The three case studies written for this project reflect training needs in crucial parts of the child welfare system. They may be used individually or together, and each includes an introduction that highlights the area of child welfare practice that governs the situation, and a variety of classroom exercises. An effort was made to be ethnically sensitive by emphasizing language and cultural diversity differences in family lifestyles as expressed in parenting and disciplinary styles and varying cultural norms and values. The authors strongly recommend the use of collaborative teaching with guest speakers from local departments of Social Service, substance abuse programs, etc., to supplement the case studies. (93 pages)Brewer, L. K., Roditti, M., & Marcus, A. (1996).

This resource provides access to the Northern California Training Academy's extensive list of published guides, tips and tools for child welfare practice improvement.

This six-part curriculum introduces working with children with disabilities and is based on a model that sees disability as an issue of diversity rather than of dysfunction and medicine. It may be used in part, but use in whole is strongly recommended. The modules address the competencies involving cultural skills and knowledge and impact competencies regarding child welfare skills and knowledge about child abuse. They cover: quantifying the number of persons with disabilities in the United States and California, having participants understand their own values and attitudes regarding children with disabilities, physical and sexual abuse affecting children with disabilities, families with children with disabilities, a generic model of practice that includes children with disabilities and their families, and a resource directory. (189 pages)Salsgiver, R. O. (2000).

Child welfare is a unique field of social work practice that requires the use of special interdisciplinary skills with attorneys, judges, and other member of the legal system. The skillful application of these interdisciplinary skills is extraordinarily difficult.
Fundamental differences between the value base, knowledge, and training of social workers and attorneys assure that the two professions will forever have an uneasy relationship. Nevertheless, the current and future direction of child welfare service delivery demands that this uneasy relationship continue and be improved. Historically, social workers coming into the profession are unprepared for interactions with the Juvenile Court. Graduate level university curriculum is generally silent on how to achieve positive client outcomes while working within the legal system. As a result, most new child welfare workers experience anxiety, fear, and frustration when confronted by the court. Without information on how to achieve positive client outcomes through the court process, social workers generally believe it is impossible to achieve positive outcomes in that setting. Interviews with social workers who have left child welfare to accept other social work positions regularly cite their frustration and discomfort with court-related interactions as a primary catalyst for their decision to leave this area of practice. This curriculum module, designed with that in mind, is intended for use with graduate students interested in child welfare practice and newly employed or inexperienced child welfare caseworkers.

A new rate structure for Home-Based Foster Care (HBFC) was necessitated with the passage of the Continuum of Care Reform (CCR). In response, a Level of Care (LOC) Protocol has been developed for use by county child welfare and probation placement workers. A LOC matrix using five domains (Physical, Behavioral/Emotional, Health, Educational and Permanency/Family Services Domain), separately scored, and designed to promote best practices in meeting the individual needs of children/youth in the foster care system.

Offering a wealth of information, this module introduces the historical, cultural, and social factors that influence a social worker's ability to skillfully interact with Hmong, Lao, Vietnamese, and Cambodian families. It provides approximately 30 hours of classroom instruction and includes sections on: Southeast Asian history, escape, refugee, and resettlement experiences; legal and health issues; mental health and education issues; the Southeast Asian family; and child welfare practice and the Southeast Asian family. The curriculum includes pre- and posttests and materials that may be reproduced as handouts. (175 pages)Himes, H., Lee, S., Foster, D., & Woods, B. (1995)

This is an update of the 2001 curriculum: Frame, L., Berrick, J. D., Sogar, C., Berzin, S. C., & Pearlman, J. CalWORKS and Child Welfare: Case Management for Public Child Welfare Workers. This newly revised curriculum is designed to help students understand the relationship between family economic well-being and parenting and to raise students’ awareness of the important role poverty can play in interfering with parents’ best efforts to raise their children well. Under extreme circumstances, family poverty can place children at significant risk – these are the families who may come to the attention of child welfare agencies. (215 pages)Berrick, J. D., Helalian, H. S., Frame, L., Fabella, D., Lee, K., & Karpilow, K. (2010).

This page hosts training materials associated with the Northern Academy's Child and Family Teaming (CFT): Role of the Social Worker training. 

In twenty-first century American society, childhood is popularly understood as a time of innocence, learning, and play. At the end of the nineteenth century, however, children made up part of the country’s workforce, and labored on farms and in factories. When they were not working, they enjoyed great independence in leisure activities—be it in a loud city street or a peaceful country lake. Often, children were far from adult supervision. Reformers during the Progressive Er—a period of social activism and political reform across the United States between the 1890s and 1920s —took a great interest in child welfare. Through organizations and legislation, they sought to define what a happy and healthy childhood should be in the modern age. Immersion in nature was central to what the Progressives prescribed, and children’s organizations and camps offered a suitable combination of supervision and open spaces. The formula for a healthy childhood was further refined in postwar America. Children were given a distinct place in the family and home, as well as within the consumer market with the emergence of teenage culture and buying power. This exhibition was created as part of the DPLA's Public Library Partnerships Project by collaborators from the Digital Library of Georgia and Georgia's public libraries.

This module compares the relative effectiveness of court-mandated versus voluntary service plans in preventing child maltreatment recidivism and analyzes family characteristics that influence how families are recommended for court-mandated services. Results showed that the type of plan does not make a difference in case outcome; similar rates of recidivism were noted between both types of plans after the cases closed. Also, while children were more likely to remain in the home in families that received voluntary plans when other factors were controlled, the voluntary plan advantage disappeared. (145 pages) Jones, L. (2000).

This resource provides access to publications, reports and videos related to Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) in child welfare, with particular emphasis on the role of California's child welfare agencies in supporting safety and stability for children and families impacted by commercial sexual exploitation.

This resource provides access to various materials used throughout the Northern California Training Academy's Child Welfare CQI Collaborative Conference, which was held in February, 2015. To learn more about the Academy and the the courses it offers, visit humanservices.ucdavis.edu/academy.

This training provides participants with the skills to recognize factors that will assist them in accurately identifying neglect, emotional abuse and physical abuse as defined by California law.

After attending this training, participants will be able to: Identify factors that constitute abuse and/or neglect as defined by the Welfare & Institutions Code Section 300 (a) - (j) and recognize parenting behaviors that promote child safety and family well-being outcomes; distinguish scenarios of child maltreatment from those that are not child maltreatment based on a constellation of factors such as physical injuries and behavioral indicators, within a cultural context; and value the importance of diversity as it relates to child maltreatment.

Successful participants will be better equipped to recognize conditions contributing to child maltreatment as well as common injuries bringing children to the attention of child welfare.

This resource provides child welfare training professionals with access to the California Social Work Education Center's Core 3.0 curriculum development guidelines and formatting templates.

This resource provides access to the Northern California Training Academy's Core for Social Workers Module 10 training materials. To learn more about the Academy, please visit humanservices.ucdavis.edu/academy.

This resource provides access to the Northern California Training Academy's Core for Social Workers Module 2 training materials. To learn more about the Academy, please visit humanservices.ucdavis.edu/academy.

This resource provides access to the Northern California Training Academy's Core for Social Workers Module 5 training materials.. To learn more about the Academy, please visit humanservices.ucdavis.edu/academy.

This resource provides access to the Northern California Training Academy's Core for Social Workers Module 6 training materials. To learn more about the Academy, please visit humanservices.ucdavis.edu/academy.

This page will feature key resources for Northern California Core for Supervisors stakeholders and serve as an important hub for accessing information related to participation in the program.