Last week the Child Welfare Training Academy hosted the Grand Opening of its Roseville center.
Child welfare facilities are often utilitarian at best, communicating that the work is barely worth paying for.
But this building practically shouts “Our staff are valued!” It has state-of-the-art equipment, business-world-like huddle spaces where staff can do impromptu problem-solving, and simulated client living rooms where workers can hone their skills through videotaped interviews with professional actors.
This joint effort by the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the University of Minnesota’s Center for the Advanced Study of Child Welfare (CASCW) delivers foundational training to 500 new workers annually plus advanced skills to 150 staff monthly at Roseville and four regional locations.
Since 2015 DHS and CASCW have worked tenaciously to get the Academy funded, design the facility, and blend their technologies. The result is “Wow!”
This week’s podcast captures Rich Gehrman’s recent interview with Jennifer Sommerfeld, who is the Director of Legislation and Internal Affairs for the Department of Human Service’s Child and Family Services Administration. Jennifer provided an inside look at the annual cycle of how the Department of Human Services determines its legislative priorities.