Moral Injury Training: Understanding, Healing, and Building Resilience

With the shifts in policy priorities and accompanying uncertainties in funding, we see a growing need to focus our attention on the increasing moral injury occurring for the workforce. While not a new issue in fields such as the military, moral injury has begun to be recognized as an emergent and urgent topic at the intersection of child welfare, behavioral health, ethics, and systems of care. Moral injury occurs when individuals are put in positions where they act, or find themselves unable to act, in ways that deeply violate their personal values, leaving lasting psychological and emotional impacts. This modified version of the 6-hour training series offered by CWLA will share with attendees what the research tells us, including in other fields, and through case examples to help participants gain a deeper understanding of moral injury, how it presents in in ourselves, our child welfare systems, and in our communities. Attendees will receive practical tools and resources and learn what supervisors, leaders, and organizations can do to support recovery, foster ethical resilience, and create environments that are rooted in compassion and accountability.

Facilitators: Julie Collins, CWLA VP of Practice Excellence; Melinda Baldwin, CWLA Mental Health Advisory Board

Supervising for Excellence and Success 

The quality of supervision is recognized as a significant factor in an organization’s overall capacity and ability to provide services that achieve operational goals and desired outcomes for children, youth, and families. Quality supervision is also an important factor associated with a positive work environment, staff retention, and professional development. This session focuses in-depth on the essential practice elements and functions of supervision. This overview will highlight content about supervisory functions (Leading, Planning, Organizing, Teaching, Supporting, and Evaluating) framed through discussion, self-reflection, and group exercises. Practice elements critical to supporting professional engagement, partnership, and team building in supervision will be highlighted to align with research and best practices. Discussions will touch on the supporting theoretical concepts related to the supervisory role and related skills and competencies.

Facilitator: Deborah Wilson Gadsden, CWLA Director of EIB and Professional Development

Strengthening Kinship Care

Kinship caregivers are often considered as an alternative for children to prevent them entering foster care in the child welfare system. For years, the thought has been that this is most beneficial for the child because there is an established relationship with the individuals who will be providing for their daily needs. This may ring true in many cases, however, there are unique challenges for family members who step into the kinship caregiver role, including: navigating relationships between birth parents and other relatives; working with systems and interacting with case workers, therapists, and community providers; and managing self-care, personal relationships, and dedicating time with other children residing in and outside the household. This engaging and interactive session is focused on how to increase opportunities to support kinship caregivers while reducing the chance of placement disruption. This training will feature group activities, peer-to-peer learning, and insight from the lived experiences of participants.

Facilitator: Marcus Stallworth, CWLA Director of Training and Implementation