Engaging the Non-Resident Father for Child Welfare Staff

The recognition by the child welfare system of the need to engage fathers initially resulted from the federal Child and Family Service Reviews (CFSR) and the “What About the Dads?” report, which identified a lack of meaningful engagement of fathers by child welfare systems across the country. With the North Carolina’s last CFSR and resulting Program Improvement Plan, father engagement was identified as a practice area needing improvement. North Carolina received a financial penalty for not meeting program standards in this area. More importantly, the Division of Social Services recognizes the importance of engaging fathers to the ongoing safety, permanency, and well-being of children and appreciates the value their participation in a child’s life can bring.

This two-day Engaging the Non-Resident Father for Child Welfare Staff course isdesigned to provide workers with knowledge to further support a practice shift toward engaging non-resident fathers in child welfare cases involving their children. The Best Practice Guide for Engaging Fathers and Non-Residential Parents will be discussed in this training along with interactive lecture, small and large group activities and experiential exercises designed to practice skills relevant to engagement strategies and techniques for engaging fathers and non-residential parents in the child welfare process.

Prerequisite: Child Welfare in North Carolina or the completion of other required pre-service training based on date of employment and functional responsibilities.

Participants: This course is open to child welfare social workers and supervisors employed in a NC County Department of Social Services (DSS) in the areas of CPS Intake, CPS Assessments, CPS Occasional On-Call, CPS In-Home Services, and Child Placement including Independent Living (LINKS), Foster Home Licensing, or Adoptions. It is recommended for DSS child welfare social workers, supervisors, and program managers.

Contact Hours: 12 contact hours

Upcoming Trainings and Registration: Sign up online at www.ncswLearn.org

Additional Information: For more information about this training, please contact us at cface_registrar@ncsu.edu or Jenny King, jlking4@ncsu.edu

Prerequisite:
Open to:
Recommended for: North Carolina County DSS child welfare social workers, supervisors and program managers.