Alliance Course Catalog

The most frequent allegation of child maltreatment is neglect.  Some families are referred to the department numerous times with little change in family functioning.  In this course, participants will learn how to assess for chronic neglect, its effects on children and appropriate interventions.

Assessing Safety Throughout the Life of the Case is one and a half days of in service training, designed for Child Protective Services (CPS) Social Workers, Investigations and Family Assessment Response. The training focuses on the CPS Social Worker’s role in the initial and ongoing assessment of child safety. CPS Social Workers will develop and enhanced their skills regarding the Child Safety Framework and its applications.

This training focuses on learning how to identify present danger and how to take protective actions; how to gather, assess, and analyze relevant information related to safety and risk from child interviews, adult interviews, and collaterals; how to identify safety threats and develop realistic safety plans; and how to articulate and document safety and risk factors to others such as court officials, community partners and others involved in the case.

CPS Social Workers will learn how to re-assess child safety when considering reducing or increasing levels of supervision during parent-child visits; during reunification; and when there has been a change in composition in the household. CPS Social Workers will learn how to apply the Safety Framework when determining whether to close a case and how to complete a safety assessment to determine if safety threats have been mitigated, risks have been reduced, or identify new safety threats and developing higher levels of protection.

This eLearning primarily features a video of a popular Child Protection Medical Consultation (MedCon) presentation for Regional Core Training. The video showcases two respected and well-known child abuse pediatricians, Dr. Rebecca Wiester and Dr. Joyce Gilbert. Dr. Wiester and Dr. Gilbert discuss important aspects of Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, and Neglect within the context of their expertise as child protection medial consultants.

Viewers are walked through recognizing sentinel injuries; understanding Abusive Head Trauma and its connection to the Period of PURPLE Crying; identifying when to seek medical consultation, how to submit a referral, and what information to provide; and how to locate important county protocols and policy resources online. Viewers will also be provided with a helpful Notes Worksheet, which will guide them through capturing important information needed in practice, and to pass the quiz at the end. This eLearning also provides a Facilitator Guide and can be viewed either individually, or facilitated for a small group viewing.

Coaching sessions are utilized to enhance a learner’s specific skill attainment in an identified area of practice.  Coaching sessions are provided to Children’s Administration 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.  

Coaching sessions are utilized to enhance a learner’s specific skill attainment in an identified area of practice.  Coaching sessions are provided to Children’s Administration 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.

This training is open to all DCYF workforce and provides certification in First Aid/CPR and Blood borne pathogens/HIV. Training made available for English and Spanish speaking participants.

This training is provided by certified trainers to provide CPR, First Aid, and Blood-borne pathogens/HIV training.

This training is designed for social workers who are serving children placed with Kinship Caregivers, and their supervisors.  The class will prepare you to recognize and address the issues that Kinship Caregivers are most likely to confront, and those that often lead to placement disruption or impact child wellbeing.  Participants will leave with a host of written resources that may be helpful as they talk with caregivers about their needs and about the child’s needs, and as they guide caregivers in connecting to resources within and outside the department that will decrease stress and increase support for them and their families.  Participants will also practice discussing issues of concern with relative caregivers, so that they can be best prepared to have these discussions frequently and successfully with Kinship Caregivers.

Drug testing practices and their use in child welfare assessment of safety and risk is covered in this course.  Participants learn the guidelines for the frequency and duration of testing, practices at drug collection sites, detection of adulterated samples and interpreting drug test results. Participants will know what to test and how to include this in the assessments of parents involved in the child welfare system, focusing on the behavior of parents, and knowing what a drug test can tell us is emphasized.

This three-hour workshop provides an opportunity for DCYF staff to broaden and strengthen their knowledge of and response to domestic violence experienced by the children and families with whom they work. Dynamics and definitions of domestic violence are explored through research and advocacy praxis. Workshop participants discuss potential strategies for engagement, assessment, and intervention with families where domestic violence is occurring (or has occurred). The workshop is offered by an EWU social work faculty member and will reference current research, the DCYF domestic violence training, and the 2016 Social Worker’s Practice Guide to Domestic Violence.

This two-day in-service training will prepare new Family Voluntary Services (FVS) caseworkers and experienced FVS 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 to reducing or mitigating safety threats and risk. Participants will be provided opportunity to improve the quality of case plans by linking services to behavior changes. Participants will learn policy expectations and good practice strategies for family engagement.

*****Participants are required to bring their tablets to the training.

This 6-hour course will help child welfare staff 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. Participants will leave understanding CA's 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.

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.

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."

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 CA 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.

Participants 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.

Participants 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).

Certification, or reliability, is obtained through first practicing, and then scoring videos from the Parent-Child Relationship Program at the University of Washington. The videos depict parent-child interactions in both feeding and teaching scenarios.

Instruction for each 4-day certification course is delivered across two weeks so participants are only away from their desks for two days at a time.

Feeding Scales Week 1:

Day 1 – Keys to Caregiving & Implications for child-welfare
Day 2 – Infant sate, cues, and communication & the Feeding Scale items

Feeding Scales Week 2:

Day 3 – Feeding Scale practice scenarios & begin Feeding Scale reliability testing
Day 4 – Feeding Scale reliability testing & administration/application of the Feeding Scales in practice

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.

Participants 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.

Participants 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).

Certification, or reliability, is obtained through first practicing, and then scoring videos from the Parent-Child Relationship Program at the University of Washington. The videos depict parent-child interactions in both feeding and teaching scenarios.

Instruction for each 4-day certification course is delivered across two weeks so participants are only away from their desks for two days at a time.

Teaching Scales Week 1:

Day 1 – Keys to Caregiving & Implications for child-welfare
Day 2 – Infant sate, cues, and communication & the Teaching Scale items

Teaching Scales Week 2:

Day 3 – Teaching Scale practice scenarios & begin Teaching Scale reliability testing
Day 4 – Teaching Scale reliability testing & administration/application of the Teaching Scales in practice

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 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)

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.

This updated competency-based training program provides the foundation for effective supervisory practice in the Child Welfare system. This program will prepare new supervisors to become comfortable in assuming their new role, learning what it means to be a supervisor in the child welfare system, and to understanding the new responsibilities of this position. This program is offered on a 3-month period and covers topics such as: Becoming a Supervisor; Workload and Caseload Management; Navigating FamLink for Effective Supervision; Supervising with Data; Elements of Administrative Supervision; Talent Management; Elements of Clinical Supervision; Self Care, Secondary Trauma, Burnout Prevention and Conflict Management; Building and Facilitating Effective Teams; Role of the Supervisor in Critical Incidents and AIRS; Professional Ethics; ICW Government to Government.

Supervisor Core Training (SCT) is for new or current Supervisors only, including those who have a scheduled date for promotion. This is due to confidentiality reasons and feedback from previous SCT attendees.

All classes of SCT must be completed within one year. If participants are unable to complete all days of their scheduled class within 1 year from the first day of the class, they will need to retake the course, as the SCT content is updated periodically.

If you are not currently a supervisor, or do not have an official date for promotion, and are interested in leadership training please check out the course Growing A Leader.  Growing a Leader uses the same great content as SCT and is specifically for people not yet eligible to enroll in SCT. If you later promote to supervisor and enroll in SCT, you can choose retake the days you completed in Growing a Leader or complete only the remaining days.

Comments from Supervisors who participated in SCT:

“I think it’s been really helpful to be able to listen to my team and hear what other supervisor’s ideas were.  For example, how to address a person’s caseload if on medical leave.  Recently, I did it in a way that was completely different than I would have before SCT.  Everybody had some ownership in it and I handled it differently than I would have without the training.”

“I think the burnout and job satisfaction [pieces of the training] stood out to me.  If you know your job well, you are happier with it.  That opened my thoughts more in terms of my team, making sure they know their job. Making sure my team is always learning their jobs and getting to be an expert so that they can come to love their work and get to know their work.”

“[The training] helped me to know about the nuts and bolts of the rules of unions and how to handle personnel issues.  I have different personalities in my unit.  As a new supervisor those particular sessions helped because we were able to brainstorm strategies together…I became a lot more confident about how to work as a team.”

“I went with another supervisor and we shared what we learned during our supervisor meeting [back in my unit].  We talked about what we thought was a good idea and what we were going to do and change our practice we were asking for feedback from our co-workers.  Almost everyone in their office is so new [we have a supervisor that has only been at CA for seven months], so we all talk about what we learned and try to see what are good ways to change the supervision role for what would be the best culture of the office.”

“A lot of shifting happened for me going from a worker to a supervisor.  It was definitely touched on in SCT, but it was really helpful for me in that area to be with everyone else being a new supervisor and talking about experiences, instead of an expert talking to us.”

This training focuses on completing the final four days of the Supervisor Core Training (SCT) for those individuals who have completed the three-day course for Growing A Leader.

SCT is an in service training for new supervisors who are overseeing case carrying caseworkers. SCT is a foundational training designed to prepare newly hired social service specialist supervisors with the basic knowledge, skills, and understanding to enhance and grow their careers in public child welfare for the State of Washington. SCT is a comprehensive training program containing a total of four (4) in person training sessions, which lay the foundation for continuous on-the-job learning and professional development critical to developing competent, confident, and effective child welfare professional supervisors.

Growing A Leader prepared future leaders the basics of supervision; however, the Supervisor Core Training will prepare new case carrying supervisors to become comfortable in assuming their new role, learning what it means to be a supervisor in the child welfare system, and to understanding the new responsibilities of this position. This program is for those newly appointed supervisors who have completed the three (3) days of Growing A Leader and who have to complete the final four (4) days of Supervisor Core Training. This course is offered on a 3-month period and covers topics such as: Navigating FamLink for Effective Supervision; Supervising with Data; Human Resources and Talent Management; Self Care, Secondary Trauma, Burnout Prevention and Conflict Management; Role of the Supervisor in Critical Incidents; Professional Ethics; Indian Child Welfare/Government to Government.

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 will provide opportunities for participants to utilize the various supervisory case review tools as well as reflective supervision to promote permanency, critical thinking and reflection when supervising staff. Ideally this session will be delivered to a combined group of CFWS and Adoption Supervisors to strengthen the connectedness between units and eliminate potential barriers to permanency. It is intended that this session and the materials presented will promote active participation and discussion in the context of real cases.

In this two-day training, we will follow the flow of a Child Welfare case and how workers need to incorporate ICWA.  Children’s Administration has a revised ICW Manual and attendees will strengthen their foundational base about ICWA and learn about changes in policy and procedure as it applies to ICWA practice in Washington State.