Blog

Visit our Human Services Blog regularly for information about current issues, research and happenings in the field of human services. All content is generated by UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education staff, instructors or colleagues.

We also produce several digital publications—each with a specific focus on an area of human services practice:

Attendees of the 2025 Title IV-E Summit gather in a large banquet hall for a presentation by Christine Mark-Griffin, who stands on stage in a yellow blouse and black trousers with her hand raised.

“Healing is Not an Individual Journey”

  • by Tyler Morgenstern, UC Davis Human Services

California’s child welfare workforce is predominantly comprised of passionate and committed individuals driven by a deep desire to change their communities for the better. Tasked with intervening in complex and distressing cases of abuse and neglect, however, these dedicated workers often experience compassion fatigue, secondary trauma and burnout as a part of their deep connection to the profession.

California Wraparound

From the Director

  • by Nancy Hafer, M.S., Director, Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice
 

Collectively, our nation is in a period of profound change. The word “uncertainty” is everywhere—used by scholars, media personalities, politicians, colleagues and friends alike. It has become shorthand for something deeper: a widespread sense of disorientation, transition and not quite knowing what comes next.

Illustration for Wraparound

Wraparound: A Blessing in Disguise

  • by Lynne Jones, LCSW
Jesus and Cassie, along with their toddler Xavier, were proud to share their Wraparound journey with Lynne Jones, field consultant at the Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice. We are excited to uplift their story of resilience, courage, faith and hope.
Cheryl Tredwell

Honoring Cheryl Treadwell

  • by Cheryl’s grateful colleagues at the Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice and the California Department of Social Services
Cheryl’s wisdom, warmth and unyielding spirit will be deeply missed in the halls of social services, but her legacy is woven into the very fabric of child welfare. Though she now embarks on a well-earned retirement filled with hiking, family time and community service, her voice, her passion and her fight for equity will continue to inspire us all.
Kim Stokem

What About Baby?

  • by Kim Stokem, LMFT, Countywide Wraparound Trainer and Fidelity Coach, Contra Costa Behavioral Health; UC Davis Instructor; 0-5 Years Champion
In the Summer 2024 issue of Wraparound Connections, Jarred “Jay” Vermillion’s article, Aligning for Action: California's Wraparound Initiative Taking Flight to New Heights!, explored the history and future of California’s Wraparound Initiative. As a Wraparound Champion for the 0-5 population, I was especially struck by two statements in the piece that deeply resonated with my work.
Person writing in notebook

Lost Without Translation

  • by Tamara Trejos, Wraparound Program Specialist, UC Davis Human Services
"Your ABA will be provided by an RBT under a BCBA per the IPP and IEP BIP." UMMMM, WHAAAATTT???
Maria Casa

My Journey to Becoming a Parent Partner

  • by Maria Casas, Parent Partner and Certified Peer Support Specialist
Becoming a parent partner at Aspiranet Intensive Home-Based Services (IHBS) Wraparound in Visalia was not just my career choice, it was a part of my personal mission, rooted in my experiences navigating the often complex and overwhelming world of mental health care.
California Wraparound

Strengthening Wraparound Through Collaboration: CDSS and the Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice

  • by Danielle Gabri, MA, Staff Services Manager I, Family-Centered Practice Unit, System of Care Branch, Children and Family Services Division, California Department of Social Services
Our partnership exemplifies what is possible when agencies work together toward a shared goal. CDSS is proud to collaborate with RCFFP in providing the guidance, training and resources needed to ensure that Wraparound remains a strong, effective, and family-driven model of care in California.
Tabatha Rodgers

Growing Out of Trauma

  • by Tabitha Rodgers, Transition Aftercare Services & Substance Abuse Coordinator
Growing up in the foster care system for six years before returning to my mother, I remember being scared, sad and angry. As a 7-year-old little girl yearning for love and comfort, I found myself surrounded by strangers, bouncing between foster homes and the Mary Graham Children's Shelter in French Camp, CA.
A group of people, many scattered about, but the ones grouped together form a positively progressing upward line, with a small dip in the mid-point to suggest a realistic, ending with an upward arrow.

Record-Breaking Statewide CQI Conference Unites Child Welfare and Probation Professionals

  • by Jason M Borucki
From March 25–27, 2025, the Northern Academy at UC Davis Human Services welcomed California’s child welfare and probation county teams to 2025l CQI Statewide Conference for Child Welfare and Probation in Sacramento. With 350 attendees from 49 California counties and one Tribe, the annual event enjoyed the highest turnout since it began in 2018.
Three girls cheering in triumph

2025 Sarah Duncan Award Nominees Announced

  • by Jason M Borucki
In celebration of National Social Work Month in March, the Northern Academy invited our colleagues and community partners in the Northern California region to nominate an outstanding social worker for the 2025 Sarah Duncan Champion for Children and Families Award! We are excited to announce this year’s nominees!
A circle of people hold hands

Building a New Future for Child Welfare, One Human at a Time

  • by Tyler Morgenstern, UC Davis Human Services

As in nearly all fields, digital tools of all stripes are now standard-issue in the world of social work and child welfare. But even as such tools offer tantalizing new efficiencies, they are in many ways a poor fit for the uncertainties and gray areas that make up the  challenging reality of child welfare services.

California Wraparound

From the Director

  • by Nancy Hafer, M.S., Director, Resource Center for Family-Focused Practice
While it’s often been said that the only certainty is uncertainty, Wraparound remains relentlessly determined to be there for children and families when they need it, and as early as they need it, so that their lives are strengthened and improved by services rather than overwhelmed by such uncertainty. This is what Wraparound can be, and needs to be, to keep our most vulnerable and marginalized children, families and communities safe.