Supporting the Virtual Workforce
Child welfare programs are scrambling to address the new reality of a virtual workforce by converting existing workforce development activities to online formats while planning to maintain high quality services for families and job satisfaction for employees. NCWWI will host a series of 75-minute webinars, providing a platform for child welfare colleagues to exchange ideas, innovations, and resources for supporting a workforce that has now become virtual. NCWWI facilitators will help participants to share what they are learning about this new environment and ask questions of those who have already moved into these virtual spaces.
National Webinar Series
Current Webinar Series
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Session One: Virtual Supervision
With the child welfare workforce currently working from home, supervision is more important than ever to ensure continued quality service provision and to keep children safe and families together. How is supervision changing to respond to this new virtual world? What adjustments are being made? This webinar offers expert guidance on virtual supervision and provides opportunities for participants to ask questions and exchange information.
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Session Two: Well-being
In these uncertain times, we are all presented with new concerns about ourselves, our teams, and those we love. In this time of unprecedented global crisis, our national child welfare workforce and leaders also find themselves facing new challenges and stressors as everything about the old “normal” is changing. In this session, Dr. Amelia Franck Meyer will provide hopeful perspectives, concrete action steps and tools, and words of comfort and support for our workforce to help them manage through this crisis. Participants will receive ideas to cope and prepare to be in the best position and condition possible as we begin to rebuild together.- Webinar Recording
- PowerPoint Slides
- Chatlog Summary
- Alia Innovations Website
- Alia Microvideos
- Self-care and Compassion Satisfaction Scales
- Additional Self-care Resources
- Webinar Recording
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Session Three: Physical, Emotional, and Psychological Safety
April 21 and April 24, 2020
During the COVID-19 crisis, child welfare workers provide critical services to their communities. As essential public servants, it is important that they have systems in place to ensure their safety during home visits and working in the field. This session explores how child welfare programs are innovating to protect their frontline workers’ physical, emotional, and psychological safety.
- Webinar Recording
- PowerPoint Slides
- Chatlog Summary
- Arapahoe County Resources
- Psychological Safety Reference List
- Letter on Child Welfare Leaders as Level 1 Emergency Responders
- Safety Assessment and Planning During COVID-19 and Physical Distancing (NCCD)
- The Child Welfare Worker Safety Guide
- How to Create a Culture of Psychological Safety
- Crucial Self-Care in the Coronavirus Crisis
- Worker Safety Literature Review
- Worker Safety Resources in NCWWI Library
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Session Four: Converting Classroom Training from In-person to Online
April 28, 2020 and May 1, 2020
Much of child welfare professional development, especially foundational training for new workers, takes place in-person. Because of the current situation, training needs to be available online in order to continue to meet the needs of our workforce. This webinar will provide information on converting in-person experiences to virtual learning platforms, as almost anything that can be taught in the classroom can also go online (really!). Learn tips, tricks, and ways to overcome barriers. We will also provide opportunities for webinar participants to ask questions and share information and resources.
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Session Five: Coaching Remotely
May 5 and May 8, 2020
Coaching in the child welfare workforce often happens face-to-face or in context of daily work activities. With our shift to virtual work, face-to-face contact may have been curtailed but connecting and supporting growth does not need to stop. This session will explore what stays the same and what adjustments must be made when coaching remotely.
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Session Six: Using Social Media and Technology to Engage Children, Youth, and Families
May 12 and May 15, 2020
During the COVID-19 crisis, child welfare workers are using technology to communicate with families, and foster parents are using technology to connect youth in their care to services and maintain connection between youth and their biological families. This webinar offers considerations and best practices to support child welfare workers as they use technology with the families they serve.
- Webinar Recording
- PowerPoint Slides
- Chatlog Summary
- Should you use apps with clients?
- Tech tips for child welfare stakeholders during COVID-19
- Common Sense Media: Age-based reviews of apps and tools
- Policy issues for child welfare leaders during COVID
- Supportive Remote Visitation for Children in Foster Care
- NASW Techology Practice Standards
Past Webinar Series
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Meaningful Workforce Development: Making it Happen
Held on Thursday, September 26, 2019, in this webinar you will learn about NCWWI’s newly revised workforce development framework as applied to the State of Indiana. Meaningful workforce development implies more than just a quick-fix, but a long-term, robust, and sustainable approach to workforce development that really makes a difference. Hear LaTrece Thompson, Deputy Director of Staff Development, describe Indiana’s journey to improve their workforce development approach through the lens of the NCWWI framework, exploring various workforce development components and a phased implementation approach that can also be applied to your jurisdiction.
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Dismantling Racial Inequity Through Child Welfare Systems Change (2017-2018)
NCWWI co-hosted this 6-part webinar series with the Center for the Study of Social Policy. This series features workforce and organizational development stories and strategies to achieve racial equity.
- Using an Institutional Analysis to Identify Core Issues and Spur Change - July 2017
- Community Collaboration & Grassroots Effort (Cross-systems & Tribal Partnerships) - September 2017
- A Data-Driven Approach to Improving Outcomes for Black Girls in Child Welfare - December 2017
- Slow and Steady Wins the RACE of Child Welfare Equity - February 2018
- Strengthening Our Efforts Through Partnerships with Academia - June 2018
- Sustaining Racial Equity Improvements in Child Welfare - September 26, 2018
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Tools of the Trade: Exploring NCWWI Tools and Resources (2018)
Tools of the Trade 2018 is a five-part series of interactive and informational webinars! Our team will help you explore NCWWI resources and efficiently locate just the right ones to make positive changes in your teams or organizations. NCWWI staff will host a new 45-minute session each month. Each of these 45-minute sessions will help participants use or apply one of the following sets of NCWWI tools: (1) eResources on MyNCWWI (2) NCWWI Online Learning Opportunities, including microlearnings (3) Workforce Development Planning & Assessment Tool Kit (4) Leadership Activities for Staff at all levels (5) Leadership Training for Supervisors and Middle Managers. Visit the Tools of the Trade series web page for session recordings and handouts
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Mind the Gap: Addressing Child Welfare Challenges with Workforce Development Strategies (2014-2017)
Running from 2014-2017, this 10-part webinar series showcases child welfare issues, and a range of workforce development strategies that can be used to address and ameliorate them. The series launched with an overview of the NCWWI Workforce Development Framework (WDF) and its application for the field. Subsequent sessions feature agency and university leaders sharing different gap-closing workforce development strategies related to the 10 WDF components as described in the 2014 to 2019 version of the WDF.
- Introducing the Workforce Development Framework
- Simulation Labs for Child Welfare Education and Training
- Children's Corps: A Dynamic Approach to Child Welfare Worker Recruitment, Screening and Selection
- Child Welfare Training Competencies in Action: The Ohio Experience
- Transforming Child Welfare Decision-making through Modern Technology & Data Analytics
- Becoming a Trauma-informed Child Welfare Agency: The Waupaca County Journey
- Real World Barriers & Strategies for Evidence-based Practice Implementation
- Prioritizing Supervision: Comprehensive Supervisory Development in Indiana
- Achieving Racial Equity through Workforce & Organizational Change
- Peer Mentoring, Crisis Response & Resilience-building: NJ DCF’s Worker2Worker Program
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Making a Difference: NCWWI Impact & Lessons Learned (2013)
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What Works for the Workforce: Leadership Competencies in Action (2011-2013)
- ChildStat: Leading Systems-level Improvements based on Case-level Experiences
- Competency-based Recruitment, Screening & Selection: Strengthening Workforce Capacity, Retention & Organizational Resiliency
- Improving Supervision by Collaboration, Transparency & Accountability: The Impact of Missouri's Supervision Advisory Committee
- New Jersey Fellows: Building Capacity in "Managing by Data" to Improve Leadership, Frontline Practice & Case Outcomes
- Coaching to Support Solution-based Casework in Child Welfare
- Design Teams & Learning Circles: Agency- & Unit-level Interventions for Improving Organizational Climate & Culture
- Casework Teaming to Manage Workload, Enhance Effectiveness and Boost Morale
- BONUS SESSION #1: Learning & Living the NCWWI Leadership Model
- BONUS SESSION #2: Evidence-based Practices in Child Welfare: Opportunities & Challenges for the Workforce
- Building a Culturally Responsive Workforce: The Texas Model for Undoing Disproportionality & Disparities in Child Welfare
- Child Welfare Staff Engagement & Retention in Washington DC: Alternative Work Schedules, Telecommuting & Other Supports
- Beyond Professional Education & Training: PA's Dynamic University-Agency Partnership for Transfer of Learning, Quality Improvement & Organizational Effectiveness
Comments or questions?
Please email the NCWWI web development team at techteam@ncwwi.org
Funded through the Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau, Grant # HHS-2018-ACF- ACYF-CT-1350. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the funder, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products or organizations imply endorsement by the US Department of Health and Human Services.