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

Coaching for Area Administrators provides one-on-one skill building sessions using a Learner Centered Coaching Model. Coaching provides essential professional development opportunities to support the daily work you do as an Area Administrator to support the supervisors in your office or program. Topics that can be covered are integration of the Quality Matters Series, use of the Learner Centered Coaching Model, skill building opportunities for integration of Coaching into daily work, or observation and feedback on skills used to engage with staff. Sessions can be scheduled in 30 minute intervals and based on your need.

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.

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.

Participants will be engaged to consider their own thoughts, beliefs, and biases about mental illness; understand basic definitions associated with parental mental illness and child safety; and identify family assessment strategies that can focus on the intersection between parental mental illness and child safety. Additionally, ideas and tools for drafting effective case plans and objectives to achieve child safety with parental mental illness is a factor will also be discussed. Finally, participants will receive resources for services and interventions that promote the reduction of risk associated with parental mental illness and enhance protective factors for family well-being.

Collaboration and mentorship are central tenets of leadership, and coaching provides an opportunity to help supervisors identify practice barriers that have direct impact to the children and families you serve. In this course, you will learn how to build coaching capacity into your work supervising staff. At the center of this is the Learner Centered Coaching model, which enhances practice skills and self-efficacy of DCYF supervisors. It aims to reduce trauma response in the child welfare practice environment by highlighting positive regard, cultural humility and a trauma-informed lens.

This training will provide a foundational picture of how to utilize coaching in supervision. The introduction covers identification of behaviors that create a sense of psychological safety for individuals on your team, a must-have for success. The core of the training will highlight the principles of complex skill development in adults, as well as, the Learner Centered Coaching model itself, including the principles, values and behaviors that make up a “coaching stance” and the five steps of learner centered coaching. Throughout the course you will be asked to consider what you might do differently in your ongoing staff development work, and the individual skills you might be using at each step in the coaching process.

The education in this training goes beyond the webinar. Before your training is complete, you will have a chance to apply this information by using handouts and reflection worksheets to consider how you will integrate coaching into your work. You will also submit a coaching plan and begin the coaching process with two of your staff members. And to encourage your long-term professional development, you will be supported after you complete the course, through individualized coaching and resources to help you develop and enhance your coaching skills as you move forward.

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. 

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 DCYF 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 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.