Alliance Course Catalog

Area Administrators need to achieve competency in understanding the child welfare practice as well as in the higher levels of systems management. This course provides Area Administrators 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 Area Administrator’s who participated in AA Core 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 AA 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 brining in other stakeholders was valuable information to remember to bring those folks into the discussion.”

This presentation is a culmination of information collected through individual interviews with American Indian/Alaskan Native resource parents, youth, and tribal professionals and the results of a comprehensive systematic literature review. This mixed methods study produced 16 characteristics and 13 competencies that were considered to be critical to successfully parent American Indian/Alaskan Native children who are placed in out of home care. These 16 characteristics include having a strong cultural identity; and for nontribal caregivers, those that are culturally sensitive; having an appreciation for diversity and other worldviews, having confidence, being respectful, being patient, having a positive attitude/being optimistic, having a good sense of humor, being generous, being adaptive/resilient, being someone that embraces learning/open to new knowledge development, having a loving/caring spirit, being a trustworthy person, being willing to keep siblings together, being willing to access tribal and non-tribal social service programs, a willingness to access kin and family as a resource for support. The 13 critical competencies that resources parents need to successfully parent AI/AN children include having an understanding of child development, traditional child rearing practices, skills in parent/child relationship building and attachment, having an understanding of traditional/alternative discipline strategies/behavior management, learning self-care strategies, coping, and building and maintaining strong support systems, developing cultural competency, humility, understanding the economy of generosity and reciprocity, traditional communication styles, learning how to assess health and wellness from an indigenous perspective, and having an understanding of history, laws and policies that contributed to the development and implementation of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Learning Objectives:

1. Introduce the WA child welfare workforce to a Children’s Bureau developed and supported state of the art, national foster/adoptive parent training curriculum
2. Prepare the child welfare workforce to recruit/retain AI/AN and non-tribal foster/adoptive parents who can successfully parents AI/AN children placed in out of home care
3. Prepare the child welfare workforce to work with AI/AN grandparents and other relatives raising children in Indian Country

Angelique Day
Associate Professor of University of Washington School of Social Work

Angelique Day received her PhD in interdisciplinary health science in 2011 from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. She earned an MSW from Michigan State University in 2005 and a BS summa cum laude in sociology/psychology from Central Michigan University.  Much of her research focuses on foster care youth, including examining the differences in college retention rates between foster care youth and other low-income first-generation college students, and examining “youth voice” and its impact on child welfare, education and health policy reform. From 2011–2016, she was an assistant professor of social work at Wayne State University, where she taught both undergraduate and graduate classes. She’s been an evaluator, principal investigator or project coordinator on major studies funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, and McGregor Fund, among others.  Day has received many awards and honors, including a year-long congressional fellowship awarded during the 2016–2017 academic year by the Society for Research on Child Development and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She was assigned to the office of Congressman Danny K. Davis where she helped develop the congressman’s child welfare and higher education legislative portfolios.

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.

During this six hour training, the dynamics of domestic violence will be discussed including the psychological and neurological impact of abusive/neglectful environments on children and family unit, advocacy and coordinated response, myths about causation, co-occurrence substance use, cultural stereotypes, accurate assessment and effective interventions.  Particular attention is paid to assessing the difference between anger management problems and domestic violence, and effective management of perpetrators and victims of domestic violence.

Instructor Contact Information
Rose M. Roberson MS, LMHC
(509) 249-0120
Choice_Counseling@msn.com

Ms. Roberson is a licensed mental health counselor who has been in private practice for the past 20 years in the Yakima area.  Her work has been weighted in providing counseling services to domestic violence perpetrators and their victims, and those suffering from single incident as well as complex trauma.  She entered to field of mental health counseling in 1995 after having served as a Sheriff’s Deputy for the Yakima County sheriff’s department for a period of approximately 10 years.  During her tenure with the sheriff’s department she spent several years investigating crimes against children, adult sex crimes and homicides.  She also served on the lower valley child protection team providing consultation from the law enforcement perspective.  She is a current member of the Washington state’s domestic violence treatment provider’s oversight committee which oversees the provision of domestic violence perpetrator treatment programs.  She has been a speaker for Heritage College, Eastern Washington University’s school of social work, Central Washington University’s criminal justice program, the University of Washington’s Alliance for Child Welfare Excellence, the Yakima YWCA, the Red Cross, local law enforcement and fire service’s agencies related to trauma, post trauma recovery, and domestic violence.  Ms. Roberson also serves as a crisis intervention specialist for two national and international crisis response teams. 

This 3-hour Faculty Led workshop focuses on the increased use of opioids and the impact to child welfare in Washington State.  When you are wondering how to tell if someone is using drugs, physical signs can be your first indicator. This course will review some of the most common symptoms, physically, that someone could be on drugs or abusing drugs.

While there certainly tend to be some physical symptoms present when someone is on drugs, it is also important to look for signs of substance abuse that are behavioral and psychological.

As someone’s drug addiction continues, it often becomes more severe, and their behavior will be almost entirely focused on obtaining their next dose of drugs, and maintaining their high. We will explore how to engage with parents using drugs.

While it can be troublesome to see the signs of drug abuse, it is also important to realize you should not jump to conclusions. Instead, you should try to learn more about signs of abuse, and then explore professional care options.

This 7-hour course will provide participants with an overall understanding of the concept of Harm Reduction, substance use and how it affects the safety of children in the family, including inter-generational use. It covers how to utilize harm reduction plans and how to measure progress sufficiently to have mitigated the safety threats to the children with families who have children of all ages (0-18 years). The training provides an in-depth look at how workers can best support families and clients in recovery. Additionally, it will share how to connect families to appropriate resources.

Participants in this e-learning will learn about the role of mandatory reporters in identifying possible child abuse and neglect, and in reporting these concerns. The training reviews possible indicators of child abuse and neglect, and common situations that cause mandatory reporters to call in a report. Participants will consider the impact of biases on reporting possible child abuse and neglect, and learn about the problem of racial disproportionality in our state’s child welfare system. The federal requirement that Indian heritage and affiliation with Federally recognized tribes must be identified is also explained. Lastly, the training reviews how to contact Children’s Administration to make a report, what information to have available, and what happens once a report has been made are also addressed.

This eLearning will teach the participant the steps for identifying Indian Children, address practical steps to input information into FamLink, 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, as well as reviewing State Law and CA policies.

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 is a component of Regional Core Training (RCT), it is recommended RCT participants complete this eLearning during their fourth week of RCT instruction. 

In this short eLearning, participants will come to understand the importance of the ChIPR in conveying information to caregivers and potential placement providers. Participants will learn important techniques to write an accurate and behaviorally specific ChIPR describing both the strengths and needs of the child. Participants will understand their responsibilities pertaining to documentation and distribution of this document.

This eLearning can be completed outside RCT as a stand-alone eLearning to provide instruction for the Child Information and Placement Referral. 

This eLearning is a component of Regional Core Training (RCT), it is recommended RCT participants complete this eLearning during their third week of RCT instruction, following Interviewing Adults, and prior to Adult Interview Simulation.

In this eLearning participants will review the stages of an adult FVS/CFWS interview and the information they need to gather in each stage; read a case summary; and view an interview with the parents related to the case. Participants will see how the interview uses strategies discussed during the Interviewing Adults classroom session Participants will be encouraged to consider what – if anything - they might have done differently in preparation for Adult Interview Simulation.

This eLearning is a component of Regional Core Training (RCT), it is recommended RCT participants complete this eLearning during their eighth week of RCT instruction.

This eLearning will help learners understand the process for assessing the suitability of prospective unlicensed caregivers and when to initiate a home study.

This eLearning can be completed outside RCT as a stand-alone eLearning to provide instruction for relative home studies.

This 4-part eLearning series is a component of field-based learning in Regional Core Training (RCT). This eLearning series provides an interactive, deeper dive, into the roles and responsibilities of the major programs within DCYF; CPS Investigations and CPS Family Assessment Response, Family Voluntary Services, and Child and Family Welfare Services. Participants will have an opportunity to review the flow of a case and better understand the structure of DCYF offices and the roles of those who work around them. Finally, participants will walk through the basic parts of their job as CPS, FVS, or CFWS workers, including which policies and laws often guide their choices. This eLearning is offered in four distinct modules:

In this module, you’ll:
•    Identify the role of child welfare in Washington State.
•    Better understand the basic organizational structure of Children’s Administration (CA).
•    Feel more confident in your understanding of your role within the child welfare system.

This eLearning series can be completed outside RCT as a stand-alone eLearning series to provide an orientation to child welfare practice and programs in Washington State

This 4-part eLearning series is a component of field-based learning in Regional Core Training (RCT). This eLearning series provides an interactive, deeper dive, into the roles and responsibilities of the major programs within DCYF; CPS Investigations and CPS Family Assessment Response, Family Voluntary Services, and Child and Family Welfare Services. Participants will have an opportunity to review the flow of a case and better understand the structure of DCYF offices and the roles of those who work around them. Finally, participants will walk through the basic parts of their job as CPS, FVS, or CFWS workers, including which policies and laws often guide their choices. This eLearning is offered in four distinct modules.

In this module, you’ll:
•    Review the basic organizational structure of CA
•    Answer questions about the various job roles encountered by most social service specialists

This eLearning series can be completed outside RCT as a stand-alone eLearning series to provide an orientation to child welfare practice and programs in Washington State.

The RIGHT RESPONSE Level 3 Workshop is primarily prevention training.  This 11-hour certification provides basic fundamental skills including Prevention, De-escalation, Postvention, and Physical Safety skills. Attendees learn about self-awareness, reflective thinking skills, positive behavior support, basic and advanced de-escalation skills, self-protection, and proactive alternatives which can prevent dangerous incidents and increase safety.

Attendees that complete the workshop receive a 2 year certification.

Since 1993, Service Alternatives has been researching and developing best practices in the management of behavior and aggression problems in families, schools, group homes, hospitals, camps, detention centers and beyond.  Together, the staff team at Service Alternatives Training Institute has more than 200 years of experience within the company.    

This 3-hour course will help Children’s Administration social workers and supervisors who do ongoing work in the child welfare system with identification of and responses to secondary trauma. The training will increase knowledge and understanding of the levels of secondary trauma, its impact, and how to manage the impact in our environment.

Phoebe Mulligan, LICSW serves as the Clinical Program Director at HopeSparks Family Services in Pierce County.  Through her role as Clinical Director, Ms. Mulligan is committed to creating a team of therapists that are culturally responsive; current on best practices in the field; and building integrated systems that seek to respond holistically to children and adults who have been victims of trauma. Ms. Mulligan is regularly invited to speak regionally on Evidence-Based Practices (EBP), effects of trauma on children and adults; and as an expert on anxiety and trauma.  Her audiences range from clinicians to judges and she is often a guest lecturer in social work master's programs. A graduate of Social Work program at the University of Washington, Seattle, Ms. Mulligan is passionate about reframing the legal paradigm of response to child trauma victims to be child-centric and creating systemic partnerships that remove barriers for children.

Christina R Fajardo, MA, LMHC is a licensed Mental Health Counselor and a Child & Family Therapist at HopeSparks, Tacoma, WA. She is responsible for providing individual/ family counseling using evidence based and best practices for mental health treatment of children and families. She is a certified instructor for the Incredible Years parenting program. 

This one-day training applies lessons from trauma studies to child welfare practice for both children and adults. The training distinguishes trauma from other adversities and suffering, describes the characteristics, dynamics and effects of trauma, and emphasizes the ways in which chronic trauma and complex trauma compromise normal functioning. The training discusses the loss of control of body, mind, emotions associated with trauma and the negative effects on interpersonal relationships. Empowerment themes and practices are emphasized. The training outlines practice guidelines that are crucial to trauma informed practice in any setting.

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.