Conference Agenda
Please see highlights below...more details coming soon!
Pre-Conference Institutes
Sunday, February 26
10:00 am - 1:00 pm
Expand your conference experience and your professional expertise by coming to the conference early for these pre-conference institutes. The in-depth institutes are specialized training sessions presented in a unique learning environment that offers the opportunity for intensive collaboration and small group discussions. Pre-conference Institutes require an additional fee of $150.
Health Care and Child Welfare
This institute, presented in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), will bring together leading experts to address key issues in improving the quality of health care for children served by the child welfare system. More specifically, the institute will address the health care needs and services for children and youth in the child welfare system, trends, the social worker-physician working relationship, and tools for effective collaboration. This institute is critically important because the provision of high-quality health services to children in the system has long been recognized as a major challenge due to the effects of child abuse and neglect upon the health of children; the lack of consistent and accurate information about the child’s health history; frequent moves that often result in changes of caregivers and health care providers; and lack of systems to assure consistency of care. The institute will present the results of the work AAP and its partners have done to address these issues and cover how health care reform legislation will impact the delivery of health care services to children in the system.
Presenters: Dr. Sarah H. Springer, American Academy of Pediatrics, Pittsburgh, PA; Dr. Thomas F. Tonniges, Omaha, NE; and YaMinco Varner, CWLA, Washington, DC
Successful Advocacy for Children and Families
This advocacy institute will inspire an accelerated and substantive dialogue among child welfare administrators, advocates, and policymakers to identify the most critical policy issues influencing child welfare practice and the well-being of America’s children and families today. Presenters will discuss the ways in which advocates can have the greatest impact on policy development. Experts on three panels will discuss the policy issues that undergird efforts to improve child well-being; determine the course of practice that can improve outcomes for children, families, communities, and systems of care; focus on the importance of successful public/private sector collaboration, the benefits and challenges advocacy networks, and partnerships; and provide an understanding of what effective child welfare advocacy is, incorporating the new revised edition of A Child Advocacy Primer.
Presenters: Karabelle Pizzigati, Children, Youth & Families Policy Consultant, Washington, DC; Debbie Weinstein, Coalition on Human Needs, Washington, DC; Abby Levine, Alliance for Justice, Washington, DC; Rodeline Saint Felix and Dee Saint Felix, Rhode Island Youth Advisory Board Leaders, Providence, RI; and Suzanne Lay, CWLA, Washington, DC
Advancing a Trauma-Informed Child Welfare System
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) has been working to advance a trauma-informed child welfare system. Participants of this institute will learn how the concept of a trauma-informed child welfare system fits within the national child welfare framework of safety, permanency, and well-being. Presenters will highlight existing strategies being implemented by public/private agencies and communities to help child welfare systems become more trauma-informed and explain how to conduct a trauma-informed child welfare system assessment. Participants will have the opportunity to explore how these strategies could be applied in their agencies and communities.
Presenters: Bryan Samuels, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, US DHHS, Washington, DC; Pam Toohey, Birth Parent Association, San Diego, CA; Charles Wilson & Lisa Conradi, Chadwick Center for Children and Families, Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, CA; Dr. Susan S. Erstling & Sarah Kelly, Family Service of Rhode Island, Providence, RI; Vincent McAteer, Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families, Providence, RI; and Detective Sergeant Carl Weston, Providence Police Department, Youth Services Division, Providence, RI
**CANCELLED** Dialogue on the Child Welfare Workforce between Deans/Directors of Schools of Social Work and Leaders of Child Welfare Agencies
Development of the child welfare workforce with the requisite competencies to achieve safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families has long been of concern to educators and practitioners alike. Child welfare literature is replete with research studies addressing this issue. The focus of this Institute is how schools of social work and child welfare practitioners can collaborate in moving from research to action in order to build a child welfare workforce with the essential competencies to meet the needs of today's children and families. This Institute, which is co-sponsored by CWLA, the Council on Social Work Education, and the National Association of Social Workers, will address current competencies for excellence in child welfare practice, trends in the child welfare field, relationships between schools of social work and child welfare agencies, and future steps in collaboration to build the child welfare workforce. Child welfare agencies and schools of social work who are currently involved in collaboration to build the child welfare workforce are invited to share their models and experiences via a poster session in conjunction with this Institute. Submit proposals for the poster session to Dr. Donna Petras at dpetras@cwla.org.
Presenters: Tracy Whitaker, NASW Center for Workforce Studies, Washington, DC; Dr. Joan Zlotnik, NASW Social Work Policy Institute, Washington, DC; and Dr. Nancy S. Dickinson, National Child Welfare Workforce Institute, Baltimore, MD
Creating a Resilient Organization: The Leadership Role (Leadership Track)
The CWLA National Advisory Committee on Leadership Development came together in 2008 with the purpose of facilitating the design of leadership development opportunities that result in better outcomes for children and families by increasing the number of high-performance organizations with a leadership development focus. The committee uses the CWLA definition of leadership which states, “leadership is intentional influence that facilitates a body of work by an organization, team, or person, which results in positive outcomes for the children and families in the child welfare system.”
This leadership institute will focus on research-based strategies to build resilient organizations, staff, and leaders. The role of leadership and management in creating the culture and competencies required for organizational resilience and innovation will be discussed. The institute will also provide information and engage participants in a dialogue regarding how to develop key leadership skills using existing resources.
Presenters: Mark Upton, Christian Family Care Agency, Phoenix, AZ; Dr. Mary Byrne, School of Social Work, Salem State University, Salem, MA; and Jeff Bormaster, CWLA, Palm Springs, CA
Advocacy Day
Tuesday, February 28
Join us on the hill! Meeting with your member of Congress or their key staff member is of vital importance. Act now to help enact major legislation affecting vulnerable children and families.
Advocacy Day: Going to Capitol Hill Makes a Difference!
The most important thing you can do while you’re at the conference is to promote your child welfare priorities on Capitol Hill! CWLA’s Advocacy Day is the largest national advocacy event of the year for child welfare, human service, and behavioral health professionals. On February 28, hundreds of conference attendees from across the country will board buses and head to Capitol Hill for personal visits with their Congressional representatives to advocate for policies, programs, and practices to improve the lives of America’s vulnerable children and families. In recent years, the Advocacy Day visits have played a pivotal role in getting major child welfare reform legislation passed—especially the health care reform legislation, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, and economic recovery legislation that supported foster care and adoption assistance, kinship care, and health services for vulnerable children and youth. Some of the critical child welfare priorities that will be presented to political leaders on Capitol Hill during Advocacy Day 2012 include the impact of budget shortfalls, child welfare finance reform, workforce, well-being, and how integrated systems of care can provide better outcomes for children and families. Join us on the Hill to speak for the children, youth, and families you serve!
What to Do in Preparation for Advocacy Day 2012
Contact your state leader. Each state has a designated CWLA volunteer—a leader in the field and advocate in his or her state—to lead the state delegation to Capitol Hill. In preparation for Advocacy Day, state leaders are extensively briefed on CWLA’s 2012 legislative priorities and thoroughly prepared for Capitol Hill meetings. Your state leader will arrange a visit with your U.S. Senators. Coordinate with others attending the conference to make appointments with your U.S. Representative. To learn more about Advocacy Day, contact govaffairs@cwla.org.
Make an appointment with your U.S. Representative. Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your U.S. Representative. Tell the appointment secretary that you will be in Washington, DC, attending CWLA’s National Conference and you want to meet with your representative on Tuesday, February 28, between 2:30 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. Meeting with your member of Congress or their key staff is incredibly important. Even if you don’t meet with members of Congress themselves, their staff are their closest advisors and they heavily influence decisions. Value every moment with them!
Conference Super Sessions
Wednesday, February 29
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Be sure to secure your spot for one of the following super sessions. Super sessions will be staged in small group settings where thought leaders will enrich and empower you with new insights, enterprising perspectives, and engaging dialogue focused on issue areas of high interest.
Redefining Community in Child Welfare
This super session will explore how public and private child welfare agencies are engaged in efforts of partnering with families in communities to build stronger relationships that promote optimal child development. The Protective Factors framework and more specifically the Strengthening Families Initiative will be explored as ways to help with reframing and redefining community in child welfare. Participants will hear about relevant research and first hand experience from a number of communities implementing these approaches and learn how both approaches can be aligned to support their work with families and communities to achieve better outcomes. Presenters will share their outcomes to date. Opportunity will be provided for participants to learn about helpful tools and explore how they might adopt or adapt these in their own communities so families are strengthened and children are safe.
Presenters: Juanita Blount-Clark and Judy Langford, CSSP, Atlanta, GA; Erwin McEwin, Chicago, IL; and Lila Guirguis and Suru Ramanan, MPA, Children's Bureau of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Keeping Staff Strong, Keeping Strong Staff: Addressing Secondary Trauma Among Child Welfare Staff
This super session will address the link between secondary trauma and child welfare workforce development, performance, and retention. Participants will learn about current research in this area, hear about approaches being used by staff in different jurisdictions, and receive sample materials from an intervention being used by presenters. Presenters will focus particularly on an intervention for child protective staff, the Resilience Alliance, which has been developed as part of a collaboration between the New York City Administration for Children Services and New York University. The Resilience Alliance focuses on three core concepts—optimism, mastery, and collaboration—and uses a combination of didactic and interactive components to first teach, and then help staff apply, resilience-related skills. Participants will hear first-hand experiences from staff receiving this intervention along with the outcomes to date. Opportunity will be provided for participants to explore how secondary trauma might be impacting their work and how the intervention might be adapted for their workplace.
Presenters: Erika Tullberg & Roni Avinadav, Children's Trauma Institute, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY; Dr. Ginny Sprang, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY; and Dr. Leslie Anne Ross, Children's Institute, Inc., Los Angeles, CA
History of Aboriginal/Indian Child Welfare and its Resonance Today
It is commonly acknowledged that there is an overrepresentation of Aboriginal/Indian children in the child welfare systems of both the United States and Canada. This session provides a unique opportunity to do a comparative examination of the history of Aboriginal/Indian child welfare and how it has impacted Aboriginal/Indian child wellbeing in the present day. The legacy of residential schools, the 60’s scoop and assimilationalist policies have spurred the need for truth telling and reconciliation as a part the healing process and community building through the collective memory of Aboriginal/Indian peoples. This session will investigate how this legacy has influenced child welfare legislation in both countries and how it has increased the importance of embracing both traditional knowledge and values as well as the practices and conveniences of modernity for improved Aboriginal/Indian child well-being and health outcomes. A case will be presented for comparative analysis of policy and practice.
Presenters: Kathy Deserly, Indian Child and Family Resource Center & NRC for Tribes, Helena, MT; Rachelle Pavao Goldenberg, CWLA, Martinez, CA; Dexter Kinequon, Lac La Ronge Indian Child & Family Services Agency, La Ronge, Saskatchewan; Kenn Richard, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, Ontario; Jack Trope, Association on American Indian Affairs, Rockville, MD; Sandy White Hawk, First Nations Repatriation Institute, St. Paul, MN; and Moderators: Mike DeGagne, Aboriginal Healing Foundation, Ottawa, Ontario; and Linda Spears, CWLA, Washington, DC
Leader to Leader: Cut-Back Management (Leadership Track)
Organizations have experienced significant shifts given the current economy and policy/practice changes. These changes and shifts have led to key organizational and leadership issues: pension, workforce, responding to front end child protection and prevention with limited resources; communication/marketing strategies with less resources whose resolution involved cut-back management by organizational leadership. This super session will involve a leader to leader discussion and sharing of innovative approaches to cut-back management.
Presenters: Karen O. Yarberry, Jefferson Hills, Lakewood, CO; Christine J. Spadafor, St. Jude's Ranch for Children, Boulder City, NV; and Jeff Bormaster, CWLA, Palm Springs, CA
Outcomes Evaluation Institute: It’s About Accountability
A growing emphasis on accountability in human services delivery systems, coupled with questions about the effectiveness of services supported by public funding, have come together to create a growing demand for demonstration of outcomes. In an environment of fewer resources, this demand has resulted in public and private agencies coming together through initiatives to evaluate outcomes, determine if services make a difference, and improve and enhance practice. This super session will focus on the importance of developing collaborative approaches to outcomes evaluation across a spectrum of programs and services for children and families. Presenters will identify methods and systems approaches to identifying, collecting, and analyzing data needed to evaluate outcomes for individual clients and the programs that serve them. Participants will learn how to use data to support continuous quality improvement, comply with the requirements of accrediting bodies, and inform policymakers.
Presenters: Cathleen Graham, IARCCA, Indianapolis, IN; John W. Link, Therapist & Consultant, Ft. Wayne, IN; and Dr. Sharon Newburg-Rinn, Social Science Research Analyst Data Team, Children's Bureau, ACF, US DHHS, Washington, DC
International PRIDE (Parent Resources for Information, Development, & Education)
This super session provides an international perspective on the assessment of foster and adoptive families. A major challenge in assuring the safety, permanence, and well-being of abused and neglected children who must be separated from their families is assuring a cadre of foster and adoptive families with the competencies to respond to the needs of the children and their families. A central feature of the PRIDE Model of Practice, a 14 step process for the development and support of foster and adoptive families, is a model of assessment that has been successfully used in more than 20 countries to determine the willingness, ability and resources of prospective foster and adoptive families to work as members of the professional team to meet the needs of children and their families. The super session will present how PRIDE assessment has been used in various countries and cultures and the lessons learned regarding assessment of prospective foster and adoptive families.
Presenters: Donna D. Petras, CWLA, Lincolnshire, IL; Eileen Mayers Pasztor, School of Social Work, California State University at Long Beach & CWLA, Manhattan Beach, CA; Rob van Pagee, Eigen Kracht Centrale, The Netherlands; and Morag Demers, Ontario Association of Children's Aid Socities, Toronto, ON
The Vulnerabilities of Immigrant Families: A Social Work Practice
With recent immigration enforcement, the number or families separated and children entering the foster care system have increased. According to the Applied Research Center study, approximately 5100 children are in foster care because their parents have been detained or deported. This super session will address issues that arise within social work practice for immigrant families. The audience will become familiar with general immigration vocabulary and gain an understanding why immigration law is relevant to social work practice. An additional theme is how deportation fears may impact social work practice and client engagement with immigrant families. The super session discussion will focus on 1) strategies on engaging these vulnerable families and youth, and 2) competent and relevant intervention strategies 3) what may occur when an undocumented immigrant parent is separated from his/her U.S. citizen child 4) risks to child well-being throughout the acculturation process, 5) encounters with local systems including CPS, 6) challenges of working with undocumented families caring for a child in immigration proceedings, 7) options for reconnecting and reunifying families.
Presenters: Yali Lincroft, First Focus, Washington, DC; Eliana Kaimowitz, California Legal Assistance Foundation, Sacramento, CA; Ken Borelli, Consultant, San Jose, CA; Dawnya Underwood & Weihui Wang, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Baltimore, MD; and Felicity Northcott, International Social Service-United States of America Branch, Inc., Baltimore, MD
Special Conference Highlights
“Canada Night”
International Trends and Developments in Child Welfare
Child Welfare League of Canada and Essential Learning , CWLA and CWLC's online training partner, will co-host a “Canada Night” reception and panel on Sunday, February 26. We are pleased to welcome a number of organizations and delegates from the Canadian, American and international child welfare community. This will be a wonderful opportunity to enhance your professional development and mingle with colleagues. Following drinks, conversation and hors d'oeuvres, there will be a panel of four dignitaries to discuss “International Trends and Developments in Child Welfare.” Guest Panelist will share recent developments, trends, and key initiatives, as well as approaches and best practices from various child welfare systems around the globe.
Gala and Dinner
In 2012, the Children’s Bureau, the oldest federal agency responsible for administering child welfare programs, will celebrate its 100th anniversary. The centennial year is an opportune time for CWLA to honor the Bureau’s extraordinary record of social welfare accomplishments. Plan to join us on Tuesday, February 28 for an evening of celebration. A dinner ticket is included with your full registration. Additional guest tickets are available for purchase for $85.
We have invited Representative Geoff Davis (R-KY), Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources and Representative Karen Bass (D-CA) to accept our Advocate of the Year Awards at the Gala.
A Documentary Film Presentation
Ask Us Who We Are is a powerful and poignant documentary that sheds light on the broken lives and traumatic experiences of youth in Vermont’s foster care system. In their own words, the foster children and teens share compelling stories about their abusive home life with their birth parents, the trauma of being bounced from family to family, the stigma of being in foster care, and the struggles they face during the transition to adulthood.
The film spotlights birth parents who talk openly about the pain of losing their children to state custody and the fight to get them back. The foster parents who take custody of the children talk candidly about the struggles and successes while trying to give the foster children some semblance of a stable and caring home life. The plight of Vermont foster children is evident early on in the film, but eventually a tone of optimism outshines the hurt and heartbreak through their determination to survive and thrive.
Ask Us Who We Are was produced by Kingdom County Productions, which Bess O’Brien co-founded with her husband, Jay Craven, in 1990. The film was underwritten the Vermont Department of Family and Children Services, which gave O’Brien access to the people featured in the film. It will be presented on Monday, February 27.
Speed Networking
Maximize your networking minutes. Be part of our third annual speed networking event on Monday, February 27! It’s a fast, fun way to expand your network of peers. Every few minutes you will meet someone new, making more contacts in one hour than most people make in six months! Bring plenty of business cards to share.
Leadership Track
This year specially designed and engaging institute, workshops, and supersession have been prepared for our leaders. CEOs, Commissioners, Board Members can prepare to meet, network and engage in shared learning while participating in the leadership track.
Exhibit Hall
Come explore new thinking and new products in the exhibit hall. Past exhibitors include software companies, publishers, brokers, trainers, accreditors, and other organizations with a message for child welfare agencies. The exhibit hall includes our popular Bookstore and Cyber Café and will again feature Booth Bingo and conference meal functions. It’s the hub of the conference!
Spouse Package
CWLA is offering a spouse package registration again this year, which allows spouses to accompany attendees to Washington, DC at an economical price. The package fee includes meals, receptions, exhibit hall events, general sessions, and access to discounted tours. Workshop sessions are not included in the spouse package. A name badge will be required to enter all conference events, including those events covered by the spouse package.
PRIDE Master Training
Wednesday – Friday, February 29 – March 2
The PRIDE Model of Practice was developed with the intent of equipping agencies to maintain the program over time using the agency’s own resources. The Pride Master Training program will assist PRIDE licensed states and child welfare agencies to provide the PRIDE program on an ongoing basis by preparing senior PRIDE program staff to teach resource family development workers, trainers, and foster and adoptive parent co-facilitators to conduct the PRIDE Model of Practice mutual assessment and group preparation program. The goal of the PRIDE Model of Practice is to provide a comprehensive approach for the development and support of foster and adoptive (resource) families, including the assessment of the willingness, ability and resources to be partners in child protection and permanence. All licensed PRIDE states and agencies are eligible to participate. Please e-mail jbrite@cwla.org to confirm eligibility and registration. The PRIDE Master training requires an additional fee of $295 for CWLA members or $365 for potential members.
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