Alliance Course Catalog

In this workshop supervisors and managers will develop their skills for engaging across culture when tension exists.  Participants will explore Intent vs. Impact, how implicit bias can effect their decision making in determining outcomes and unpack dynamics between employees when conflict exists.  Participants will learn how best to approach tense situations through role playing, video, and small and large group discussion.

Objectives. Participants will…

1. Learn strategies for engaging when they commit, witness or experience a microaggression;
2. Explore strategies for addressing conflict that occurs between their staff;
3. Improve their ability to have courageous conversations.

This course is presented by Dr. Caprice Hollins. Dr. Hollins is the co-founder of Cultures Connecting. She received her doctorate in clinical psychology with an emphasis in multicultural and community psychology in 1998.  She became licensed in Washington State in 2000 and has over 20 years of experience studying and working with ethnically diverse populations.  She has over 14 years of experience teaching graduate courses, working with historically marginalized populations, researching, studying, and facilitating race related conversations. Her experience includes opening and directing the Department of Equity & Race Relations for Seattle Public Schools, developing and implementing district-wide and school-based trainings, while utilizing her background in psychology to assist district leaders and staff, institutionalize change to promote equity and social justice. She also currently works as a part-time core faculty in the department of counseling at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology.

CEU eligible: 6 credits

In this training, you’ll consider how to best explain the safety threat that’s keeping a child in out-of-home care and think about how this threat impacts child safety during family time. You’ll practice applying the threshold questions to decisions about family time and articulating to the court why you are recommending a specific level of supervision, even when the child needs to remain out of the home. You will also learn to address areas of personal and institutional bias and how this appears in the language used to shape views of child safety. Finally, you’ll consider how safety threats can be mitigated when parents progress and children are able to return home, including how transition plans can support everyone’s long term success.

This is a webinar version of the classroom and will cover the same content.  The two different CPS pathways, Family Assessment Response (FAR) and Investigations will be discussed. This training includes learning modules on: Interviewing members of a household to assess safety, including children, parents and Subjects; Collateral information gathering; Protocols when working with Law Enforcement (LE); Working with Child Protection Medical Consultant Network (MEDCON) and local medical providers; Utilizing the Child Safety Framework; completing the Investigative Assessment (IA) & the Family Assessment Response Family Assessment (FARFA); Following Indian Child Welfare Act policies (ICWA); and other policy & legal requirements. Also covered in this webinar training will be requirements for reasonable efforts to prevent placement, addressing Domestic Violence, CSEC, Infant Child Safety; and more. Participants will be asked to review several examples of CPS intakes and the information in the course will be presented through using these case examples. On the last day, there will be a panel made up of Department of Children, Youth, and Families Investigative and FAR staff and a Parent Ally. This course is required for all first year CPS Case Workers as well as caseworkers and supervisors transferring to a CPS position who have not attended the CPS track within the past two years.

Coaching sessions are utilized to enhance a learner’s specific skill attainment in an identified area of practice.  Coaching sessions are provided to Department of Children, Youth, and Families workforce to help workers attain specific skills pertinent to their daily work/practice in child welfare.  Identified goals are created and progress towards those goals is measured by both the learner and the coach after each session. 

Assessments (Functionality and Content) field based coaching topics include:

Content and FamLink functionality in completing the Investigative Assessment (IA), Family Assessment Response Family Assessment (FARFA) and Comprehensive Family Evaluation (CFE); understanding the use of the gathering questions to assess for child safety; identifying and utilizing protective factors and protective capacities for safety and case planning; understanding timeframes for each assessment in the different program areas; service referrals and the use of EBP’s.

Coaching sessions are utilized to enhance a learner’s specific skill attainment in an identified area of practice.  Coaching sessions are provided to the Department of Children, Youth and Family's workforce to help workers attain specific skills pertinent to their daily work/practice in child welfare.  Identified goals are created and progress towards those goals is measured by both the learner and the coach after each session.

Assessing for Child Safety throughout the Life of the Case field based coaching topics include:

Assessing for present danger/impending danger; applying the Child Safety Framework; understanding the 17 safety threats and how to plan for present danger with protective action plans and safety plans in cases with identified impending danger; how to make appropriate collateral contacts; interviewing of children, parents/caregivers and all adults in the home; using medical consultation (Med-Cons); scheduling and preparing for appropriate case staffings; using Structured Decision Making (SDM) to help assess risk in cases and reassessing child safety throughout the life of the case.  

In this coaching session you will get individual support from a coach as you apply what you learned during the NCAST/PCI Feeding Scales Certification training. This application includes observing a feeding interaction and gathering pertinent information about the parent-child dyad; assessment of parent-child interactions; , scoring the Feeding Scale; and intervening with parents and young children. You will get direct feedback as you learn to apply the skills and knowledge to your everyday interactions with children and families inside and outside the scope of the Feeding Scales assessment.

Coaching sessions are utilized to enhance a learner’s specific skill attainment in an identified area of practice.  Coaching sessions are provided to Department of Children, Youth, and Families workforce to help workers attain specific skills pertinent to their daily work/practice in child welfare.  Identified goals are created and progress towards those goals is measured by both the learner and the coach after each session. 

Permanency (Timeline/Case Planning /Case Management) field based coaching topics include:

Permanency timelines; permanency from day one; engaging with families to co-create case plans; setting safety objectives; measuring progress versus compliance in cases; transition planning for children; knowing when to file for Termination of Parental Rights (TPR); understanding the court process and when to change permanency plans; understanding the adoption process; understanding parent/child visitation plans (supervised, monitored, etc.); understanding reasonable efforts versus active efforts for ICWA cases.

This course provides information on the service contract process and the role of Social Workers, Fiduciaries, Program Managers, and Contract Managers. Participants will learn how to identify what types of services do and do not require contracts, how to determine if a contract is already in place, how to access contracted providers appropriately, how CA Contract Managers develop contracts and the Social Worker’s role in the process, as well as the process for paying for contracted services through FamLink.

For years society has encouraged colorblind ideology without taking into consideration the impact this has on People of Color.  Through video, interactive activities and discussion of the research, participants are challenged to examine implicit bias, stereotype threat and its effect on cross cultural relationships and ethnic/racial identity development.  As a result, participants deepen their appreciation of challenges facing People of Color, grow in self-awareness and learn ways to mitigate the impact.

Objectives:
Participants Will…

1. Engage in courageous conversations;
2. Deepen their understanding of implicit bias and stereotype threat;
3. Learn strategies to mitigate the impact of implicit bias.

This training is presented by Cultures Connecting, LLC. Cultures Connecting, LLC was founded in 2008, providing culturally relevant professional development, keynote addresses, consulting and coaching services to organizations seeking to improve their staffs’ ability to effectively work with diverse cultures. 

Owners, Caprice D. Hollins, Psy.D., and Ilsa M. Govan, M.A., have over 30 years combined experience researching race related topics, designing curriculum, and facilitating culturally relevant professional development workshops.

DCYF rolls out new policies and any updates, revisions or other changes to current policy as needed throughout the year. This eLearning walks you through the following policies, which are effective December 31, 2021:

New Policy

• 4551. Day and Overnight Camp Approval Process

Revised Policies

• 1150. Case Plan
• 2310. CPS Initial Face-to-Face (IFF) Response
• 4122. Case Transfer
• 4420. Monthly Visits with Children or Youth, Parents or Guardians, and Caregivers
• 46100. Monthly Clinical Supervision Case Reviews
• 4430. Courtesy Supervision

This training provides you with specifics on what the policy changes are and why the changes are being made. You will find links to resources that provide context or support your policy compliance. For your continued learning, the training includes the full text of the policy and a way to connect with someone within DCYF if you have questions.

This eLearning is part of a series that will be updated along with policy rollouts.

Working with families impacted by Domestic Violence can be challenging, nerve wracking, and sometimes inspiring.  You may often wish that you had more guidance about how you should approach this work.  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.  In Washington we are lucky to have an entire manual outlining these best practices, “The Social Worker’s Practice Guide to Domestic Violence.”  This guide will be heavily relied upon in this course and you’ll become familiar with most of its contents.  The course aims to build your knowledge and skills across four core areas: universal and periodic screening for domestic violence, conducting a specialized DV assessment, engagement and accountability with DV perpetrators, and case planning in families experiencing DV.  In addition, you’ll learn about the different types of protection orders that may exist and the implications of each, as well as the process of domestic violence safety planning with adult DV victims.              

This course focuses on DCYF Education Policy and Procedures to achieve positive educational outcomes through solid education planning throughout the child's experience in out-of-home care. Caseworkers will understand education case planning and documentation requirements as well as how to engage with schools on enrollment, transportation plans, and potential cost sharing agreements. Information sharing processes and Post-Secondary Education and Training resources are also provided.

***Supervisors: This eLearning may be completed individually or as a group during a unit meeting. If the eLearning is completed as a group, be sure to contact an Alliance coach to input completion of the eLearning training in LMS for all participants.

Supervisors may use the Supervisors Guide to Education Policy and Case Planning eLearning available here to promote discussion after caseworkers have taken the eLearning. (this is an optional activity)

These sessions provide participants of the Domestic Violence in Child Welfare in-service training an opportunity to expand their knowledge and work within live cases. Topics of the sessions are identified by the cohort members and learning activities are organized and facilitated by Alliance staff. These sessions will rely on the policy and best practices in "The Social Worker’s Practice Guide to Domestic Violence" for child welfare work with families experiencing domestic violence. 

These learning sessions will continue to build across the four core areas from the Domestic Violence in-service: universal and periodic screening for domestic violence; conducting a specialized DV assessment; engagement and accountability with DV perpetrators; and case planning in families experiencing DV. 

Completion of the Domestic Violence in Child Welfare in-service course is a pre-requisite for this course.

Tailored topics may include:

• Understanding the child welfare definition of domestic violence
• Identifying and engaging perpetrators of domestic violence to enhance child safety
• Supporting survivors in decision-making
• Assessing lethality and understanding protection orders
• Disclosure of confidential information
• Assessing child and survivor safety when there is intimate relationship violence
• Casework activities for court proceedings
• Documentation  

Family Preservation Services, or FPS, is one option social workers have when assessing for the most appropriate in-home service.  This interactive eLearning will cover the service components of FPS, what to expect from the FPS provider and what is required of the referring social worker in the delivery of FPS services.

This 6-hour mandatory course will provide participants with an understanding of substance use and when it affects the safety of children in the family, how to plan for safety with families who have children of all ages (0-18), how to support clients in their treatment programs, and how to measure progress sufficiently to mitigate the safety threats to the children.

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. The focus of this course is to provide instruction around assessment of the infant’s interactions with both caregivers and the environment, identifying parent/caregiver training or support needs, and opportunities for demonstration, practice, and feedback pertaining to meeting the practice and policy requirements for this component of the Infant Safety Education and Intervention.

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. The focus of this course is to provide opportunities for demonstration, practice, and feedback pertaining to meeting the practice and policy requirements for this component of the Infant Safety Education and Intervention Policy.

In this course you will learn about the requirements of the Interstate Compact and Placement of Children (ICPC), including both sending children in foster care to other States, and receiving children in foster care from other States. In addition, you will learn how ICPC applies to ICWA cases.  Your role and responsibilities from beginning to end are covered including the home study process, completing quarterly reports, and closing cases. Details about common violations, parent visits, and how to contact the headquarters ICPC team for support and guidance are provided.

Supervisors, Program Managers, and Quality Practice Specialists need to achieve competency in understanding the child welfare practice as well as in the higher levels of systems management. This course provides Supervisors and Program Managers with an introduction of baseline competencies for middle managers in public child welfare, and opportunities to develop and practice new skills regarding these competencies. Managing self, managing others, managing systems and managing outward are the four main themes integrated throughout this course.

Day 1: Foundations for Managers in Child Welfare
Day 2: Effective Relationships as a Manager
Day 3: Strategies for Effective Organizational Communication
Day 4: Growing and Sustaining Effective Internal and External Teams
Day 5: Essentials for Resource Management
Day 6: Strategic Thinking and Planning Tools for the Manager

Peter Dahlin, MS, is an experienced child welfare worker, supervisor, administrator and educator in the public sector for nearly 30 years. He has provided curriculum development, training, and evaluation services to child welfare, foster care, and family service agencies throughout the country and in Quebec. He has trained extensively throughout Washington and California. His specialty areas include trainer, supervisor, manager and executive development, and he has developed and delivered numerous training programs in these areas. He has created advanced trainings for supervisors and managers, including a required three-year program for Los Angeles County. He teaches the core manager (AA) course in the State of Washington, and developed and delivered part of the Core Supervisor Series in the State of Florida. His curriculum development work and training delivery, including that of “train the trainer” has also included clients such as National CASA and Casey Family Programs. As the former director of the Bay Area Academy, he oversaw an 18-month recruitment & retention study reviewing practices in thirteen counties with an emphasis on succession planning, and he has consulted with San Diego State’s Southern Academy on developing and delivering part of its Executive Development Program. He also provides executive coaching to managers and deputies in San Diego Child Welfare Services.

Comments from previous participants in this training:

"What we do is so difficult we rely on each other. And part of that is building a strong team that all come from the same mission and vision. Some of my folks had been here for a long time and they were on the verge of burnout and I had to think differently about how to look at that. Like what still motivates you to come in? why do you do it? What keeps you coming? That tool [from the AA training] I’ve used, asking them what are their passions and how can I help them get there."

"The team work portion [was the most valuable part of the training]. I had them all do the short version of the disk assessment and it brought up different communication styles and what we can expect in their management group. The most meaningful part of this training is because of the team and the connection they have. It’s the driver of retention in my opinion and I want to work on building teams to retain people."

"There are some trainings where they tell us to go back to our staff and our staff come back and say ‘no we’re not going to do that.’ But we go back and this is real, what he gives us [in this training] we can use."

"The value for me is the value for staff, the budget the grant information shouldn’t be hidden if you disperse that in a good way it will encourage creativity."

"I found it helpful to learn about the relationship with money and funding. The detail was really helpful, because I had a general idea. We always talked about half of our salary was IV-E but that’s not really true, it’s a more nuanced conversation."

"I really enjoyed the activity around staffing the formula around how much staff we should have. I want to go back and look at what the formula looks like for us, I appreciated the discussion around what types of different data we can use and the value of it."

Tribal Member who participated in this training:

"[Learning about the value of] external stakeholders was valuable. We’ve done work in the tribe around [our] vision and mission. But in terms of values, strategic plans in terms of bringing in other stakeholders was valuable information to remember to bring those folks into the discussion."

Las personas que toman este curso digital aprenderán sobre su rol como denunciadores de abuso por mandato cuando se sospecha abuso o negligencia infantil y los pasos para reportar estas preocupaciones. Este entrenamiento provee información sobre los indicadores que pueden indicar que abuso o negligencia infantil está ocurriendo y las situaciones comunes que en que es necesario llamar a la agencia correspondiente para hacer una denuncia. Las personas tomando este curso también aprenderán a considerar el impacto de los prejuicios culturales cuando se hacen estas denuncias y el problema de disparidad racial representada en el sistema. También este curso explica los requisitos federales para reconocer el linaje de un niño/a con una tribu indígena o su afiliación a una tribu reconocida federalmente. Finalmente, este curso también repasa los pasos para comunicarse con la Administración de Protección Infantil y hacer una denuncia, la información que se necesita, y lo que ocurre una vez que la denuncia ha sido hecha e investigada. 

This course is also available in English at https://allianceforchildwelfare.org/content/mandatory-reporter-roles-and-responsibilities-elearning

This eLearning covers the correct way to administer, log, store, and dispose of medications. In addition, this eLearning will provide information/protocol to revise agency policies and procedures with current information and best practice.

This in-service level training will teach participants the steps for identifying Indian Children, address practical steps to input information into FamLink, and give CA staff tips on completing Ancestry Charts and submitting referrals to the Native American Inquiry Request (NAIR) unit to fulfill the requirements of the Federal ICWA, State Law and Department of Children, Youth, and Families policies.

The NCAST Parent-Child Interaction (PCI) scales are designed for parents/caregivers and children age birth-3 years (36 months). The PCI scales consist of two measures – a Feeding Scale and a Teaching Scale. Both scales are assessment tools which provide valid and reliable measurements of parent-child interactions. When used in child-welfare, either assessment can provide recommendations for services to strengthen parent-child interactions, both scales can also serve as reliable pre-/post- measures of progress made through service engagement.

In this training, you will learn how to use NCAST PCI scales as a tool to gather pertinent information about the parent-child dyad, assessment of parent-child interactions, and intervening with parents and young children. You will also gain a host of skills and knowledge to apply to your everyday interactions with children and families both inside, and outside the scope of these assessment scales.

As a result of the successful completion of this training, you can become certified assessors in one or both the Feeding Scales or the Teaching Scales. The Feeding Scales can be used with parents/caregivers and infants age 0-12 months (1 year old), the Teaching Scales can be used with parents/caregivers and infants age 0-36 months (3 years old). The scales can be used with all parenting and family scenarios (biological, adopted, blended, foster care, relative care, fictive kin, etc.) Certification, or reliability, is obtained through first practicing, and then scoring videos developed by the Parent-Child Relationship Program at the University of Washington. The videos depict parent-child interactions in both feeding and teaching scenarios.

The NCAST/PCI scales are a prominent tool that child welfare workers use to gather information when assessing parent-child interactions and intervening with parents and young children. Being certified in the use of this tool supports workers’ ongoing assessment, case planning and permanency planning efforts with families. There are two scales, Feeding and Teaching, which often are used together.

The NCAST/Parent-Child Interaction Feeding Scales Recertification course supports your knowledge-building with the opportunity to achieve reliability and to maintain your certification in the use of this tool.

The NCAST Parent-Child Interaction (PCI) Teaching Scales are designed for parents/caregivers and children age birth-3 years (36 months). The PCI Teaching Scales are an assessment tool which provides valid and reliable measurements of parent-child interactions. When used in child-welfare, these scales can provide recommendations for services to strengthen parent-child interactions, and serve as reliable pre-/post- measures of progress made through service engagement.

Once individuals become certified to use the PCI Teaching Scales, they must prove reliable through annual re-certification. This one-day course provides participants with the opportunity to achieve annual reliability in the use of this tool. Re-certification will allow individuals to maintain certification in the use of the PCI Teaching Scales.

Current Certification as an NCAST Assessor

This course will provide participants with an overview of permanency planning for children in out of home care. This course will focus on the differences and similarities of adoption, guardianship and non-parental custody as concurrent plans. Participants will explore personal bias, how it influences their professional decision-making, and how to counter bias in making permanency decisions that reflect the best interest of children. All permanency options are explored and a case scenario will help participants understand the multiple factors to consider in determining the child’s best interest and best alternate plan.

***Supervisors: This eLearning may be completed individually or as a group during a unit meeting. If the eLearning is completed as a group, be sure to contact an Alliance coach to input completion of the eLearning training in LMS for all participants.

Supervisors may use the Supervisors Guide to Permanency Considerations eLearning (PDF) available here to promote a permanency discussion after caseworkers have taken the eLearning. (this is an optional activity)

Program Managers from Department of Children, Youth, and Families will come together to learn how to strengthen their skills and discuss current practice. Sessions are pertinent to the daily work performed in offices across the organization including dynamic teaming, change management, project management, self-care/support, facilitation, CQI, Trauma and Resiliency.

During this two-hour workshop, you will learn what characteristics make up a quality contact with children and youth during initial and on-going assessment and/or out-of-home placement, and why quality contacts matter. You will have an opportunity to watch a social worker conduct a health and safety visit with a youth, and then you will apply skills observed to a case scenario. Throughout the workshop, Alliance coaches will support the integration of quality contacts into social work practice.

Participants will leave this training with a common language and understanding of what is meant by cultural competence and the work they need to do to grow their ability to effectively engage across cultures, an understanding of Racial Microaggressions and why they are problematic, and an increased ability to have courageous conversation about difference and to effectively engage racial tension.

This training is presented by Dr. Caprice Hollins, co-founder of Cultures Connecting, LLC.  Dr. Hollins received her doctorate in clinical psychology with an emphasis in multicultural and community psychology in 1998.   She has over 14 years of experience teaching graduate courses, working with historically marginalized populations, researching, studying, and facilitating race related conversations. Her experience includes opening and directing the Department of Equity & Race Relations for Seattle Public Schools, developing and implementing district-wide and school-based trainings, while utilizing her background in psychology to assist district leaders and staff, institutionalize change to promote equity and social justice. She also currently works as a part-time core faculty in the department of counseling at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology.

This eLearning will teach the participant the steps to initiate and monitor efforts completed by the Relative Search unit.  When a child is in need of out of home care, the Department should be actively seeking placement of children with relatives. The centralized Relative Search unit assists staff to locate and identify relatives and this training will help staff learn about the process, required forms and how to gather detailed information from FamLink.

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.

This course focuses 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.

Trauma Informed Engagement is a 6-hour course applying lessons from trauma studies to child welfare practice for children, youth, and adults. Participants will discuss practice guidelines crucial to trauma informed practice in any setting. Participants will learn to distinguish trauma from other adversities and suffering; describe the characteristics, dynamics and effects of trauma; and emphasize the ways in which chronic trauma and complex trauma compromise normal functioning. Participants will learn to recognize and respond to situations involving the loss of control of body, mind, and emotions associated with trauma. Participants will practice, and commit to trauma informed engagement strategies, utilizing themes of empowerment, advocacy, and building resilience in children, youth, and adults.

In this eLearning you will learn about the spectrum of Deaf, deaf and hard of hearing culture and how people’s culture and identity impacts their communication. In addition, you will learn about assistive communication technology and how to access these devices, setting up an environment that is conducive to communication with the deaf or hard of hearing person. You will explore ways to engage with an interpreter to support positive and productive communication when a person’s primary language is sign language. If the person you are working with has a severe hearing loss and requires C.A.R.T interpretation services or an axillary listening device to support communication, you will learn how to recognize and access the needed supports. By the end of the eLearning you will understand DCYF expectations when working with clients with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act and DCYF Administrative Policy 6.03: Access to Services for Individuals with Disabilities.