Dan Sullivan
2007-10-21 15:59:45 UTC
http://www.naswnyc.org/c37.html
James Satterwhite Academy:
Leading the Professional Development of Child Welfare Staff
By Ervine Kimerling, Executive Director, James Satterwhite Academy
As ACS builds a more professional staff and continues to implement the
Reform Plan, it has become apparent that we must reframe the
historical split between education and training in our field. A new
paradigm is emerging, in which the relationship between social work
education and child welfare training is one of inter-relationship
rather than division. The foundation of this new paradigm is the work
of engagement and collaboration with families, service providers and
communities to achieve the outcomes of safety, timely permanency and
child and adolescent well being.
ACS is working closely with NASW and the Consortium of the NYC and NYS
Schools of Social Work to make the best use of our mutual resources in
support of our mutual goals. We share an interest to promote child
welfare as a profession, to inspire both those considering and those
already working in child welfare, to educate staff with broad
knowledge and the ability to think critically and to ensure competency
in the abilities necessary to do this work well. This is the mission
of the James Satterwhite Academy, where we are working towards "best
practice" and a professionalized workforce through all of our training
and professional development initiatives.
The James Satterwhite Academy is leading the effort in New York City
to implement the Common Core Training System, a "training" which
includes extensive reading of professional literature, practice based
skill building, and (similar to field placement) closely supervised on
the job application of skills alternating with classroom training.
This will be the standard, pre-service training for all New York City
child welfare staff in ACS and its contracted agencies, for all
programs from child protection through adoption. No newly hired child
welfare caseworker or supervisor will be able to carry a full caseload
until this training is successfully completed. All current staff will
take a condensed version of the common core, so that all staff, old
and new, will share common purpose and practice.
This outcome based training has a framework of practice as its
unifying element which describes the outcomes, values, practice
principles, casework process and abilities needed for child welfare
work in NYC. The values expressed in the Common Core reflect not only
ACS' reforms, but also the core values of the social work profession.
Our vision is that staff will approach even the most troubled families
with respect and empathy, view families and communities through a
strength based perspective, involve families in mutual service
planning and help families share responsibility for making life
changing decisions. Because we believe that this is one example where
education and training come together, the NYS/OCFS and ACS have asked
the NYS consortium of schools of social work to make recommendations
for revisions to the common core that would allow it to be credit
bearing in the schools of social work.
The James Satterwhite Academy, through its Professional Development
Program, has become a national role model for the implementation of an
education program supporting the professional-ization of NYC child
welfare staff. Both scholarship and self financed staff are able to
take advantage of release time and paid field placement (currently ACS
has 200 staff in field placement). One hundred full MSW scholarships
are awarded annually to ACS staff, with a total of 200 staff in the
scholarship program at any one time. Almost 100 partial scholarships
are awarded to staff in the agencies that ACS contracts with, and 375
non-matriculated agency and ACS staff have the opportunity to take
graduate credit courses via Distance Learning classrooms. We are
tremendously encouraged by our strengthened relationship with NASW,
the formation of the NYS and NYC consortiums of schools of social
work, and the meetings between Commissioner Scoppetta and the Deans of
the New York City Schools. As the ACS Renewed Plan of Action for the
Administration for the Children's Services states, "....it will be the
strengths of our partnerships that will ensure that the path laid out
by the 1996 Reform Plan is continued and developed."
===========
James Satterwhite Academy:
Leading the Professional Development of Child Welfare Staff
By Ervine Kimerling, Executive Director, James Satterwhite Academy
As ACS builds a more professional staff and continues to implement the
Reform Plan, it has become apparent that we must reframe the
historical split between education and training in our field. A new
paradigm is emerging, in which the relationship between social work
education and child welfare training is one of inter-relationship
rather than division. The foundation of this new paradigm is the work
of engagement and collaboration with families, service providers and
communities to achieve the outcomes of safety, timely permanency and
child and adolescent well being.
ACS is working closely with NASW and the Consortium of the NYC and NYS
Schools of Social Work to make the best use of our mutual resources in
support of our mutual goals. We share an interest to promote child
welfare as a profession, to inspire both those considering and those
already working in child welfare, to educate staff with broad
knowledge and the ability to think critically and to ensure competency
in the abilities necessary to do this work well. This is the mission
of the James Satterwhite Academy, where we are working towards "best
practice" and a professionalized workforce through all of our training
and professional development initiatives.
The James Satterwhite Academy is leading the effort in New York City
to implement the Common Core Training System, a "training" which
includes extensive reading of professional literature, practice based
skill building, and (similar to field placement) closely supervised on
the job application of skills alternating with classroom training.
This will be the standard, pre-service training for all New York City
child welfare staff in ACS and its contracted agencies, for all
programs from child protection through adoption. No newly hired child
welfare caseworker or supervisor will be able to carry a full caseload
until this training is successfully completed. All current staff will
take a condensed version of the common core, so that all staff, old
and new, will share common purpose and practice.
This outcome based training has a framework of practice as its
unifying element which describes the outcomes, values, practice
principles, casework process and abilities needed for child welfare
work in NYC. The values expressed in the Common Core reflect not only
ACS' reforms, but also the core values of the social work profession.
Our vision is that staff will approach even the most troubled families
with respect and empathy, view families and communities through a
strength based perspective, involve families in mutual service
planning and help families share responsibility for making life
changing decisions. Because we believe that this is one example where
education and training come together, the NYS/OCFS and ACS have asked
the NYS consortium of schools of social work to make recommendations
for revisions to the common core that would allow it to be credit
bearing in the schools of social work.
The James Satterwhite Academy, through its Professional Development
Program, has become a national role model for the implementation of an
education program supporting the professional-ization of NYC child
welfare staff. Both scholarship and self financed staff are able to
take advantage of release time and paid field placement (currently ACS
has 200 staff in field placement). One hundred full MSW scholarships
are awarded annually to ACS staff, with a total of 200 staff in the
scholarship program at any one time. Almost 100 partial scholarships
are awarded to staff in the agencies that ACS contracts with, and 375
non-matriculated agency and ACS staff have the opportunity to take
graduate credit courses via Distance Learning classrooms. We are
tremendously encouraged by our strengthened relationship with NASW,
the formation of the NYS and NYC consortiums of schools of social
work, and the meetings between Commissioner Scoppetta and the Deans of
the New York City Schools. As the ACS Renewed Plan of Action for the
Administration for the Children's Services states, "....it will be the
strengths of our partnerships that will ensure that the path laid out
by the 1996 Reform Plan is continued and developed."
===========