On Wednesday, September 11, 2013, from 3 - 5 PM ET, the NCWWI invites you to join us for Beyond Child Welfare Education & Training: Pennsylvania’s Dynamic University-Agency Partnership for Transfer of Learning, Quality Improvement & Organizational Effectiveness, our final session in What Works for the Workforce: Leadership Competencies in Action – A National Webinar Series on Leading Change to Strengthen the Child Welfare Workforce.

Since 2001, through the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare’s Office of Children, Youth and Families’ strong collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work, the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center has provided competency and skill-based training, technical assistance, support for practice improvement, and organizational effectiveness interventions to the staff and administration of the state’s 67 county children and youth agencies. This session will highlight the array of workforce development strategies implemented through this dynamic university-agency partnership. Participants will learn about university-agency relationship-building, developing continuity among county-based child welfare systems, and the following core activities:

• Skill-based Online Curricula & Training Modules
• Transfer of Learning (TOL) Packages, including guides, needs assessments, coaching and mentoring
• Organizational Effectiveness Program with Regional Teams, including consultation, research, evaluation and technical assistance
• Statewide Quality Improvement Projects, including Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) through Quality Service Reviews (QSRs)
• Integration of Title IV-E Program Graduates into System Change Initiatives

Presenters will share their experiences and perspectives on these strategies’ development, implementation, and outcomes, as well as lessons learned and tips for other agencies seeking to better prepare, train and support child welfare staff, and strengthen the effectiveness of their own organizations and university-agency partnerships.

Our panel of presenters includes:

Terry Clark, MPA, Director of Operations, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, Office of Children, Youth & Families.  Mr. Clark has worked in child welfare for 21 years and is currently responsible for oversight of PA’s statewide child abuse hotline, child abuse appeals, FBI and child abuse history clearance processes, interstate compacts for children, and quality improvement efforts, including practice improvement, training, technical assistance, transfer of learning and organizational effectiveness via the Department’s collaborative partnership with the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work.

Helen Cahalane, PhD, ACSW, LCSW, Principal Investigator, Child Welfare Education & Research Programs & Clinical Associate Professor/Chancellor's Distinguished Teacher, University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. Dr. Cahalane has primary responsibility for oversight of the PA Child Welfare Resource Center and 2 Title IV-E education programs: Child Welfare Education for Baccalaureates (CWEB) and Child Welfare Education for Leadership (CWEL). The PA CW Resource Center provides competency and skill-based training, technical assistance, support for practice improvement, and organizational effectiveness interventions to the staff and administration of PA’s 67 county children and youth agencies. The CWEB and CWEL programs operate in collaboration with 12 SSWs in PA. Dr. Cahalane works closely with the PA DPW Office of Children, Youth & Families and the PA Children & Youth Administrators’ Association. Her work has focused on workforce development and organizational factors influencing retention; developmental screening and services to young children in child welfare; the impact of mobile technology upon casework practice; the implementation of family engagement strategies; and evaluation of PA’s Child Welfare Demonstration Project.

Maryrose McCarthy, MS, Director, Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center. Maryrose has 35+ years in child welfare focused on family-driven, integrated, county-based systems. Since 2008, she has directed the training, technical assistance, practice improvement supports, and organizational effectiveness programs of the PA Child Welfare Resource Center. Her previous experience includes administration of child welfare and behavioral health services as well as private nonprofit human services, including management of a federal System of Care grant. Maryrose serves as adjunct faculty with Luzerne County Community College, and holds board membership with the PA Family Support Alliance and the National Staff Development and Training Association.

Michael Byers, MSW, Assistant Director & Statewide Quality Improvement Department Manager, Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center. Mike has more than 15 years’ experience in the public child welfare system in Pennsylvania and California. In his current role, he assists in the overall operations of the Resource Center and acts as the primary liaison with the Office of Children, Youth, and Families, and oversees an array of statewide projects, initiatives, and evaluation activities. He has worked as a social worker, supervisor, and manager, and on several practice initiatives, including Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Family to Family Model in California.

Wendy Unger, MSW, Organizational Effectiveness/Regional Teams Department Manager, Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center.  Wendy worked for Adams County Children and Youth Services for 12 years, including as a Quality Assurance Specialist, before she joined Resource Center in October of 2005. She is currently the Department Manager in the Organizational Effectiveness Regional Teams Department, having previously held positions as a Practice Improvement Specialist and a Unit Lead for Youth and Parent Engagement efforts. Wendy has also worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, in elder care, and as an adjunct professor, and has been involved in her community, spearheading numerous initiatives including Family Group Decision Making, Safe Kids, Mental Health Association, and youth suicide prevention.

Sharon England, BSW, MSW, JD, Department Manager, Curriculum & Trainer Development, PA Child Welfare Resource Center. Sharon has served as practitioner, educator and administrator in child welfare for more than 35 years. She was the founding director of the CASA Program of Baltimore, which received national recognition for its recruitment and retention of minority volunteers under her leadership. She assisted the Virginia Supreme Court with its implementation of Virginia’s Court Improvement Program for Child Abuse & Neglect and Foster Care & Adoption cases, and practiced law for over 13 years as guardian ad litem in custody, child protection, and delinquency hearings and in special education matters. Sharon developed curriculum and presented in numerous training programs for Virginia’s judges, lawyers, social workers, and CASA volunteers, participated in the development of Virginia’s guardian ad litem standards and is currently participating on a workgroup developing training for Pennsylvania’s parent attorneys and guardians ad litem.