Drugs, Alcohol, Pregnancy & Children Who Are Vulnerable 

Monthly, February 2026 – November 2026

CWLA is pleased to partner with Dr. Ira J. Chasnoff, the Founder & President of NTI Upstream, to bring you the essential training series Drugs, Alcohol, Pregnancy & Children Who Are Vulnerable.

This monthly training series will be held from February to November. It will explore the biological and environmental factors for children and families that impact the ultimate development of children affected by prenatal substance exposure and will provide strategies for family- and school-based interventions that can promote long-term growth and development for this high-risk population of children. Each of the monthly training sessions is a stand-alone learning opportunity. Participants are welcome to register for one or multiple sessions.

Training Topics Include:
• The Neurobiology of Attachment in Pregnancies Affected by Substance Use
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD): Understanding the Diagnosis
• Marijuana, Mother, and Father: A Public Health Perspective
• Behavior Belongs in the Brain: Moving Away from Blame
• Sensory Processing: A Continuum of Challenges for Children with Prenatal Substance Exposure
• Risk is Not Destiny: Behavioral and Educational Interventions for Children and Teens Affected by Prenatal Substance Exposure
• How Adults Can Interact with Children to Promote Emotional and Behavioral Regulation
• Sensory Diets and DIY Sensory Rooms for Home
• Building Stronger Bonds: Enhancing Parent-Child Attunement
• Unseen Beginnings: Adoptive Parents’ Lived Experiences Raising a Child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

How to Succeed Against Compassion Fatigue

Wednesday, July 8, 2026
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Eastern Time

The human services workforce is encountering many challenges related to recruitment, retention, and staff morale. A major factor contributing to these challenges is compassion fatigue – an unintended consequence of working in helping professions. External life factors can easily exacerbate commitment to day-to-day responsibilities, resulting in missed opportunities for support, and a lack of empathy for others.

Effective leadership practices, supervision skills, and support strategies can help prevent burnout and reduce staff turnover. Using CWLA’s 4 A’s framework, this training will focus on:
• Increasing Awareness of the many challenges and contributing factors that can create/ exacerbate compassion fatigue in the workplace
• Acknowledging the complexity of these issues and the role supervisors can play in supporting self-evaluation and professional growth
• Identifying Actions supervisors and individual staff can take to create a positive work environment and promote psychological safety
• Discussing shared Accountability to empower and support staff with a proactive approach to reducing compassion fatigue and identifying measurable progress

Working with Traumatized Children

Mondays, August 17, 24 & 31, 2026
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm Eastern Time

CWLA is pleased to present the three-part virtual training series that features our CWLA Press publication Working with Traumatized Children – A Handbook for Healing, Fourth Edition, newly released in 2026. As reflected by evolving research, this edition includes new information on trauma’s impact on the brain, essential practices for providers, an expanded chapter on trauma symptoms, and practical suggestions for creating safety. The training reflects these new additions and gives an overview of the first five chapters of Working with Traumatized Children.

Participants will gain a strengthened capacity to:

1. Define what trauma is and differentiate it from stress.
2. Name the three essential practices of providers necessary for healing trauma in children.
3. Give four examples of trauma symptoms in adults and children.
4. Describe two ways trauma can impact the brains of children.
5. Explain the importance of providing for safety in working with adults and children who have been traumatized.
6. Provide several examples of how systems can be traumatizing or retraumatizing to individuals.
7. Articulate how knowledge about the Vagus Nerve can be helpful in working with families and children who have been traumatized.
8. Express why self-reflective practices and supervision are important when working with adults and children who have been traumatized.

Building Blocks for Effective Co-Parenting
Free Members-Only Learning Session

Wednesday, August 19, 2026
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

CWLA’s quarterly members-only learning sessions continue in August with Building Blocks for Effective Co-Parenting.

Families become separated for a variety of reasons. CWLA’s Building Blocks for Effective Co-Parenting training curriculum provides an opportunity to explore why some relationships end, understand how family separation can affect children’s identity and self-esteem, and learn strength-based, solution-focused strategies that create greater consistency and support for everyone involved.

Many of these core principles can be applied across all family structures, including birth, kinship, foster, and adoptive families. Join us to learn more about the fundamental concepts of Building Blocks for Effective Co-Parenting and their relevance to anyone responsible for supporting the healthy growth and development of children.

This free session is exclusively for CWLA members.

Using Organizational Assessment to Address Secondary Trauma in Child Welfare Settings

Friday, September 11, 2026
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm Eastern Time

Trauma exposure experienced by child welfare staff has been closely linked to engagement with clients, risk and safety-related decision-making, and staff turnover. Child welfare agencies often identify secondary trauma (ST) as an occupational hazard for staff but struggle with how to intervene. This free webinar will review how the Washington County (Maryland) Department of Social Services (WCDSS) used the Child Welfare Traumameter (CWT) organizational assessment process to identify and address secondary trauma experienced by its staff. Workshop participants will learn about the CWT process, the benefits of using organizational assessment to support trauma-informed practice, and approaches used by WCDSS to both identify and address secondary trauma. There will be time for participants to ask questions.

Presenters: Erika Tullberg, PhD, Assistant Research Professor at NYU Langone Health; Amanda Bishop Burdick, LCSW-C, Assistant Director, Adult, Child & Family Services Division at Washington County Department of Social Services