Conference Agenda:

• Pre-Institute Dinner & Jazz Event: August 4, 2008
• Day 1: August 5, 2008
• Day 2: August 6, 2008

Download a printable (PDF) Version of the Agenda

 

Pre-Institute Dinner & Jazz Event: August 4, 2008 (Monday)

Enjoy a wonderful Italian dinner, relax to the sounds of a jazz trio playing in the background, and network with conference speakers and participants, as well as Butler Institute staff and friends. This event will be an opportunity to celebrate the sunset of the recruitment and retention grantees and connect with colleagues across the country. At the heart of the gracious University of Denver campus, the Conference and Event Center at the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management combines the warm intimacy of Tuscan architecture and handsomely appointed spaces with the convenience of the latest technology. Dinner will be served in the airy Tuscan ballroom and adjoining wine cellar. Wine and beer (cash bar) will be served on the private outdoor patio, framed by mature trees --perfect for a pleasant, fun, warm-weather event. 6:00pm - 8:00pm At the beautiful School of Hotel, Tourism, & Restaurant Management on the University of Denver Campus

Day 1: August 5, 2008 (Tuesday)
8:00 – 8:30am: Registration
8:30 – 8:45am: Introduction Presented by Charmaine Brittain, PhD (Butler Institute for Families)
8:45 – 9:00am: Welcome Presented by Cathryn Potter, PhD (Butler Institute for Families)
9:00 – 10:15am: Keynote Address
Keynote Speaker	David Sanders, PhD, Executive Vice President of Systems Improvement, Casey Family Programs
10:15 – 10:30am: Break
10:30am – 12:00pm: Session A
Session A-1	Workshop: Promoting Child Welfare Workforce Improvements Through Federal Policy Changes Presenter(s): MaryLee Allen (Children's Defense Fund) & Julie Farber (Children's Rights) Details: Children’s Defense Fund and Children’s Rights will describe a framework for an effective child welfare workforce and a package of federal-level policy proposals to improve the workforce. The proposals address staff training, loan forgiveness, data collection, and assessment of child welfare system performance, and include a demonstration grant program for which states could apply to improve their workforce. Participants will learn about the status of federal legislation and other efforts to address workforce issues and plans for moving forward.
Session A-2	Workshop: The WRRRP Trek - Research Findings & Practical Strategies Presenter(s): Cathryn Potter (Butler Institute for Families, University of Denver), Charmaine Brittain (Butler Institute for Families, University of Denver), & Mary Berg (Jefferson County Department of Human Services) Details: The workforce is at the heart of child welfare practice. But finding and keeping an effective workforce continues to plague our field. This workshop represents the efforts and results of a federally funded, five year project to develop models of effective child welfare staff recruitment and retention so that the workforce potential can be maximized. The workshop, facilitated by a multi-disciplinary panel, will address the challenges and opportunities of child welfare workforce recruitment, selection and retention in a hands-on, practical, and usable way by: Presenting a framework to create and sustain a culture that supports recruitment and retention. Sharing data and research findings of organizational assessments conducted at five sites. Offering specific tools and resources that can be used to improve recruitment and retention. Providing an opportunity for participants to engage in action planning to incorporate ideas, knowledge, and strategies into their own workplace.
Session A-3	Workshop: Workforce Planning - Arizona's Experience with A Strategic Approach to Meeting Workforce Needs Presenter(s): Jennifer Miller (ChildFocus), Jakki Hillis (Arizona Department for Children, Youth and Families), Connie Champnoise (CPS Human Resource Services), Jennifer B. White (Arizona Department of Children, Youth and Families), & Lillian Downing (Arizona Department of Children, Youth and Families) Details: Child welfare agencies across the country are struggling to find the right people with the right skills and attitudes to do the difficult, yet rewarding work of child welfare. In Arizona, the Department of Children, Youth and Families, which had already implemented several recruitment and retention strategies, was interested in addressing their workforce challenges through a more strategic appoach by linking them more directly to their organizational strategic plan and practice model. This workshop will share Arizona's experience with implementing the workforce planning model, in partnerships with Cornerstones for Kids, and share the results that have been achieved so far. It will also share insights about how the model can be replicated in other states to ensure that agencies use data to inform their workforce strategies, link these strategies to their organizational goals, and build human resources partnerships to ensure they can sustain the plan over time.
Session A-4	Workshop: Every Minute Counts - Lessons from Child Welfare Workload Analysis Presenter(s): Myles Edwards, PhD (American Humane Association Children’s Division), John D. Fluke (American Humane Association) Details: This workshop highlights results of child welfare workload studies conducted in several states over the last ten years. In addition to describing methods the workshop emphasizes similarities of findings and the study implications for child welfare workforce. Themes include the continuing need for workload standards rather than caseload standards, the role of increased case activity and accountability requirements on workload, the importance of setting standards that take workforce goals into account, and the need to manage workload equity.
Session A-5	Workshop: Supervisor Consultation in Support of Design Team Intervention for Workforce Retention in Child Welfare (two-part series) Presenter(s): Nancy Claiborne, Ph.D. (School of Social Welfare University at Albany, State University of New York) Details: Workforce Retention is a critical strategy for improving practice and outcomes in child welfare systems. In response, New York State implemented a team-based organizational intervention, Design Teams. Early in the intervention, it became clear that consultation was essential for supervisors to develop knowledge and skills in building a management team, unit teams, and agency-wide implementation strategies. This workshop will provide information in the implementation of supervisors’ consultation, the assumptions that guided it, the specific challenges encountered, and the results achieved.
12:00 - 1:00pm: Lunch
1:00 – 2:30pm: Session B
Session B-1	Workshop: Scaling the Ivory Tower - Retaining and Sustaining a Competent Workforce Through Agency/ University Partnership Presenter(s): Pamela L. Weeks, JD, MSW (University of Kentucky), Bibhuti K. Sar, Ph.D. (University of Louisville), Stephen R. Fox, MSW (Eastern Kentucky University, University Training Consortium), & Suzie Cashwell, Ph.D (Western Kentucky University) Details: Are they prepared to stay? This workshop presents a unique model of professional development as one key to recruiting and retaining a competent workforce. The Credit for Learning initiative is an agency/university partnership offering child welfare workers the opportunity to earn graduate-level credit while fulfilling professional development requirements for employment. Presenters will discuss: the collaborative design, development, and delivery of a specialized curriculum; the successes and challenges of mingling education and training; and lessons learned from program evaluation.
Session B-2	Workshop: Building an Agency Culture for Retaining Newly Hired Child and Family Services Staff (two-part series) Presenter(s): Judith K. McKenzie, MSW (Michigan State University, School of Social Work) & John McKenzie, BSIE (Michigan State University, School of Social Work) Details: Research indicates that child and family service staff make a decision to stay or leave the agency and/or the field within the first year on the job. This workshop will focus on agency and supervisory roles and retention practices in the first crucial months on the job. Participants will be provided concrete tools and strategies to help new casework staff navigate the key learning and emotional phases of a new job from the initial interview to completion of the first six months on the job. Participants will also hear about lessons learned from an agency/university partnership to retain new staff in an urban county experiencing high turnover. In addition, presenters will provide an overview of Michigan State University’s Six-Workbook Curriculum on Staff Recruitment and Retention which is available to participants, free-of-charge, on-line.
Session B-3	Workshop: Personnel & Training: Go Together Like a Sail and Sailing (two-part series) Presenter(s): MB Lippold (Indiana Department of Child Services) & Yonda Snyder (Indiana Department of Child Services/State Personnel Department) Details: This presentation will highlight how the Indiana Department of Child Services is focusing on recruitment and retention issues by developing a strong collaboration between all departments, but particularly between the Staff Development unit and the State Personnel Department. Through bi-weekly meetings between the Directors of each area to established workgroups focusing on all issues related to workforce and performance issues, Indiana is committed to building on strengths, identifying needs and developing specific plans to meet those needs. Examples will be given of how training modules incorporate individuals from the human resources area and how curriculum is shared between the systems to insure consistency and relevancy. Particular focus will be on the new Supervisor Modules that have been developed, how an overall plan for effective supervision is being approached and how a new Supervisors Mentor program is being coordinated.
Session B-4	Workshop: The Right Match - Strategies for Realistic Recruitment and Screening (two-part series) Presenter(s): Nancy S. Dickinson, MSSW, PhD (The University of North Carolina School of Social Work) & Freda Bernotavicz, MS (University of Southern Maine) Details: Do you deal daily with the effects of child welfare worker turnover on remaining workers and, most concerning, on families and children? Are you sometimes tempted to try to attract as many applicants as possible and hire anyone with minimal qualifications who expresses an interest in the job? This workshop will help you develop realistic strategies to attract and screen applicants who truly understand the nature of the job and are hired for all the right reasons.
Session B-5	Workshop: Continued from Session A-5. . . Supervisor Consultation in Support of Design Team Intervention for Workforce Retention in Child Welfare
2:30 - 2:45pm: Break
2:45 – 4:15pm: Session C
Session C-1	Workshop: Supervising for Recruitment and Retention Presenter(s): Miriam J Landsman (University of Iowa School of Social Work) & Lisa D'Aunno (National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice, University of Iowa) Details: This workshop will provide an overview of the supervisor's role in recruiting and retaining effective and committed child welfare employees. The presentation is based on a five-year federally funded grant on improving recruitment and retention in public child welfare. Presenters will introduce workshop participants to a variety of supervisory tools and methods developed, implemented and evaluated as part of the grant.
Session C-2	Workshop: Continued from Session B-2. . . Building an Agency Culture for Retaining Newly Hired Child and Family Services Staff
Session C-3	Workshop: Continued from Session B-3 . . . Personnel & Training: Go Together Like a Sail and Sailing
Session C-4	Workshop: Continued from Session B-4. . . The Right Match - Strategies for Realistic Recruitment and Screening
Session C-5	Workshop: Organizational Climate and Retention in Public Child Welfare Presenter(s): Maureen Baker (National Resource Center for Organizational Improvement), Helen Cahalane (Child Welfare Education and Research Program, University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work), & Jerry Sopko (The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Training Program) Details: This workshop will describe the results of a longitudinal study of differences in perceptions of the child welfare work environment among a sample of Title IV-E educated individuals who remain within public child welfare in comparison with those who sought employment elsewhere after fulfilling a legal work commitment. Strategies for addressing organizational climate will be presented, including agency assessment, leadership training for mid-level managers and supervisors, TA through coaching for supervisory staff, and linking the training system to other administrative systems within the agency.

Day 2: August 6, 2008 (Wednesday)
8:00 – 8:30am: Continental Breakfast
8:30 – 10:00am: Session D
Session D-1	Workshop: An Employee Selection Protocol to Improve Retention and Practice in Child Welfare (two-part series) Presenter(s): Alberta J. Ellett, PhD (School of Social Work University of Georgia), Chad D. Ellett, PhD (CDE Research Associates, Inc.), & Betsy Lerner, MS (Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, Education and Training Services Section) Details: The University of Georgia School of Social Work with the GA Division of Family and Children Services developed and piloted a research-based Employee Selection Protocol (ESP) derived from resutls of the largest statewide retention/turnover study. The ESP was designed to better select employees with the requisite entry-level knowledge, skills, abilities and values from a job-related validity study considered minimally essential for effective job performance. The ESP includes web-based self-selection information, realistic job preview video, and self-assessment prior to interview.
Session D-2	Workshop: Is a 74% to 94% Retention Rate for Public Child Welfare Workers Possible? YES! Find Out How. Presenter(s): Stephen R. Fox, MSW (Eastern Kentucky University, University Training Consortium) & Anita Barbee, PhD, MSSW (University of Louisville Kent School of Social Work) Details: Learn how a very unique pre-employment program in Kentucky is achieving remarkable outcomes in recruiting and retaining public child welfare workers. The Public Child Welfare Certification Program targeting, junior level BSW students at 11 universities, is maintaining a 94% one-year retention rate. 86% remain for two years and there is an overall 74% retention rate for these graduates over seven years. Learn how you can implement this eleven university collaborative which has placed over 500 high performing workers in the system.
Session D-3	Workshop: Tools for your Toolkit: Using Web-based Resources to Build a Stable and Effective Workforce Presenter(s): Pamela Day (Child Welfare Information Gateway) Details: The child welfare system is only as good as the frontline worker who provides services to children and families. Increasingly, studies demonstrate that a well-prepared and stable workforce is associated with positive child and family outcomes. How do we best recruit, select, prepare, and support child welfare workers? Child Welfare Information Gateway has recently enhanced the Workforce and Training Sections of its website, providing resources on a range of workforce strategies. This workshop will include a demonstration of these new website resources, including the Workforce Toolkit--a collection of workforce guides and tools for child welfare managers and supervisors--and the Workload Compendium--a new database with information on State workload studies, legislation, and caseload and workload standards. Participants will be invited to share resources that can be added to the Workforce Toolkit and the Workload Compendium.
Session D-4	Workshop: Recruitment and Retention of Child Welfare Workers: Myths and Realities about the Selection Process Presenter(s): Donna Parrish, MSW (Georgia Department of Family and Children Services) Details: The workshop discusses organizational and personal factors that contribute to retention of Public Child Welfare Workers, with specific reference to the selection process. The workshop includes best practices in Child Welfare and how to these practices to create a paradigm shift in organizational culture and practice to support both child welfare workers and the children and youth they serve.
Session D-5	Workshop: Small Strategies for Big Results Presenter(s): Christy Doak (Wyoming Department of Family Services), Ashleigh Sedbrook (Jefferson County Department of Human Services), & Jennifer B. White (Arizona Department of Economic Security) Details: Middle management can play a valuable role in an agency’s ability to achieve big results. Strategies can be implemented with little money, few resources, and a lot of creativity. During this workshop you’ll be presented with a variety of practical and simple solutions for improving recruitment and retention of child welfare professionals. You’ll be provided with information about flexible schedules, recognition strategies, team building, morale boosters, and communication tools. All of which you can take back to your agency and implement immediately! Presenters represent the middle management prospective from three WRRRP sites located in Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming.
10:00 - 10:15am: Break
10:15 – 11:45am: Session E
Session E-1	Workshop: Continued from Session D-1. . . An Employee Selection Protocol to Improve Retention and Practice in Child Welfare
Session E-2	Workshop: "Oh! It is Just Part of the Job!" Violence Against Public Child Welfare Workers - The Hidden Workforce Issue Presenter(s):Stephen R. Fox, MSW (Eastern Kentucky University, University Training Consortium) & Mark Washington (Former Commissioner, Kentucky Department for Community Based Services, The Washington Group, LLC) Details: Forty-eight percent of all non-fatal violence in the workplace occurs in social and health service programs (OHSA). Some research indicates that up to eighty percent of all human services workers (particularly child welfare workers) suffered threats of or actual violence doing their job. The tragic murder of workers in Kentucky in 1987 and in 2006 prompted major changes in the workplace to create a culture of safety. Learn what you can do to reduce violence and make the already difficult job safer.
Session E-3	Workshop: A Model for Increasing the Effectiveness of Title IV-E Work-Related Practica Presenter(s):Carol H. Smith, LCSW (Valdosta State University), Allison M. Curington, LMSW (Valdosta State University), & Martha M. Giddings (Valdosta State University) Details: Title IV-E Programs are designed to attract students to the field of social work and assist in professionalizing the child welfare workforce. Problems frequently arise when IV-E students enter their field practicum. Many IV-E student-employees request work-related practica in order to meet the demands of their workplace and practicum. The Work Enhancement Model (WEM) attempts to build holistic practicum experiences through an innovative, structured process of university-child welfare collaboration that can benefit significant stakeholders, including students, agencies, and universities.
Session E-4	Workshop: Let's Stay Together - Orienting for Retention in Child Welfare Presenter(s): Evelyn Williams, MSW, EdD (School of Social Work, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) & Deborah Glover Ryals, MSW (NC Recruitment and Retention Project) Details: After finding the right person for the job, are you interested in retaining that person? Retention planning starts at Day 1 and supervisors should begin with the end in mind. Engaging new staff with the work, the organization, and the community has important implications for retention. This workshop will explore traditional and evidence-based orientation practices from the perspective of retention planning and engage participants in assessing these strategies to enhance retention. Participants will have an opportunity to develop orientation strategies that promote staff retention.
Session E-5	Workshop: Learning Circles as a Professional Development Strategy for Supervisory Training Presenter(s): Joan M. Morse (National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning at the Hunter College School of Social Work) Details: This workshop will highlight the supervisory training project Preparation for Adulthood – Supervising for Success. This project uses learning circles which are small facilitated focused discussion groups to increase the knowledge, skills and abilities needed by child welfare supervisors. The model engages supervisors in small learning circles or communities using a variety of techniques from focused conversations, experiential activities, and digital stories created by supervisors, workers and young people. We will engage the group in the learning circle format, present digital stories, and share our research findings.
11:45am - 12:15pm: Joint Session
12:15 - 1:15pm: Lunch/Open Space Technology & Preparation for R.A.P. Sessions
1:15 - 2:45pm: Session F/Team Breakouts
Session F-1	Workshop: The Impact of Organizational Climate, Supervisor Support, and Peer Support on Retention in Public Child Welfare Services Organizations Presenter(s):David Chenot (California State University Fullerton) & Amy Benton (University of California, Berkeley) Details: The primary foci of the presentation are research findings concerning the roles organizational climate, supervisor support, peer support and job satisfaction play in the retention of social workers and case managers in Public Child Welfare Services Organizations. All of these constructs were found to influence retention in PCWS agencies and some of them impacted retention in the Field of Child Welfare Services as well. Finally, some ethnic differences among social workers and case managers concerning retention will be reviewed.
Session F-2	R.A.P. Session: Research to Action to Practice with Work Teams
Session F-3	R.A.P. Session: Research to Action to Practice with Work Teams
Session F-4	R.A.P. Session: Research to Action to Practice with Work Teams
Session F-5	R.A.P. Session: Research to Action to Practice with Work Teams
Session F-6	R.A.P. Session: Research to Action to Practice with Work Teams
Session F-7	R.A.P. Session: Research to Action to Practice with Work Teams
2:45 - 3:15pm: Break
3:15 - 4:15pm: Joint Session - The Future of the Child Welfare Workforce Facilitated by Freda Bernotavicz, MS (University of Southern Maine)