Home > Title IV-E National Roundtable Conference 2012 > 2012 Title IV-E National Roundtable Presentations
Presented by: Helen Cahalane, Ph.D, ACSW, LCSW, Principal Investigator, Child Welfare Education and Research Programs and Liz Winter, Ph.D, LSW, Academic Coordinator, Child Welfare Education for Leadership
Title IV-E education programs offer a valuable opportunity to strengthen the child welfare workforce by increasing the number of skilled professionals who serve children and families. Empirical studies have demonstrated that the retention of these highly skilled and educated graduates beyond a legal work commitment period is influenced by a variety of organizational and personal factors that include agency climate, quality of supervision, intrinsic worker fulfillment and job satisfaction, and equitable personnel policies. Both organizational and individual interventions are needed to return the investment made by university programs, agencies, the public, and the graduates themselves. For those IV-E graduates whose commitment period has ended and who have the potential for five years of post-commitment practice, how many are still working in public child welfare? At what point do IV-E graduates leave the public child welfare agency post-commitment? What are the differences in retention among BSW graduates compared to MSW graduates? What is the retention among those who participate in an educational career ladder that spans both undergraduate and graduate degrees? This presentation describes a survival analysis of 249 Title IV-E graduates who attended one of sixteen university programs offered through a long-standing statewide partnership. Information obtained from recent graduates regarding their commitment to child welfare and organizational factors that influence the decision to stay or leave will be discussed.
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Presented by: Liz Winter, Ph.D., LSW, Assistant Professor, and Academic Coordinator, Child Welfare Education for Leadership Program, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Team-Based Learning (TBL) is an evidence-informed educational method, supporting the development of practice knowledge and skills (Michaelson & Sweet, 2008). TBL follows a systematic progression from pre-class reading through individual and small-group, content-based exercises, to small- group application of content to practice scenarios. Students participate actively in their learning, while lecture plays a supporting role in the process. The small groups typically outperform individuals, demonstrating the value of cooperative decision-making and replicating more 'real world' situations.
TBL is emerging in social work education after successful use in other disciplines requiring competent application of knowledge to practice, such as medicine and nursing. TBL is well-suited to social work education, through the structured and engaging approach to teaching practice competencies. The diversity of students often found in social work classes is a particular benefit in TBL; students describe learning from varied life and practice experiences of colleagues. This presentation will describe and demonstrate the application of TBL to IV-E Education. The TBL format will be described, together with the process of early implementation. Sample class materials will be provided. Challenges, rewards, resources, and contextual factors related to implementing TBL will be addressed. Findings related to student performance and perceptions in courses on child welfare and addictions will be presented. Finally, implications of utilizing TBL in IV-E education will be discussed.
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Presented by: Karen Harper-Dorton, PhD, MSW, MA, West Virginia University, John David Smith, LLM, MSW, Professor, Concord University, Rita Brown, MA, LSW, Assistant Professor, WV State College, Jodi Gottlieb, MSW, LCSW, Professor, Marshall University, Douglas Horner, PhD, MSW, Professor, Shepherd University
This presentation will share the major contributions of the Social Work Education Consortium (SWEC) which was founded in 1992 as a result of faculty efforts to deliver BSW and MSW education to prepare undergraduate and graduate students for work in public child welfare agencies and to provide professional training for agency staff throughout the mostly rural state of West Virginia. SWEC member universities are: West Virginia University, West Virginia State University, Concord University, Shepherd University, and Marshall University. University and public agency partnerships are especially appropriate in states where rural distances and often lower tax basis call for shared and unique efforts to protect children and find resources for developing and retaining a competent workforce. The SWEC model of organizational structure and processes facilitates collaboration among member universities and with West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services. The Consortium covers multiple tracks and responsibilities: regional agency/university designations for delivery of staff training curricula, PRIDE Pre Service training, PRIDE for Child Welfare Workers, foster family in-service training, support for tuition and stipends for students, and BSW and MSW curricula and field internships.Recently incorporated for profit, SWEC, Inc., is positioned to respond to new opportunities. Growth in privatization, contractual services, and requirements for increasing state match to pull down federal dollars are part of the evolving system of service delivery. The organizational model, shared and independent operations, consideration for profit versus nonprofit, and differences and similarities of partnerships experienced by workshop participants are rich topics for discussion.
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Presented by: Dan Capouch, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Robert Hartman, DePelchin Children’s Center
Developing a Trauma-Informed Child Welfare System of Care: Transforming Policy and Practice in Texas
Texas is embarking on a five year initiative, to review and revise child welfare policy and practice to become a more trauma-informed system of care. Through an interactive, presentation discussion format, workshop participants will be able to define the purpose, process, and practice components of a trauma-informed child welfare system.
Presenters will discuss the impact of the 81st Legislature's and Governor's approval of HB 1151, requiring "The department [to] include training in trauma-informed programs and services in any training…to foster parents, adoptive parents, kinship caregivers, and department caseworkers." Since enactment of that legislation, Cenpatico developed an introductory training for child welfare workers and supervisors, and has trained over 8,000 DFPS staff members. The 82nd Legislative Session amended the Family Code with SB 219, mandating that "DFPS must require…an annual refresher course on trauma-informed care; annually evaluate the effectiveness of its trauma-informed training…and ensure progress towards a 'trauma-informed' system of care."
Responding to this mandate in the fall of 2011, the Assistant Commissioner of Child Welfare Services recruited and charged a high-level workgroup to "propose recommendations to DFPS Leadership regarding continued integration of trauma-informed practices within CPS and provide oversight of approved implementation strategies".
Presenters will review plans, strategies, and resources, as they highlight Texas's multi-faceted initiative to transform its child welfare system.Presentation Material
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