Professional Development Courses

Registration

All DFCS training courses listed on the online training and registration site, qualify for professional development hours. 20 training hours are required annually July 1st.-June 30th.

Scheduling

Professional Excellence classes are available by request and can be scheduled in your local area.

To request a class or for any further questions, please email requests to: Tanya Davis, [email protected].

Who can attend Professional Excellence professional development courses:

All DFCS staff employed with the State of Georgia for 18+ months
Newly employed DFCS case managers who have completed the new worker training courses required within the first two years of their hire date
OFI supervisors and case managers are encouraged to attend courses of interest to them

Current Course Offerings

Click on the title of each course to view a description of it.

OCP 402C: Field Practice Coach (Requires Approved Application) - 6 Hours (Under Development)

This training is a one-day workshop for DFCS staff who have been selected to be Field Practice Coaches for new case managers. Social Services Supervisors may also participate. Field Practice Coaches must have an approved application from Education and Training in order to take this course. Participants will become familiar with the sequence of activities a new worker completes leading to certification and the role of Field Practice Coach to mentor and coach the new employee through the training process. Participants will have an opportunity to assess and practice their coaching skills. The Field Practice Coach Program was initiated to support and expedite the training process for new case managers as they progress through Georgia’s Child Welfare System, and this course is required for eligible staff to become certified as a Field Practice Coach.

PE 514: Partnering with Dads - 12 Hours

This course focuses on the importance of fathers in children’s lives, the current research related to father involvement, and how this information can be applied throughout the child welfare continuum of services. The course includes strategies for identifying, locating and engaging fathers in the casework process, and is designed to equip case managers and supervisors to work successfully with fathers in a wide range of family situations and structures.

PE 515: Navigating the Teen Zone

This course is designed to help participants answer the question, “What is going on with this teen and what can I do to help him/her?” In the first section of the training, Talking about Teens, participants learn about adolescent development and behaviors, potential feelings of teens involved with DFCS, and specific health and development issues that teens experience. In the second section, Talking with Teens, participants learn how to effectively engage teens in order to help them make positive movement toward a healthy adulthood. Topics include: communicating with teens, using a positive youth development approach, permanency, and case management strategies. This course is recommended for Social Services staff.

PE 519: Secondary Traumatic Stress for Supervisors - 12 Hours

This course is designed to educate Social Services supervisors on the primary and secondary traumatic stress aspects of their work. Participants will assess their own personal and professional care and develop an understanding of how to manage direct and secondary trauma. Participants will also learn how to help their staff members manage the responses related to traumatic stress in their work. The course includes instruction on the nature of traumatic stress as well as individual coping skills and social support strategies that, if implemented, may reduce the negative impact on work performance and individual worker well being. This course is recommended for Social Services Supervisors and Field Program Specialists.

PE 530: Quarterly FTM Facilitators Advanced Training - 4 Hours

This is advanced training for Agency staff who are responsible for the FTM process at the county, regional or state level. Participants may include FTM facilitators, co-facilitators, coordinators, supervisors, Field Program Specialists, and administration. Advanced skill training is offered in facilitating Family Team Meetings that may include the following issues: Family Violence, Substance Abuse, Family Conflicts and Mental Health Issues. In addition, participants are given the opportunity to network with others across the state who share similar job responsibilities.

PE 537: Childhood Trauma - 15 Hours

Children involved with the child welfare system are likely to have experienced both acute and chronic trauma in environments characterized by adversity and deprivation. It is important for child welfare workers to recognize the complexity of a child’s lifetime trauma history and to not focus solely on the single event that might have precipitated a report. This 2-day course gives child welfare workers a broad overview of child traumatic stress, examines the impact of trauma on children in the child welfare system and provides tips on working with providers who deliver trauma-informed care.

PE 539: Performance Consulting: Training for CQI Facilitators - 12 Hours

Quality Improvement (CQI) Facilitators in their region. This course examines a specific model for performance improvement and the process of performance consulting, including conducting performance analysis and using this analysis to choose and implement appropriate interventions for change. The course also examines how facilitators take a collaborative role with their team and other staff in the CQI process.

PE 540: Group Facilitation Skills for CQI Facilitators - 6 Hours

This course is the second in the training series to prepare designated DFCS staff to take a facilitative role in the continuous quality improvement (CQI) process by acting as performance consultants within their region. This course focuses on the development of basic group facilitation skills. The course consists of a sequence of instructional segments followed by small group experience and individual practice of a specific aspect of facilitation.

PE 548: Addressing the Educational, Physical and Mental Needs of Children (Online) - 6 Hours

This course is designed to increase staff members’ ability to help ensure that children’s well-being needs are met. It focuses on how knowledge about child development, child trauma, educational issues, and children’s physical and mental health needs can be applied to case management activities and used to positively impact well-being outcomes across program areas. The course includes relevant policy and practice and provides strategies and resources to help staff address child well-being needs.

PE 549: Children and Psychotropic Medications (Online) - 3 Hours

This course is designed to help case managers increase their knowledge and skills related to children being treated with psychotropic medications. Although psychotropic medications can be an important and effective part of a child’s mental health treatment, the use of this medication with children requires careful oversight and monitoring. The course includes relevant policy and practice and provides strategies and resources to help staff take an active role in treatment planning, provision, and monitoring.

PE 550: Navigating the Legal System & Mock Trial (Part I & II) - 12 Hours

This training is designed to provide participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully use the legal system to protect and serve children. Part II (Day two) builds on the legal foundation information presented in Legal Issues I (Day 1). This class provides an opportunity for participants to apply what they learned in Legal Issues 1 to a mock-trial setting. Each participant will have an opportunity to role play the case manager and prepare his/her case for witnessing in court in order to further develop court skills.

PE 551: Classroom Management Skills - 6 Hours

This course will provide staff who have been charged with delivering training in the agency with core skills needed to be effective classroom trainers. Items covered in the course include:

An introduction to adult learning principles and how they relate to training delivery
Specific tasks to prepare for training and create a positive classroom environment
Using specific techniques to increase training effectiveness

PE 552 : Secondary Traumatic Stress for Case Managers - 12 hours

This course is designed to educate Social Services case managers on the direct and secondary traumatic stress aspects of their work. Participants will learn how to assess symptoms of secondary traumatic stress (STS) in themselves, including knowing when and how to ask for help, and how to manage STS using various strategies. Participants will practice having focused conversations about STS, assess their own personal and professional self-care, and develop self-care plans.

PE DADS: Partnering with Dads Sequence – 14 hours

This is a blended learning course with three parts:

Part I – Webinar- participants receive an overview of the Partnering with Dads sequence, including training activities, participation expectations, and how to access online course materials. Participants have the opportunity meet their instructor and to ask questions about the course.

Part II – Online: In this session, participants watch videos lectures and complete individual activities in an online environment. Content includes the importance of fathers in children’s lives, the impact of father involvement on child welfare outcomes, and strategies for identifying, locating, engaging, and involving fathers. The online learning activities are accessed via CourseSites.com. Participants complete activities at their own pace over a 9-day period.

Part III – Classroom: In this classroom session, participants are engaged in a scenario based learning activity and in answering the “now what” question for their own cases. This session is designed to help participants apply what they learned online to families on their caseload and to make strategic decisions on how to improve father involvement.

PE Legal: Navigating the Legal System & Mock Trial Sequence - 14 hours

This is a two part training series, online and instructor led. This training is designed to provide workers with a hands-on experience of testifying in legal proceedings in cases of abuse and neglect. The goal of this training is to provide workers with the knowledge necessary to meet various judicial standards in their testimonies as it is used to protect and serve children. This training builds on the workers’ basic knowledge on legal proceedings in child welfare system and it enhances their skills when testifying in court. After completing the online portion of the training, participants will meet with their instructor for one day to practice and apply what they learnt. During the instructor-led session, workers will experience testifying during legal proceedings through the use of mock hearings. Learners will participate using a real case file and role play while getting feedback from instructors and other trainees. Instructors will review the guidelines for being a credible witness, and prior to each mock trial they will go over the essential statutory elements and practical issues involved in the hearing.

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