COUNTY PARTNERSHIP TO MEET SKILL NEEDS & ENHANCE TRANSFER CLIMATE The Ohio Child Welfare Training Program

Agenda Discussion Preliminary Findings Overview of the approach Brief Overview of our system

Major Metro Metro/ Large Fewer than 50K  Pilot County        88 Counties 8 RTCs 4,604 Public Child Welfare Staff Members 8,374 Caregivers In 2011… 4,168 Training Sessions were offered 878 Coaching Hours 2,616 Distance Learning Participants

Where we have been… OCWTP Formed 1986 Train Track & Paper Evaluations Late 1980’s Piloted online learning & skill building activities 2006 Began coaching piloting & other alternative deliver strategies 2009 Transition to online evaluations Individual Training Needs Assessment 2004 Began piloting alternative evaluation strategies 2007 Purchased LMS 2009 Piloted alternative methods for gathering data about learning needs 2012 Piloting use of many sources of data to inform learning needs and TOL support

Here E-Track Implementation– Organization Climate CFSR

Picture This Small county The exec IS the only supervisor 5 staff (4 direct practice) Recently laid off 17 people Closed children’s home Exec Need Staff working in new positions that are unfamiliar No county funding Accepting too many cases Not doing risk and family assessment well Assess Gathered county and agency data Met with exec Staff focus group Screening Identified as learning need Intervention Coaching on Screening Evaluation Accepted referrals decrease by 10% Support for TOL Group supervision process

The Pilot 7 Counties6 Regions OCWTP Stakeholder Support

Our approach Use a team approach to assess learning needs and TOL support Offer learning interventions to address learning needs and TOL issues Evaluate knowledge and skill improvement and increase in TOL support BUT—still individualized to meet each county where they are

Assessment What and how data was collected varied by county  Surveys  Key informant interviews  Focus Groups  Any combination Learning needs– used competencies, and questions to identify worker needs TOL support– standardized questions modified from ….. Survey or CPS and follow up discussion Triangulate data from all sources

Learning Plan Use assessment to guide learning interventions Allow exec/agency to prioritize Offer menu of possible interventions and select based on:  Agency capacity  RTC capacity Address state of Transfer Climate & agency commitment to move climate Address how to evaluate plan

Evaluation Success Objectives identified by agency are achieved

Another Example Medium county 6 Supervisors 40 Staff New exec Exec Need Identified practice issues Not doing risk and family assessment well Staff needs differ from what staff identify Assess Gathered county and agency data Met with exec Used learning interventions to assess staff learning needs Intervention Supervisor learning lab CAPMIS Tools training Provided exec support Evaluation More holistic assessment of risk and safety Include discussion in case conferences Timely and thoroughness of case conferences Support for TOL Included in case conferences Exec set expectations for agency All staff trained on CAPMIS

Preliminary Pilot Findings Executive perception does not always equal worker perception of learning needs. Supervisor role in staff development is sometimes lacking. Pilot agencies are open to understanding and improving their ability to promote learning. OCWTP staff must expand their skills Requires different approaches to the way we do business.

And more… Requires a quicker response to needs Agency staff not skilled at defining or identifying exactly what they would like to see. Some agencies want to address TOL support instead of learning needs. Agency needs are sometimes identified through discussion with Exec about practice issues that would never show up on an ITNA Evaluating the success of this process is county-based and complicated.

Questions How can we coordinate an evaluation process that is so county-specific? Is this process sustainable? How can it be sustained? How can we better assess TOL support?

THE OHIO CHILD WELFARE TRAINING PROGRAM KYLE HOFFMAN, PROJECT MANAGER STACEY SAUNDERS-ADAMS, PHD, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE Thank You!