This curriculum is designed to educate social workers about the experiences and needs of families involved with both public welfare and child welfare services so that they can provide high-quality case management services within a post-welfare reform environment. Based on research from a longitudinal, ethnographic study of families living in an urban environment, the curriculum includes: a review of child welfare outcomes in the welfare reform era; a description of welfare reform as implemented in one county, including examples from the client's perspective of managing within a welfare-to-work environment; a cost of living analysis of life on welfare; a set of case examples illustrating pathways from welfare to child welfare, with special attention to aspects of welfare reform which may play a role in child welfare outcomes; and a discussion of how to apply qualitative research methods toward improving child welfare practice, as well as an explanation of the research methods used for the study. (187 pages)Frame, L., Berrick, J. D., Sogar, C., Berzin, S. C., & Pearlman, J. (2001).

This resource includes a webinar overview of the CA Core Practice model, practice behaviors, and a description of the theoretical framework underlying the model

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.

How do individuals and families interface with larger systems, and how do therapists intervene collaboratively? How do larger systems structure the lives of individuals and families? Relationally-trained practitioners are attempting to answer these questions through collaborative and interdisciplinary, team-focused projects in mental health, education, the law, and business, among other fields. Similarly, scholars and researchers are developing specific culturally responsive models: outreach family therapy, collaborative health care, multi-systemic school interventions, social-justice-oriented and spiritual approaches, organizational coaching, and consulting, among others. This course explores these developments and aims at developing a clinical and consulting knowledge that contributes to families, organizations, and communities within a collaborative and social-justice-oriented vision.

Are you ready to face a day in and out the office facing some of the challenges that confront social workers? You'll have to manage your time, avoid getting pulled off track - and take part in a case conference and home visit. Need help? You can find out about the job through extracts from the BBC/OU programme Protecting Our Children.

Basic Interviewing for Social Workers
FIRST CWS INVESTIGATIVE INTERVIEW: CRAIG PRICE
Possible Physical Abuse & Witnessing Family Violence Referral, 7 year old male
Length 10:26
Learning Objectives:
• Demonstrate developmental language comprehension check by SW prior to interview;
• Demonstrate checking the child’s suggestibility;
• Demonstrate engagement and rapport building;
• Demonstrate infusing trauma-informed practice points into the interview process;
• Demonstrate gathering information about trauma specific issues which may exist with this child, family, or environment.

Prudent Parent Standard For Supervisors and Managers (2006).
The material in this module was written by Irene Becker, LCSW for CalSWEC.

This brief training resource is designed to share vital information about the Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard to everyone affected by the changes in the law. It is designed to last about one hour, so that it may be provided during a regular meeting.

This item contains resources relating to the intersection of child welfare and substance abuse services. It includes: a draft outline trainers may use to blend components of sample training curricula; sample curricula on adult substance abuse and on alcohol and other drugs in the practice of child welfare; supplemental training resources including experiential exercises, sample case studies and training handouts; and a bibliography and copies of key articles from research and practice literature. In addition, two brief reference booklets--one on resources for training child welfare staff about substance abuse and one on elements of effective alcohol and drug training for child welfare professionals--are included. (260 pages) Louisell, M., & Drabble, L. (1997).

The following training videos are dedicated to helping child welfare workers learn practical skills to cope with the emotional tolls of their very important work. Throughout this series, child welfare workers will learn about the dynamics of secondary traumatic stress, self-care strategies, and a framework for coping with secondary trauma.

The role of evidence and research in social work practice.

The interactive video quiz follows a contact visit vignette. Crystal Smith has been living in a group home following physical abuse at home. In the video, a social worker conducts an ongoing interview with Crystal, located at the group home. Pauses throughout the video provide the learner with opportunities to practice editing case note examples to be more concise. The learner is also asked to watch a brief segment of the video and record a case note detailing the segment in a concise manner. The total video run time is approximately 2 minutes and automated feedback is provided for all self-assessment questions.

Case notes are records of interactions children, families, and persons relevant to a given case or incident attended to by a social worker. Good case notes employ strategic, insightful inquiry and an understanding of larger case processes. When well written, case notes provide accurate, objective descriptions grounded in fact and evidence. They leverage a social worker's assessments and opinions thoughtfully, but never include an undue amount of either.

This interactive video is interspersed with questions probing the viewer's understanding of fact and evidence and how to detect unnecessary use of assessment or opinion in case notes. It contextualizes the skills being taught in a realistic scenario, an investigative interview where a social worker is trying to assess whether a claim of physical abuse can be substantiated, and aims to enable learners to differentiate and identify correct / incorrect uses of fact & evidence , assessment & opinion.

*This resource is a remix of "Investigative Interview - Craig Price" , provided by The Academy for Professional Excellence.