Improved Training for all Staff in the Child and Family Well-Being System of Care
The Florida Department of Children and Families is preparing to launch the Florida Academy for Child Protection and Family Resiliency (The Academy) in Fall 2023. The goal is to ensure that all child protective investigators, case managers, and licensing specialists receive high quality training tailored to the experiences that lie ahead prior to entering the field.
Background and Purpose
The Department compiled data and information including a recent evaluation of the existing pre-service training curriculum and experience, and these aggregate findings presented opportunities to better prepare Florida's child welfare workforce for day-to-day life in child welfare work. The new pre-service training will include skills practice, feedback, and coaching to facilitate more effective learning and job applicability.
Effective training equips newly-hired staff with the knowledge and skills to do the job, ultimately leading to improved outcomes for children and families. Additionally, studies have found that providing extra support during the critical first three months is a key organizational strategy to adequately prepare staff for the nature of the work.
- Retention – Maintaining a stable workforce is key to a healthy child welfare system that contributes to positive family experiences and improved outcomes.
- Standardization – Creating a standard training experience is vital to building the resilient and skilled workforce necessary to protect the vulnerable, promote strong and economically self-sufficient families, and advance personal and family recovered and resiliency.
- Modernization – The Academy will use state-of-the-art technology informed by best practices to cultivate a modern immersive learning experience for all child well being professionals.
Trainers and Supervisors/Field Trainers must be aligned in the practice and policy to be taught, applied, and supported.
Retention
Maintaining a stable workforce is key to achieving the Department's mission supporting positive family experiences and improving outcomes.
Standardization
Creating a standard training experience is vital to providing exceptional and consistent services to protect the vulnerable, promote strong and economically sufficient families, and advance personal and family recovery and resiliency.
Modernization
The Academy will use state-of-the-art technology informed by best practices to cultivate a modern, immersive learning experience for child well-being professionals.
The Former Model Compared to the New Model
How This Experience Will Be Different
The Academy’s new pre-service training will bridge the classroom and the field by uniting the two environments. Now, the trainer, supervisor, field support, and leadership will work together and communicate about each trainee’s progress and respond in realtime. All parts of the workforce will be clear on their role in supporting new workers. Leaders will be connected to the work, the development of staff, and support the use of aligned practice and language across the systems of care.
Effective preparation for a child well-being professional requires learning the information; experiencing the work; and committing to the personal discipline of growing daily in one’s ability to listen, engage, be empathetic, learn and manage bias, and make sound decisions to keep families safe. The Academy will offer a collaborative learning experience to set team members on a path to success.
What's New?
Learn how The Academy will directly address feedback on the current pre-service training.
Overview of Components
The Academy will provide a supporting and immersive reality-based experience for child and family professionals that will set the foundation for a culture of resilience, support, and meaningful partnerships.
Critical Reasoning Tools
Uses a blend of Herbert Simon's work, classical theory, emotional intelligence, forensic science, and experiential learning theories.
Simulation
Live performers interact with trainees to accurately portray situations based on actual case scenarios.
Virtual Reality
This immersive learning resource is designed to accelerate the pace of learning and enhance child well-being professional's scope of awareness and family engagement skills.
MyALIGN
This customized digital platform for the child well-being professional aims to provide support, resources, a networking and coaching community, and data on worker well-being.
What People Are Saying:
"The tools will help staff, especially new CPIs, push them to use the maltreatment index and dig into the CFOP more. I was amazed at how well the tools guided my thinking back to policy and help me slow down and verify my decisions."
- TRAINING PARTICIPANT
"These tools will not only improve critical thinking, but they will help slow the CPIs and supervisors down to review policy more often. I see strong benefits in statewide use of the good call tool and nexus to help map decisions and fact patterns because we will be able to target strengths and weaknesses in our decision making."
- TRAINING PARTICIPANT
"YES! I think all the trainers should be certified to teach this and we should spread it statewide beyond pre-service."
- TRAINING PARTICIPANT
Child Welfare Certification Impact
The updated certification program standards require a knowledge test and performance assessments. New hires will be required to pass a knowledge exam of child welfare fundamentals before beginning discipline-specific training.