Senior Managers, Administrators and Policy Makers: Setting the Tone

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)

Sample Materials

• Outline of the training (prepared by presenters)
• Administrator's Checklist for Reviewing the Curriculum (Section I.1.1)
• Evaluation Approach (Section I.1.2)
• Pre-training Skills and Knowledge Evaluation form (Section I.1.3)
• Post-training Skills and Knowledge Evaluation form (Section I.1.4)

Advance Preparation

Prepare materials and presentation to reflect your adaptations to the core curriculum.

Complete the state information on Child and Family Service Review Measure handout.

Gather state/county specific outcomes, measures, sample reports and the CFSR report or Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) that should be incorporated into the session.

Make sure a flip chart, markers, newsprint pad, overheads and overhead projector are in the room.

Glossary of Terms

Bibliography and Suggested Reading

Trainer's Instructions

1. Begin the session by welcoming the group, introducing himself/herself and other presenters, highlighting the goals of the session and reviewing the agenda. Begin the presentation using the following as a guide:

Our goal for this session is to introduce you to the ASFA implementation training that we are proposing for the program managers and field supervisors and give you the opportunity to decide how to make this curriculum work effectively for them. To do that we are going to discuss the training approach, content, learning objectives and exercises. As we go through this material, you will have several opportunities to talk about what content, activities and themes you want included in the program managers and field supervisors training and how you and the organization can best support and monitor the post training implementation of the training themes, tools and skills. If there are no questions, lets start by quickly walking through the Outline of the Proposed Training on ASFA Implementation. I suggest that you make notes of your thoughts directly on the Administrator's Checklist for Reviewing the Curriculum (Section I.1.1) to refer to later on as we discuss what material to include, what material to modify and what material, if any, to leave out.

2. Quickly overview the training approach so participants have a general sense of the overall goals of the training, order of the material and training logistics. If appropriate, use the following as a guide:

This curriculum is designed to help child welfare field supervisors and program managers implement the requirements of ASFA by ensuring that clients needs are assessed quickly, that individualized services are available and delivered promptly, that the impact of the service 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. 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.

The curriculum is built around the following assumptions:

• ASFA training 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 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 focussed 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 their 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 will adapt/customize this curriculum accordingly.

3. Explain who will participate in the training, when it is scheduled to occur, where it will be given, who the trainers will be and other logistical decisions.

4. Ask for and address any logistical questions or concerns.

5. Continue the session by going through the modules and activities to highlight the key messages, objectives and activities.

6. From Module 1, ‘Welcome and Introductions’, you many want to mention and get confirmation of the themes that the training will be reinforce:

• 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.

You will want to highlight the Evaluation Approach (Section II.1.2), Pre-training Skills and Knowledge Evaluation form (Section II.1.3) and Post-training Skills and Knowledge Evaluation form (Section I.1.4) explain the use of this material and have the group decide if this is a useful approach and if the tools are appropriate. Some administrators may be interested in seeing the competencies covered in this training.

7. In Module 2, ‘Understanding the Impact of ASFA on the Child Welfare Agency’, the major decisions for administrators are:

• what outcome data should be used (ideally it will be the CFSR report or Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) but if that is unavailable, the group needs to decide what performance measure data should be included in the training)
• whether or not to include the strategic planning tool. If the tool is included, the administrators may want to provide some suggestions for the activity that has participants actually develop a strategic plan. (Possible topics may include issues such as: what the unit/region needs to do to prepare for or follow-up on the child and family service reviews, how to address low morale, review case assignment process or deal with a staff issue such as a worker who is so enmeshed with a family, that he/she has lost objectivity and doesn't want to make permanency decisions.)
  

To give a flavor for the remainder of the module, you may want to present a few of the suggested handouts/overheads for the module such as:

• National Standards for Child and Family Service Review Measures
• ASFA and Final Rule: The Highlights
• ASFA Timeline
• Performance Measurement Glossary
• York Unit Strategic Plan

8. The next module, ‘Identifying, Assessing and Enhancing Skills Needed to Implement ASFA’, focuses on ways that child welfare managers and supervisors can review, improve and model core skills to workers and colleagues within the agency, as well as to children and families. Part of the module asks participants to complete a skills self assessment form. You should determine if administrators want to use this training to collect a skills self assessment. If the self assessment is to be included, ask how the results should be used by the individual and the individual’s supervisor. Supervisory Accountability in "Good Practice" and the Assessment of Core Competencies are useful examples of the material the module presents.

9. The next module, ‘Connecting the Pieces Through Collaboration’, emphasizes collaboration within the child welfare network.

Administrators have several decisions to make concerning this material:

• what will the focus of the module be…will it be collaboration with the tribes? collaboration with the courts? collaboration with other community partners?
• the extent and type of training participation provided by an agency attorney, a judge, tribal representatives and other community agency partners.

Ask the administrators to identify specific individuals and agencies they want to support the training. Suggested materials and activities to highlight from this module include:

• A Practice-based Framework for Bringing the Child Welfare Team Together
• Handout Attorney-Social Worker Responsibilities
• ASFA and ICWA: The Highlights

10. For module 5, ‘Tips for Using Data to Measure Success’, ask administrators to suggest specific reports to be used in the activities and referenced throughout the discussion. Additionally check to make sure that they are open to suggestions participants might make on ways that reports could be more useful, for example format changes, more, less or different data, variable sorting or different timing.

11. The final module, ‘Wrap-up and Evaluation’, asks participants to develop a Personal Learning Plan form. Explain the intent of the Personal Learning Plan process, the value and benefit to the participant and agency and the follow-up needed to make the process meaningful.

12. Using as a guide the Administrator's Checklist for Reviewing the Curriculum (Section I.1.1), determine the content that the administrators want included in the supervisors and managers training, how they intend to reinforce and support the use of the key concepts and tools presented in the training, if the Personal Learning Plan process should be implemented and the most effective evaluation approach.

13. Conclude the session by answering any last minute questions and thanking participants for their input.

<< Introduction

Module 1 >>

The audience for this section is senior child welfare managers, administrators and policy makers. This section highlights the main concepts presented in Section II, the training for managers and supervisors. Ideally, this section provides an opportunity for senior administrators to have input into the ASFA curriculum you are developing for supervisors and managers, as well as to commit, personally and organizationally, to reinforcing the main training concepts and the evaluation approach.