellow caregivers about the challenges of parenting in the digital age.  You will learn some warning signs of when a child’s internet usage has become unsafe and potentially dangerous. You will discuss basic internet programs, apps, geo tracking data, dangers in sharing pictures, videos, and personal information online.  And you will have the opportunity to practice having a conversation about internet safety with your pre-teen or teen. 
    
 

It isn’t always easy to meet the complex needs of a child while navigating a new parental role. Foster parenting calls for a trauma-informed, mindful, and positive response to a wide variety of behaviors. In this supportive facilitated discussion group, you will work with fellow caregivers to develop practical parenting strategies that are trauma-informed, appropriate for the child, and suited to your home.

During the 2 sessions, you will talk through challenges you have faced, share useful solutions, and practice using new strategies in a way that is true to you. Parenting well takes practice! Join us and fellow caregivers for this opportunity to work through some proven parenting tools.

The CaRES team leads you through a reading and discussion of The Connected Child by Karyn Purvis. 

The Connected Child lays out the foundational principles for Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI), a therapeutic model that trains caregivers to provide effective support and treatment for at-risk children. 

We’ll dive into the meaning and topics of TBRI during the five weekly meetings, plus discuss new strategies for building connection and managing behaviors. 

The series includes...

• The connection between what children have experienced, their struggle with difficult behaviors, and how we can move forward with connection.
• Providing structure and a nurturing environment for children, which includes disarming fear and providing felt safety.
• Nurturing while addressing challenging behaviors and strategies to make life easier during those challenges.
• Brain chemistry and impact of trauma on the brain. 
• Addressing your own needs, healing, and self-care as caregivers.

Reading with your children can do much more than support their academic growth! During this supportive facilitated discussion caregivers will discuss strategies they can use before, during, and after reading to build social-emotional learning with the children in their care. Caregivers will also collaborate to identify techniques they can use to increase attachment with their child through reading and story time. Whether it is picture books, a chapter book or a series, reading with the children in your home can lead to deeper attachment and improved social-emotional skills! 

Participants will also receive a pdf resource with book lists for various age ranges and topics. 

Are you thinking about how life will change once you welcome new children into your home? You may have questions about how your relationship with family and friend might change. Maybe you are wondering about how you are going to introduce this child to your community without breaking confidentiality or what it’s going to be like opening your home not only to children needing care, but everyone on their care team. Join fellow caregivers to share in a discussion of these and other changes you might experience when becoming a caregiver.

Transitioning a child into your home elicits many emotions for the caregiving family and the foster child entering your home for the first time. How are you going to make a child feel safe, welcome, and sure that their needs will be met? How are you going to handle bath time, bedtime, communications, food, and all the other factors that go into those first few nights in the home? Join fellow caregivers who are also preparing their homes to share in a discussion of challenges and opportunities and develop a plan of action.

You have thought long and hard about what it means for you to be a foster parent. You may even have ideas of how many and what types of children you would like to welcome into your home. While you wait for your license or first placement to arrive, this facilitated discussion will help you consider some of the needs in the fostering community and how you are suited to meet them. You’ll work toward developing a set of parameters for accepting your first placements to promote a good fit for both you and the child(ren) placed in your care.