Bringing Together the Child Welfare Team

Trainer's Guide

Introduction

You are reading the trainer's guide to a curriculum titled 'Bringing Together the Child Welfare Team’. This curriculum is designed to help child welfare supervisors, managers and senior administrators implement the requirements of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) by ensuring that clients needs are assessed quickly, that individualized services are available and delivered promptly, that the impact of the services on the children and families is monitored and, if need be, that services are modified and that the agency systems support effective child welfare practice.

The Institute for Child and Family Policy, Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine, in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Kentucky Department of Community Based Services, developed this curriculum. Three child welfare agencies/training partnerships field tested, critiqued and provided content for the curriculum--- the Department of Children, Youth and Families, New Mexico, the Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services, Cleveland, Ohio and the Division of Children and Family Services and the Training Partnerships, Wisconsin. Funding for the project comes from the Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under Section 426 of the Social Security Act, which provides federal funds for institutions of higher education to train personnel in the field of child welfare.

The training aims to increase the capacity of senior child welfare administrators, program managers and field supervisors to understand and implement the mandates of ASFA. Using experiential, active learning methods, the participants in the training will come to understand ASFA from a variety of perspectives: regulatory, managerial, supervisory, system reform and improved child welfare practice. This curriculum is designed to complement and be integrated with, not supplant, a state’s existing managerial and supervisory training.

To develop this curriculum, the Muskie project team used information from the 'Building the Child Welfare Team Promising Practices 2001 Phone Poll Results' report. This report was the result of a phone poll, conducted in 2001. Child welfare agency and court improvement project representatives were asked to discuss how meeting ASFA requirements has changed the way that child welfare agencies do business and identify what skills child welfare managers and supervisors need to implement the requirements of ASFA. (A full copy of the 'Building the Child Welfare Team Promising Practices 2001 Phone Poll Results' report, as well as the 2002 update to that report, is available at http://www.muskie.usm.maine.edu/asfa.) In addition, the Muskie project team received invaluable input on competencies, content, materials and training activities from the project Advisory Council and a group of child welfare supervisors, managers, educators and trainers from the Kentucky Department of Community Based Services and the Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky.

Training Approach

The curriculum is built around the following assumptions:

• Training on the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) must offer a broader view of ASFA than simply a new set of statutory mandates and regulations. Indeed, the curriculum must convey to managers and supervisors the significance of ASFA as a supervisory and management tool, as an impetus for system reform, as a way to improve case practice and as a pathway to achieving positive outcomes for children, youth and families
• Indian children have different service delivery systems as well as laws that apply to them, therefore, individuals must ask different questions and make different assumptions in their efforts to identify and work with Indian children and families
• senior child welfare administrators would benefit from a separate training/briefing on the ASFA topics presented in this curriculum to increase their understanding of the content and shape the curriculum for program managers and field supervisors
• program managers and field supervisors have similar training needs around ASFA implementation and thus can be trained together, although at certain points in the training, they may participate in separate or differently focused exercises
• participants in the training are grounded in what the agency defines as 'good' practice so this curriculum can build on, not introduce, 'good' practice concepts
• while all states are bound by the provisions of ASFA, they have approached ASFA implementation in many different ways. In part, this is a reflection of state-by-state variations in organizational structure, training capacity, status of SACWIS implementation, ability to meet AFCARS reporting requirements, size and composition of caseload and history or tradition of using data in decision making
• this training will build on previous ASFA related training and will be just one component of an agency wide, comprehensive ASFA implementation and training strategy
• each child welfare agency has unique training needs, approaches, requirements and resources and thus will adapt/customize this curriculum accordingly.

In support of those assumptions, this competency-based curriculum is organized into three sections. Section One, entitled 'Senior Managers, Administrators and Policy Makers: Setting the Tone', is the material for high-level child welfare managers. This section highlights the main concepts presented in the second section and provides senior level child welfare personnel with information that will help them understand how and why it is critical to integrate ASFA mandates into their day to day management, policy making and the agency's administrative systems. Ideally, Section One also provides an opportunity for senior administrators to have input into the ASFA curriculum for supervisors and managers, as well as to commit, personally and organizationally, to reinforcing the main training concepts through an evaluation process. Section Two, 'The Role of Program Managers and Field Supervisors' provides detailed guidance to trainers as they prepare to train child welfare program managers and field supervisors on their role in understanding and implementing ASFA. Section Three provides lessons learned from the project evaluator and the child welfare agencies that piloted the curriculum.

This curriculum is designed so that it can be easily modified to accommodate the varying training needs of child welfare agencies. The Muskie project team expects that agency trainers will implement the 'Bringing Together the Child Welfare Team' curriculum in a variety of ways and thus we created a modular curriculum. The modular approach enables trainers in each public child welfare agency to customize the curriculum to meet their unique needs -- in effect to tailor their own curriculum from the modules presented in this document. For example, some child welfare trainers will successfully implement both Sections One and Two in the suggested order; other trainers will use only some of the modules; other trainers will merge some of the modules into ongoing training or create new modules/activities and still other trainers will reorganize the modules and the activities within the modules to better suit their needs. The curriculum is proven to accommodate and support this type of adaptation by child welfare personnel.

Prior to deciding what modifications to make to these materials, the Muskie project team suggests trainers look at the curriculum as a whole, including the competency matrix presented in these introductory remarks, review the lessons learned contained in Section Three and determine which modules or activities within a module meet an identified training need. Ideally trainers will use all sections of the curriculum in some manner. At minimum, they will need to adapt the curriculum by adding their own agency's outcome measures, results of the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR), policies, regulations, data, reports and other state or county specific materials.

A Brief Review of the Curriculum

Section One
Senior Managers, Administrators and Policy Makers: Setting the Tone

This half day session briefs senior level administrators on the major concepts, activities and learning objectives included in the 'The Role of Program Managers and Field Supervisors' training in order for the senior administrators to have input into the training material and evaluation process. Additionally, Section One offers information that will help senior administrators understand how to integrate ASFA mandates and the Child and Family Services Review results into their day to day management, policy making and the agency's administrative systems, as well as to understand and agree to reinforce the main training concepts.

Section Two
The Role of Program Managers and Field Supervisors

Section Two as presented here in its entirety is designed to accommodate 16 – 20 trainees and take place over two consecutive days.

In the first module, ‘Welcome and Introductions’, trainers welcome participants to the training, walk through the handouts and introduce the themes of the curriculum:

• increasing reliance on data and reports to support decision making
• assuring that agency systems support effective child welfare practice
• supporting practice that strengthens families, assures child and youth safety, permanency and well-being, matches individualized needs with services and promotes self-sufficiency
• communicating the importance of child welfare outcomes to staff, courts, tribes and community partners and
• collaborating with key internal and external stakeholders to ensure a focus on the goals of achieving safety, permanency and well-being for children, youth and families.

Module 2, ‘The Impact of ASFA on the Child Welfare Agency’, highlights the major requirements of ASFA, presents Federal, state and county goals, outcomes, measures and systemic factors, provides an opportunity to discuss the philosophy, practice implications and results of the Child and Family Services Reviews and introduces a problem solving tool useful in unit/team, service and system planning, management and evaluation.

Module 3, ‘Identifying, Assessing and Enhancing Skills Needed to Implement ASFA’, examines the impact that ASFA has had on the jobs of child welfare supervisors and managers and offers an opportunity for participants to complete a skills self assessment to determine which core skills are strong and which need improvement. Special emphasis is placed on how the elements of good practice are linked to ASFA and agency outcomes and indicators as well as the individual's job.

Module 4, ‘Connecting the Pieces Through Collaboration’, allows the participants to enhance collaboration skills needed to bring together the diverse entities that make up the child welfare service delivery system with a special focus on relationships with the tribes and courts.

Module 5, ‘Tips for Using Data to Measure Success’, provides information and practice around how to select, interpret and understand appropriate data and reports to ensure accountability for achievement of assigned outcomes, allocate scarce resources and improve services for children and families.

Module 6, ‘Wrap-up and Evaluation’, provides opportunities for each participant to reflect on and commit to practicing skills and knowledge gained from this training back in the office and express his/her learning from the training through an evaluation component.

Section Three
Lessons Learned by the Pilot Agencies

Section Three of the curriculum provides information from the project evaluator and each of the four pilot agencies which describes their experience with the curriculum, offers frank comments on what worked and what could have be improved and reflects on the impact of the training. During development, field-testing and revision of this curriculum the Muskie project team has had the pleasure of working with a practice oriented evaluator and experienced representatives from four child welfare agencies/training partnerships. The agencies are:

Department of Community Based Services, Kentucky
Department of Children, Youth and Families, New Mexico
Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services, Cleveland, Ohio and
Division of Children and Family Services and the Training Partnerships, Wisconsin.

These agencies provided us with a range of organizational structures (for example, county based and state based, providing juvenile justice services and not), training approaches (such as a partnership and agency trainers), significant involvement with tribes and rural and urban delivery areas. This mix offered valuable opportunities to test the flexibility and adaptability of the curriculum, evaluate its impact and obtain enhanced content from experienced trainers.

Section I: Senior Managers, Administrators and Policy Makers: Setting the Tone
Section II: The Role of Program Managers and Field Supervisors

Module 1: Welcome and Introductions
Module 2: The Impact of ASFA on the Child Welfare Agency
Module 3: Identifying, Assessing and Enhancing Skills Needed to Implement ASFA
Module 4: Connecting the Pieces
Module 5: Tips for Using Data to Measure Success
Module 6: Wrap Up & Evaluation

Bringing Together the Child Welfare Team
Curriculum Outline

Section One
Senior Managers, Administrators and Policy Makers: Setting the Tone

Note: The audience for this briefing/training is senior child welfare managers, administrators and policy makers. The material highlights the main concepts presented in the training for program managers and field supervisors and provides senior level child welfare personnel with information that will help them understand how and why it is critical to integrate ASFA mandates into their day to day management, policy making, practice and the agency's administrative systems. Ideally, this material provides an opportunity for senior administrators to have input into the ASFA curriculum being developed for field supervisors and program managers, as well as to commit, personally and organizationally, to reinforcing the main training concepts and the evaluation approach.

Time
Approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes

Rationale
The passage of ASFA, in combination with the mandates of other relevant legislation and regulations, substantially changes the way child welfare systems are to be managed. If these new requirements are to strengthen practice, internal management and administrative systems, child welfare professionals at all levels of the agency must agree on their importance and be trained to put them to use by incorporating them into the fabric of the organization, including day to day decisions, policy making and practice.

Learning Objectives
When this module is complete, the participant will be able to:

• Define the major concepts and themes to be included in the training on ASFA implementation for program managers and field supervisors
• Encourage supervisors and managers to use the skills and tools presented in the training
• Support an evaluation approach that reinforces and measures the impact of the training on the performance of participants

Activities

• Walk through the proposed training on ASFA implementation for program managers and field supervisors (2 hours and 30 minutes)
• Decide the training material and evaluation approach for the program managers and field supervisor's training (60 minutes)

Section Two
The Role of Program Managers and Field Supervisors

Module 1: Welcome and Introductions

Time
Approximately 45 minutes

Rationale
In order to derive maximum benefit from the workshop, each participant should be introduced to the instructors and other participants and be familiar with the workshop’s goals, agenda and handouts.

Learning Objectives
When this module is complete, the participant should be able to:

• Understand the workshop goals, agenda and the organization of the handouts
• Understand his/her role in the training
• List the major themes of the training
• Identify his/her expectations for the training

Activities

• Welcome, introductions, sharing of recent practice changes and presentation of training themes (35 minutes)
• Walkthrough the training workbook, focusing on the agenda and goals of the training, determine what each of the participants expects to get out of the workshop and clarify any misconceptions (WIIFM – “what’s in it for me?”) (10 minutes)

Module 2: Understanding the Impact of ASFA on the Child Welfare Agency

Time
Approximately 3 hours

Rationale
Successful implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) depends largely on the ability of child welfare supervisors and managers to understand the changes ASFA is making in the child welfare agency, especially in management, casework practice and administrative systems. Additionally, child welfare supervisors and managers are now working within a system that measures and monitors outcomes associated with delivering services to children and families, not just the process. As middle managers, they are accountable for leading the transition to a performance based system, while at the same time supporting frontline workers as they incorporate ASFA responsive practice changes into their ongoing casework.

Learning Objectives
When this module is complete, the participant should be able to:

• Define the major requirements of ASFA
• Introduce the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR)
• Explain the impact of ASFA on case practice with children, youth and families
• Explain the agency’s progress toward meeting child welfare goals, outcomes and measures as defined by the U.S. DHHS, Children’s Bureau and his/her state/county
• Identify strengths and areas for improvement in the agency's key internal systems
• Implement an approach to problem solving that can be used in team, service and system planning, management and evaluation

Activities

• Present the ASFA Goals and Highlights (10 minutes)
• Exercise: Apply ASFA using the Meyer Family case vignette (30 minutes)
• Discuss the Child and Family Services Review (CFSR) philosophy, practice principles, measures and indicators and the agency’s performance results in the CFSR (50 minutes)
• Optional Exercise: Storyboard the strengths and challenges in the agency's current internal systems (15 minutes)
• Discuss the performance glossary, what action planning is and how action plans can be used, including a walkthrough of sample action plans (15 minutes)
• Exercise: Create a supervisory/managerial action plan to address a predefined issue (60 minutes)

Module 3: Identifying, Assessing and Enhancing Skills Needed to Implement ASFA

Time
Approximately 2 hours

Rationale
The development of the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information System (SACWIS), Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS) and National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) data systems combined with the implementation of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), creates a cluster of emerging skills related to management, supervision and use of data that need to be identified, defined and incorporated into the skill set of child welfare managers and supervisors. Collaboration, problem-solving/decision-making, team leadership, organizational leadership, program administration, casework supervision and information management are among the core skills needed by child welfare managers and supervisors. The implementation of ASFA requires child welfare managers and supervisors to continuously review, improve and model the core skills to workers and colleagues within the agency, as well as to children and families.

Learning Objectives
When this module is complete, participants should be able to:

• Describe how ASFA promotes the elements of 'good' child welfare practice
• Describe how the elements of 'good' practice are linked to ASFA/agency, outcomes or indicators as well as the individual's job
• Implement some ways to help workers better understand his/her role in achieving outcomes for children, youth and families
• Understand the skills needed to implement ASFA, assess his/her proficiency in those skills and apply them in the job

Activities

• Exercise: Explore the supervisory role in promoting ASFA practice and compliance with staff and how key managerial and supervisory responsibilities support (agency goals, or) the goals of safety, permanency and well-being. (45 minutes)
• Optional Exercise: Show the videotape, "Multiple Transitions: A Young Child's Point of View on Foster Care and Adoption" (40 minutes) and discuss.
• Exercise: Identify which skills needed to implement ASFA he/she possesses and determine which are strong and which need improvement (15 minutes)
• Exercise: Using real-life scenarios, demonstrate how to use modeling and other methods to improve and reinforce ASFA implementation skills with workers, colleagues, children and families (40 minutes)
• Exercise: Share most helpful practices for communicating outcomes to his/her unit and for reinforcing the worker's role in achieving outcomes for children and families. (20 minutes)

Module 4: Connecting the Pieces Through Collaboration

Time
Approximately 3 hours

Rationale
ASFA promotes the concept that the child protective system involves a network of interrelated agencies and services including units within the child welfare agency and organizations beyond the agency such as the faith community, tribes, courts, schools, the media, foster parents, the legislature, families and domestic violence, substance abuse and mental health service providers. Bringing together such diverse entities requires strong collaboration skills. As child welfare continues to expand the use of cross system, joint decision making with internal colleagues, partner agencies and the courts, there will be increased reliance on the use of collaboration in service delivery and the casework process.

Learning Objectives
After completing this module, the participant should be able to:

• Describe the child welfare team and ideas for bringing the team together
• Explain the characteristics of collaboration
• Implement successful approaches to collaborating with the courts and community partners around ASFA and related practice issues
• Identify the tribes in his/her state/county
• Explain the relationship between ASFA and the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and associated implementation issues

Activities

• Exercise: Identify key members of the child welfare team and reflect on the role that child welfare workers, supervisors and managers have in developing productive relationships with the team (30 minutes)
• Exercise: Storyboard and large group activity identifying successful approaches to collaboration and tools that can help (45 minutes)
• Exercise: Explore how managers and supervisors can support the social worker/agency attorney relationship (45 minutes)
• Exercise: Explore successful approaches to working with the courts around ASFA implementation, such as preparing workers to testify, writing effective court reports and identifying the current procedures to help ensure productive, positive court/agency working relationships (45 minutes)
• Exercise: Explore successful approaches to collaborating with the tribes around ASFA implementation using a case example (90 minutes)
• Review: A Practice-based Planning Framework for Bringing the Child Welfare Team Together (10 minutes)
• Exercise: Gather information for a follow-up of a panel representing diversity in the community -- bring in community reps, judges, tribes, legislators, family resources and non-traditional resources (5 minutes)

Module 5: Tips for Using Data to Measure Success

Time
Approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes

Rationale
As a result of ASFA, child welfare managers and supervisors are increasingly expected to be able to use data, information and reports to guide decision making and to determine what is working and what isn't working in the organization, with practice and in the service delivery system. Thus, child welfare supervisors and managers must know how to select, interpret and understand appropriate data to ensure accountability for achievement of assigned outcomes, allocate scarce resources and improve services for children and families.

Learning Objectives
When this module is complete, the participant should be able to:

• Identify reports that peers find helpful for supervisory and managerial decision making
• Know how to use some basic data tools for reading and interpreting data
• Be able to discuss the content of reports in terms of the usefulness of the data and relate the content to outcomes
• Understand how to use data from reports to monitor the implementation of ASFA and agency goals and outcomes, with a focus on the outcomes he/she and his/her unit is responsible

Activities

• Exercise: Share helpful reports and ways to use those reports in decision making (30 minutes))
• Mini-lecture: Ten Tips for Using Reports to Improve Decision Making (10 minutes)
• Exercise: Hawaii Case Study (45 minutes)
• Exercise: M & M County (45 minutes)
• Exercise: Take one or two reports and critique format and content. Ask if and why the data on the report is important, useful and used. Identify what the report is linked to -- safety indicators or finance or budget, for example (20 minutes)
• Exercise: Look at selected reports that focus on ASFA/agency/unit goals, outcomes and measures or CFSR/PIP and make some comparisons between regions, teams, or units, include reports that relate back to specific (possibly national) performance indicators and/or state plan and are easily accessible by the users (45 minutes)

Module 6: Wrap-up and Evaluation

Time
Approximately 15 minutes

Rationale
Participants need opportunities to conclude unfinished items, reflect on and commit to practicing skills and knowledge gained from this training and express his/her learning from the training through an evaluation component.

Learning Objectives
When this module is complete, the participant will be able to:

• Identify the next steps he/she will take to bring the information discussed in this training back to his/her unit

Activities

• Wrap-up discussion (5 minutes)
• Exercise: Create a Personal Learning Plan identifying a problem or situation where you can use material from this workshop back in the office (10 minutes)

Acknowledgements

During the development of this curriculum, several experts in child welfare, curriculum design and adult education guided the Muskie project team. The project team appreciates and values the responsiveness and learning opportunities provided by our partners that piloted the curriculum. We gratefully acknowledge the energy, expertise, dedication, skill, professionalism and good humor that these child welfare representatives devoted to this project. This curriculum could not have been completed without their support, effort, wisdom and patience.

Department of Community Based Services, Kentucky
Denis Hommrich
Cynthia Mason
Vivian Hurt
Sheryl Ward
Kellie Malone
Mary Glass
Karen Francis

Department of Children, Youth and Families, New Mexico
Kirk Rowe
Doria Fisher
Mark Dyke
Tammy Knoke
Kelly Robbins
Matt Thompson
Donna Fields
David Pecotte

Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services, Cleveland, Ohio
James McCafferty, Executive Director CFS
Gerald Blake, Deputy Director CFS Resources and Placement
Sandra Holt, Deputy Director CFS Direct Services
Brenda Frazier, Deputy Director CFS Administrative Services
Yvonne C. Billingsley, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Supervisor CFS Unit, Cuyahoga County Prosecutors Office
Veronica Holloway
Sharita Jackson
Becky Thomas

Division of Children and Family Services and the Training Partnerships, Wisconsin
Michelle Jensen
Stephanie Reilly
Connie Usiak
Norm Brickl
All the Child Welfare experts from across Wisconsin who provided invaluable feedback as we developed our final curriculum

Our sincere thanks also go to members of our Advisory Council for so generously sharing their expertise, time, advice and common sense.

Casey Family Services
Sarah B. Greenblatt

Child Welfare League of America & National Resource Center for Information Technology in Child Welfare
Lynda Arnold

Kent School of Social Work, University of Louisville
Mavin H. Martin

National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement
Kris Sahonchik

National Child Welfare Resource Center on Legal and Judicial Issues
Mimi Laver

National Indian Child Welfare Association
David Simmons

Utah Dept of Child and Family Services
Navina Forsythe

Region I Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families
Linda Mitchell

Rhode Island School of Social Work, Child Welfare Training Institute
Lori Herz

Wyoming Department of Family Services
Rick Robb

<<to Table of Contents ..........................>> to Section 1