New 2009 Trainings

Assessing Protective Capacities

A protective capacity is a specific quality that can be observed and understood to be part of the way a parent thinks, feels and acts that makes him or her protective. Because case workers must rely on the existence of protective capacities to support a parent remaining responsible for a child’s safety, it is critical to build as much confidence as possible from assessment of the protective capacities.

The judgment about whether a parent can and will protect his or her child occurs during a crisis – a highly emotionally charged time fueled by the revelation or denial that his or her child is not safe!  This training will help you to learn how to assess protective capacity in ways that build confidence in your decision making.

Through the use of case studies and video- this training explores assessment of parents’ protective capacities and how it assists in decision making in order to ensure child safety.

Upon completion of this training participants will be able to:

Determining the Safety Threshold

How do you know when negative conditions in a family represent a threat to child safety? Child protection workers and supervisors are constantly faced with this very question. Too often there is a degree of uncertainty that accompanies the child safety assessment decision that may leave a child welfare professional feeling less confident or even anxious when making choices about whether children are unsafe. Whether you are analyzing the case information you’ve collected during the course of an investigation or evaluating what you observe during early family contacts, it can be a challenge to judge whether you have information about a family that represents a threat to child safety.

Through the use of group activities participants completing this 3 hour course will be able to:

Domestic Violence in the Lives of Children

This workshop will highlight the impact of domestic violence on the lives of children. Research studies consistently have found the presence of long term behavioral, social, emotional and cognitive problems associated with exposure to domestic violence. Participants will learn about the complicated dynamics of domestic violence and how various coping skills, developmental levels and family roles play a significant part in children’s resilience and survival. We will explore the various survival mechanisms that children develop and the parenting skills that will help children overcome the effects of violence in the home. Additionally, participants will discover that no matter what parents and or providers tell children about domestic violence, they learn what they see.

By the end of this training workshop, child welfare and other professionals will be able to:

Feedback is Fundamental

This session will focus on providing behaviorally specific feedback on issues of productivity, task performance, urgency of response actions and compliance measures. Techniques  reviewed will allow the participants, managers and supervisors to address, plan with and commit to the staff in a way that is supportive, educational, non adversarial  and constructive. Use of the model is appropriate for peers as well.

The goal of the workshop is to introduce and implement the self-reflective method of feedback and inquiry when working with others.  Facilitation of critical thinking and self-reflected target goals is a primary component of this model. Opportunities will be provided, during the workshop, for skill practice in giving feedback for use in daily casework practice, as well as other areas of day to day operations in a variety of organizations. The technique of the feedback model has many applications in both professional life and personal life.  There will be special emphasis on the parallel process of best practices utilized with this model.

Solution Focused Interviewing

Connecting with clients to form a collaborative protective partnership is essential for achieving the mission and goals of child welfare consistent with the values of the social work profession. This workshop provides child welfare practitioners with an understanding of and useful strategies for effective engagement and the appropriate application of protective authority. It also provides a framework for understanding and applying proven best practice strategies and skills from the strength-based, solution-focused model.

Participants will be able to:

• Identify the conditions for establishing effective engagement with clients;
• Connect the engagement process with the appropriate application of protective authority to establish the collaborative/protective partnership
• Identify the elements of the solution-focused intervention model that distinguish it from the more typical problem-focused approach
• Identify seven key solution-focused strategies
• Identify the appropriate use of the following skills: identifying strengths in a problem situation, exploring past successes, finding and using exceptions to the problem, facilitating a positive vision of the future, scaling questions, encouraging commitment and developing action steps
• Identify opportunities to implement the solution-focused interviewing and intervention approach with child welfare clients

Team Building

Course Objectives:

The Keys to Engagement

Engagement skills begin at the first contact with family members and continue throughout the processes of assessment, planning, service delivery, evaluation and closure. The building of an effective alliance between family members, the agency and community members supports a shared responsibility for achieving desired results. Due to the involuntary nature of most Child Protection cases, it is not unusual for families to resist offers of help. Resistance is a normal and predictable response when people feel forced to change.

Through the use of case study and interactive practice activities, this training will explore the reluctance of families to receive help as well as examine the essential practice of engagement, shifting from fact and fault-finding interviewing to respectful and cooperative relationship-based and solution focused interactions with families. Participants will learn how to engage families through the use of communication skills in order to encourage family involvement, ownership, alliance and participation during agency intervention regarding issues of child safety, permanency and well-being.

Upon completion of this training, participants will:

Moving Families to Change-When Goals Collide

What do you do when your client's goals differ from yours or those of your agency? This issue is particularly apparent in a family centered practice where you listen reflectively to your families and actively involve them in decision making. As you elicit goals for change, some parents may not reflect what you think is best for them. How you handle this sensitive situation can determine whether the parent continues to pursue change.

Based on the “Stages of Change” work of Prochaska & DiClemente, this workshop will discuss moving families through the first stages of change: Precontemplation, Contemplation through Preparation.

Upon completion of this workshop, participant will:

For more information contact Beverly Crockett at 813-974-9007 or email at:

imPACT@fmhi.usf.edu

imPACT Training Request (pdf format)