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

The Complicated Case of Sibling Sexual Abuse

Tuesday, May 19 & Monday & Tuesday, June 1 & 2, 2026
9:00 am – 11:00 am Eastern Time

Sibling sexual abuse and harmful sexual behavior is argued to be the most common form of intra-familial sexual abuse. These interactions within a family are complex and often involve multiple professional disciplines, from the initial assessment through treatment of the individuals involved and the family unit. Child welfare professionals can play an influential role in safety planning, successful case resolution, and facilitating discussions around well-being and family cooperation.

To assist practitioners in examining this subcategory of child sexual abuse, CWLA is offering this introductory training focused on early identification, interruption of harmful behavior, and identification of treatment needs. This training will include a real-life case example to illustrate the needed assessment competencies in this multi-faceted and complex work. We will explore the environments that support these interactions, a criterion for assessment as to what is abusive and what is developmentally understandable. We will use the PROFESOR model as part of the assessment to assist in decision-making. The training is designed to help practitioners critically assess these types of cases, develop rationale for their decisions, and to offer support for the whole family unit.

Strengthening Kinship Care: Traditions of Caring and Collaborating Model of Practice

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

1:00 pm – 4:00 pm Eastern Time

CWLA’s trauma-informed model of practice, Traditions of Caring and Collaborating addresses the unique strengths and needs of kinship caregivers. This model of practice has guiding principles grounded in a caring and collaborating approach to protect and nurture children and strengthen families. The model is responsive to the needs and experiences of kinship caregivers recognizing the dynamics unique to the inherited role of being someone’s relative and the acquired role of volunteering to foster.

This training opportunity will share a historical perspective on kinship care and provide an overview for identifying areas of concern for kinship families and agency staff who work with them including legal, financial, family relationships, health and mental health, child behavior, fair and equal treatment, and more. It will also highlight the competencies needed to support kinship caregivers through phases of collaboration to address all aspects of child development and family support.

Assessing Our Capacity for Family Support and Prevention Programming

Tuesday, June 16, 2026
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Eastern Time

There are a myriad of unique challenges and opportunities related to the development of family support and primary prevention programming for non-profit child welfare agencies. Many jurisdictions have been exploring methods that prioritize more accessible, non-stigmatizing, and common-sense approaches to service delivery. There is a renewed emphasis on family engagement and involvement as agencies are encouraged to collaborate with a wider range of community partners.

Non-profit child welfare agencies are rethinking their purpose and programs to align themselves more closely with public policy and best practices related to family support and primary prevention. However, for many of these agencies, the practical reality of implementation can be daunting. The adaptive and organizational culture changes are transformational, but there is no established road map for how provider agencies might best achieve their goals.

This two-hour session will be a primer that frames the useful and practical questions on the road to redesign. The content will take participants beyond slogans and big picture themes and will emphasize a more detailed and operational approach to the task of redesigning an agency’s programs and practices. To gain the most benefit from this interactive session, please make sure that you register as a team of at least 2 but not more than 4 persons. You will have the opportunity to work in breakout sessions with your team.

Intrafamilial Child Sexual Abuse: Insights, Interventions, Interruption and Next Steps

Mondays & Tuesdays, June 15 & 16 and June 29 & 30, 2026
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Eastern Time

CWLA is pleased to offer an expanded training of Intrafamilial Child Sexual Abuse: Insights, Interventions, Interruption and Next Steps presented in (4) four two-hour sessions. The training sessions will share ideas and expertise to enhance participants’ understanding, assessment of and intervention with situations involving father-, father figure-daughter incest. The topics to be covered will include prevalence rates, the application of research, literature, theory and typologies to assist practitioners to conceptualize secretive and harmful behavior. Barriers to inquiry and intervention and poor outcomes for children will be discussed. Several tools, techniques and interview questions will be offered to access hidden information.

This training will provide profiles of children who demonstrate psychosomatic symptoms connected to victimization. The presentation of both mother and father figures, their thinking patterns, demonstrations of anger, power and control, and aggression will be factored into an assessment of family structure, functioning, and safety. To bring this training from theory to practice, several case examples will be used to illustrate connections between the many themes we seek to cover in the 8 hours of training.

Using Engagement and Data to Provide Appropriate Care for Children and Youth with Emotional and Behavioral Health Challenges

Thursdays, June 25, July 9 & July 16, 2026
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Eastern Time

Determining how to provide appropriate care to children who have intense behavioral and emotional needs can be complex and challenging. When behaviors are difficult to control or efforts to address these complex needs in home or community-based care are unsuccessful, the result is youth are admitted into congregate care. The goals of this training are to address the processes used to determine referrals for behavioral health care for children and youth by looking at the referral and decision-making processes, access processes, and briefly the infrastructure needed.

The training will also address the specific needs of youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and substance use disorders, access opportunities for youth who might otherwise have entered Juvenile Justice programs, keeping youth close to home by developing interventions based on data in their own communities, and expanding low cost options and strategies to focus on behavioral and emotional challenges while also taking into consideration the social determinants of health.

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