Public Child Welfare Training
Academy (PCWTA)
Administering Organization
Academy
for Professional Excellence
Program Objectives and Unique Needs Addressed
The mission of the Academy for Professional Excellence, a
project of San Diego State University's School of Social Work,
is to provide quality training and organizational support
to the health and human services community in the Southern
California Region. The region includes San Diego, Orange,
Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties. The Public
Child Welfare Training Academy (PCWTA) is now a division of
the larger Academy for Professional Excellence.
Program Description
The
Public Child Welfare Training Academy (PCWTA) was established
in 1996 and is one of five child welfare training academies
in the state of California. The PCWTA primarily provides core
training to line social workers, supervisors, and managers
of five counties in the Southern California region. The PCWTA
takes pride in the delivery of this comprehensive, competency-based,
in-service training to the 3,000 plus public child welfare
staff, and child welfare community-based agencies, in the
region.
The PCWTA responds to the needs of child welfare agencies
in the Southern California region as defined by the demographics
in the various counties, the demands of the State Program
Improvement Plan, and best practice. One of the identified
needs was to assist child welfare staff in working with refugee
children and families. Currently, the PCWTA is working with
trainer/consultant Dr. Wanjiru Golly on a class entitled,
"Refugee Communities: Social and Practical Implications
for Service Providers”.
This particular class came about when a staff person with
PCWTA, Donna Pence, met the trainer/consultant, Dr. Wanjiru
Golly, at the monthly Child Abuse Prevention Committee –
Cultural Competency Work-group meetings. Together with other
group members they decided to use , “Diversity Schoolhouse”
as a monthly training series designed to help frontline workers
within social services, education, and law enforcement improve
their communication with, and understanding of, the various
ethnic, cultural, religious and other socially diverse groups
in the San Diego community.
Dr. Wanjiru Golly, who is a psychologist and Kenyan immigrant
herself, began talking with the PCWTA staff person about the
importance of child welfare staff possessing basic knowledge
of the refugee experience and the various refugee communities
of San Diego. It was not long before the PCWTA contracted
with Dr. Wanjiru Golly to design and teach the proposed refugee
course due to her extensive background in working with the
local refugee and immigrant communities. She has worked with
two non-profit agencies and also is a Board Member of two
Community Based Organizations. As a Program Director at a
refugee resettlement agency, she came in contact with refugees
and immigrants from Africa, Eastern Europe, Afghanistan, Asia,
and Iraq. One of her challenges was helping refugees understand
the child welfare system and also working with the child welfare
staff to understand the various cultural practices of the
refugees. She therefore took every opportunity to present
workshops on the cultural practices of the refugees and soon
realized the importance of having a formalized training for
frontline workers that come into daily contact with this population.
For the PCWTA refugee course, Dr. Golly pulled together basic
information about refugees and tailored it to the child welfare
community. The training will cover the basic definition of
a refugee and a historical overview of refugees in the U.S.,
the journey of refugee families from refugee camps to Southern
California, the role of culture in society, and basic skills
for culturally competent practice with refugees. In addition,
the training will provide participants with an overview of
African and Middle Eastern cultures including gender roles,
extended family practices, child rearing practices, acculturation,
and role changes while in the U.S. The course will be offered
starting in January 2008.
Resource Materials Used in Program
Groups Served by Program
PCWTA delivers comprehensive, competency-based, in-service
training to the 3,000 plus public child welfare staff, and
child welfare community based agencies, in the Southern California
region.
The refugee population varies among the five counties served.
In San Diego County, for example, approximately 21.5% of the
population consists of immigrants, including refugees, who
speak 68 different languages and have a variety of needs as
they integrate into their new environment.
Program Funding
Funding through the Title IV-E Child Welfare Training Program
of the Social Security Act
Program Staffing and Required Staff Training
Program Staffing
The PCWTA program is staffed by individuals who represent
the populations served. All staff members have a background
in child welfare or in collaborative work with child welfare
or in training child welfare staff at various levels. The
PCWTA has a total of 16 staff:
- One Program Coordinator who manages staff, trains, and
manages overall PCWTA Operations.
- Three Training and Curriculum Specialists who work directly
with trainers on their skills in delivery and on their development
as trainers. In addition, the three training and curriculum
specialists conduct trainings themselves.
- One Training Specialist and a part-time Assistant Training
Specialist who coordinate all the training and related tasks.
- Two Site Directors who manage two training sites, evaluate
trainers, coach trainers, and provide training themselves.
- Two Administrative Support Staff who directly support
the operations at each of the two training sites.
- One Program Specialist who supports the various administrative
duties.
- One Training and Evaluation Specialist who conducts the
program’s evaluation.
- Four Administrative Support Staff who support PCWTA operations
in the areas of fiscal management, information technology,
and clerical duties.
- Trainer/consultants as needed
Trainer/consultant Dr. Wanjiru Golly will teach the refugee
course she designed. All trainers that contract with the PCWTA
have a background in the classes they teach. Dr. Wanjiru Golly
has a PhD in Psychology and years of direct experience working
with refugees and immigrants from various parts of the world.
Furthermore, as an immigrant herself, she understands the
challenges of living in a different country, and her work
experience has led her to understand how the various social
service agencies operate. She is therefore able to provide
a bridge between the community and staff members from the
various agencies.
Staff Training
The PCWTA does not mandate training for its staff but emphasizes
the importance of keeping up with the child welfare field
and its changes in unique ways. There are five statewide themes,
which are emphasized, including fairness and equity, evidence-based
practice, family and youth involvement, data, and family engagement.
There is a staff person delegated to each area who is responsible
for keeping others up to date and trained on those areas.
The staff is also encouraged to attend conferences on child
welfare related topics and to bring back information to train
colleagues and share information. Additionally, each of the
five counties served has a staff person assigned as a liaison
to work with that county around training issues and also to
keep up on the changing scene in child welfare. Finally, the
Program Coordinator and other staff sit on various committees
at the local and state level.
Program Evaluation
Program Evaluation is a priority for PCWTA and for the Academy
as a whole. To conduct the program evaluation, PCWTA uses
a multi-level training evaluation methodology to build a chain
of evidence to assess the effectiveness of the training. This
training evaluation methodology is used for the following
purposes: to provide feedback for course improvement, training
design, and training structure; to identify trainee’s
knowledge, skills, and values; to provide data for individual
accountability; and to identify factors or barriers to achieving
the training goals.
All PCWTA trainings are routinely evaluated using a satisfaction
survey provided to trainees for completion. In addition, each
training is also monitored by an on-site coordinator that
conducts a formative evaluation of the training day. The results
from the training are reviewed by the trainer and PCWTA’s
Training & Curriculum Specialists and any reasonable suggestions
are incorporated into future deliveries of the training.
Additionally, as part of the Trainer Development Policy and
Procedure, PCWTA’s Training & Curriculum Specialists
provide the trainers with support, guidance, and technical
assistance to ensure that the trainers’ delivery of
the training is engaging, clear, and effective.
PCWTA is also in the process of piloting an advanced curriculum
using an embedded skill evaluation. This higher level of evaluation
aims to measure the transfer of learning from the classroom
to the workplace setting.
For the standardized core training for line social workers
and supervisors, the PCWTA works with the California Social
Work Education Center (CalSWEC) at the University of California
at Berkeley. These training evaluations are used at all line
social worker and supervisor cores that are delivered throughout
the State. These evaluations include delta-plus change evaluation
tools, knowledge pre/post tests, and embedded skill evaluations.
Program Outcomes
The PCWTA is committed to providing quality training. The
evaluations from trainees inform the trainers and their supervisors
of the quality of training provided. These evaluations, along
with the observations by PCWTA staff, assist the training
and curriculum specialists in their work with trainers around
their “Individualized Training Development Plan”.
The California Department of Social Services outcome requests
focus on the number of days of training provided. In the last
fiscal year, the PCWTA provided 380 days of training, which
exceeded the expectation. For fiscal year 2006-2007, PCWTA’s
trainers averaged a satisfaction survey score of 4.72; PCWTA’s
trainings averaged a satisfaction survey score of 4.65. These
scores are based on a scale from 1 to 5, where 5 is the highest
rating.
Program Contacts
Academy for Professional Excellence: Jennifer Tucker-Tatlow,
Associate Director,
jttatlow@projects.sdsu.edu
619-594-3917
Public Child Welfare Training Academy: Elizabeth “Liz”
Quinnett, Program Coordinator,
lquinnett@projects.sdsu.edu
619-594-3565
Dr. Wanjiru Golly: Trainer of "Refugee Communities:
Social and Practical Implications for Service Providers”
wanjiru@att.net
619-865-5290
Program Dates
The Public Child Welfare Training Academy began in 1996 and
the course on refugees was designed in 2007. This program
is still operating as of December 2007.
|
