TUESDAY, JUNE 20 (Pre-Conference SOP Skills Labs)
Arrive early to attend one or both of our half-day SOP Skills Labs in Davis on Tuesday, June 20 - one day before the conference begins!
Morning Skills Lab: Harm and Danger Statements; Safety Goals
Rebekah Rogers, M.S.W.
Afternoon Skills Lab: Safety Mapping
Rebekah Rogers, M.S.W.
Please note that enrollment in each skills lab is separate from the SOP Conference and will require a CACWT Account for registration.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21 (Day 1 of Conference)
8:00 am - 9:00 am
Registration and Breakfast
9:00 am - 9:15 am
Welcome & Opening Remarks from Alison Book, Director of UC Davis Human Services and the Northern Academy
9:15 am - 10:45 am
Keynote: Fragmented Pieces: A Story of Partner Violence and Resilience
Stefania M. Agliano, Ed.D, LMSW with Bryan Hall II, LCSW
Presented by a survivor of childhood trauma and exposure to intimate partner violence—with a narration of her mother and family’s story woven throughout—this unique keynote provides participants with insight into the generational impact of violence and complex trauma on the family. Both adult and child perspectives are explored, including issues related to immigration, parenting, mental health, substance abuse, child protection services, law enforcement response, services for battered women and the need to engage men in changing battering behaviors and gender-based violence. This is a story of healing, redemption, loss, trauma across the lifespan, the impact of the system and providers, and the tenacity to succeed.
10:45 am - 11:00 am
Break
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
- Morning Workshops A
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Disrupting Sex Trafficking through Intervention and Prevention for Male Perpetrators
Stefania M. Agliano, Ed.D, LMSW with Bryan Hall II, LCSW
Often missing from anti-trafficking efforts is the need to address the trafficker. While anyone can identify as a trafficker, this workshop is specifically focused on cis, heteronormative males as perpetrators. Workshop participants will be given an overview on the importance of working with adolescent and young adult males who are at risk of becoming involved in the crime of trafficking.
After attending this workshop, participants will be able to:• Identify the complexities youth face that may lead them to trafficking, including issues related to systemic racism and oppression and issues stemming from disproportionality and disparity.
• Articulate the impact that mass media has on young men, their development of the idea of masculinity and its correlation to exploitation and trafficking-related behaviors.
• List the techniques that could be used to connect with youth to assist youth in seeing their role in the abolition of buying sex (demand) and pimping (sexual exploitation of girls and women) by agreeing not to participate or condone that behavior.
Father Engagement through the SOP Lens
Christian DeVito and Maria Araiza
This interactive workshop explores engagement techniques and highlights the responsibility and importance of engaging fathers in the child welfare process. Through discussion, group activity, and an exploration of San Diego County’s Father Engagement field activity, participants will leave the workshop with the increased capacity to:
• Identify disparities in engagement and outcomes for fathers and their extended family.
• Utilize SOP and strength-based interview strategies for engaging fathers, including the identification of the role as a father, protective actions, strengths, and underlying needs.
• Recognize the importance of engaging fathers and value the role they play in the life of their children.
Implementing Skills Labs in County Practice to Grow Capacity, Competence and Critical Thinking for Social Workers
Rebekah Rogers, M.A. M.S.W. and Peggi Cooney, M.S.W.
Leaders in Child Welfare have heard that it takes more than a training session to develop new skills and methods for engaging in complex work with children and families. This workshop will help participants dive deeper by learning about the neuroscience of cementing pathways in the brain through repeated practice and feedback to enhance the capacities, competence, and critical thinking. We will review the components of skills labs in the topics of writing harm and danger statements and building behaviorally-specific case plans and explore strategies for implementation of ongoing skills labs in your county. Implementation science is a key concept and participants will be provided an opportunity to discuss roll-out strategies and practice engaging in them in a skills lab as a learner.
Partnering with Survivors to Preserve Families Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence
Luck Luckey, Stephanie Coram, Grace Lee, Madison Abrojena & Andrea Lego
A safety-organized approach to addressing intimate partner violence (IPV) can create better assessments, better partnerships, improve cross-collaboration, and result in better outcomes for children and families. In this workshop, California county panelists will share their experiences adopting a shared framework for preserving families that are experiencing IPV. This session will also explore the difference between a traditional ‘failure to protect’ approach and a safety-organized approach to working with families experiencing IPV. Presenters will support participant’s awareness of implicit bias, gender stereotypes, and parenting double standards, which impact survivor engagement. Participants will be introduced to new tools for assessing the perpetrator’s behaviors which impact the child, non-offending survivors, and household functioning. The goal of this session is for participants to find a common way to think about IPV, speak about it, and document it when working with families.
Using Safety Organized Practice for Engagement and Assessment Across the Case Continuum
Emma Black, M.S.W. and Michaela Woodward, M.S.W.
Following an overview of the different SOP tools available and an examination of how they can be used to build rapport, establish trust, and create safe spaces for children and families to share their experiences, this workshop will explore how SOP’s depth of engagement helps to inform assessments of risk, safety, permanency, and well-being through the use of tools such as the CANS and SDM.
After attending this workshop, participants will have increased capacity to:
• Understand how SOP fundamental principles can enhance engagement and assessment skills with children and families.
• Explore how to Integrate SOP tools and principles into the assessment process with families to enhance the accuracy of SDM assessments and CANS scores.
• Apply practical strategies to overcome barriers to client engagement and build effective communication skills.
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
- Afternoon Workshops B
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Addressing Intimate Partner Violence with SOP: Perpetrator Responsibility and SDM System
Luck Lucky and Claire Crowley, Evident Change Program Specialist
Intimate partner violence (IPV) often negatively impacts the physical and emotional safety of the children, non-offending survivors, and the functioning of the entire family. Facilitators will engage participants in critical thinking about their practice when there is a perpetrator pattern of coercive control and violence. This session will review traditional and safety-organized techniques working with perpetrators, with a strong focus on father inclusion when serving the entire family experiencing IPV. Presenters will support participant awareness of implicit bias when engaging caregivers who perpetrate violence. Participants will understand how IPV is defined in the context of child safety and learn how perpetrator’s behaviors inform Structured Decision Making (SDM) assessments, not ‘failure to protect’.
Braiding SOP and an Entrepreneurial Mindset: Illuminating Opportunities for Child Welfare and the Office of Education
Rebekah Rogers, M.A., M.S.W. and Dr. Alan Rogers
The challenges practitioners face today in providing support services require new ways of thinking. Join us as we explore how entrepreneurialism, and a growth mindset can illuminate partnerships and opportunities. We’ll explore concepts of multiagency partnerships, braiding funds, and other ways of breaking out of silos to create innovative and sustainable solutions for clients.
After attending this workshop, participants will be able to:
• Describe an entrepreneurial mindset as an approach to building partnerships in the primary and secondary supports of the FFPSA.
• Understand how SOP can be used as a launchpad to explore the concept of durability, not just adaptability, for programs.
• Understand strategies for breaking out of silos and braiding services.
• Communicate in cross-sector collaboration using SOP.
Closing the Wellness Gap: Utilizing Enrichment Activities as a Prevention Strategy
Makayla James, M.S.W.
This workshop incorporates a youth-led perspective on how reducing the barriers to extracurricular and enrichment activities improves the outcomes of young people in foster care. Presenters will provide research data demonstrating the significance of these activities on youths’ mental health and well-being, highlight the current law that entitles and enables participation in the activities, and discuss how current efforts and funds can be leveraged to support family and community-based placements which include these activities.
Enhancing Your SOP Toolkit with Motivational Interviewing
Ali Hall
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a collaborative conversation style for strengthening a person’s own motivation and commitment to change; it is also one of the key qualifying evidence-based practices under the Family First Prevention Services Act. In this brief, highly interactive session, we will learn about and try out some MI skills for enhancing our SOP toolkits, and explore how individuals, agencies, and counties can learn to intentionally implement and measure MI skill in their service delivery to families, children, and youth.
As a result of this session, participants will be able to:
• Identify the four elements of MI spirit.
• Identify the four MI Processes.
• Identify the two most common instruments used to measure MI skill.
Shasta County's Unique CFT Model: Increasing Engagement in Case Planning and Family Reunification
Kristi Claycamp, M.S.W.
In this workshop, presenters will share the positive impacts associated with Shasta County’s development of a Facilitation Unit consisting of a designated supervisor, facilitators, office assistants, and peer support specialists. Emphasizing the positive outcomes that can be achieved through innovative approaches to Child and Family Team Meeting (CFTM) facilitation, presenters will share ways in which each position within the Facilitation Unit can contribute to increased engagement in the CFTM process, with a special emphasis on peer support specialists (who utilize their lived experiences in child welfare, healing and recovery to help parents address barriers and assist social workers, caregivers and parents to more effectively engage with one another). In addition, we will discuss how this unique staffing promotes teaming and contributes to more fully integrating the CANS into the CFT process.
3:00 pm - 3:15 pm
Break
3:15 pm - 4:15 pm
Keynote: A Fence Instead of an Ambulance
Dr. Nicki Weld
In 1933, John Dewey stated, “We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on the experience.” Critical reflection invites us to make sense of experiences through a process of describing, analyzing, and questioning. Through this process, practice mistakes and difficulties can provide valuable learning that contributes to the development of practice wisdom for both the worker and other professionals.
In this engaging keynote address, Dr. Nicki Weld will take listeners on a journey from transforming an example of poor practice into a reflective checklist to support safe, responsive practice. The sharing of tools, such as this reflective check list, can contribute to the development of ‘common ground’ between agencies. This supports collaboration and communication, both essential in the prevention of harm to children and vulnerable adults.
Listeners will walk away with:
- Ways to apply critical reflection in practice.
- A reminder and enhanced awareness of professional dangerousness dynamics.
- 10 reflective questions for all professionals and agencies to consider when working with children and families.
4:15 pm - 4:30 pm
Day One Closing Remarks
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
SOP Networking Event!
THURSDAY, JUNE 22 (Day 2 of Conference)
8:00 am - 8:30 am
Registration and Breakfast
8:30 am - 8:45 am
Welcome to Day 2 of the SOP Conference
8:45 am - 9:45 am
Keynote: Be the Difference: Your Commitment to Belonging Changes Lives
Gaelin Elmore
Would you believe me if I told you that a foster child becoming a “success story” or a “statistic” has way more to do with you than it does the child? I’ve been labeled a success story for the things that I’ve been able to accomplish thus far in life—and I am proud and thankful for where I am. But that’s not the complete picture. There were moments in my life when I was well on my way to being a statistic, and if I’d had it my way, I would have been.
If not for select people coming into my life at the right time, I would not be here. The youth you serve need a lot of things, but what they need most are adults in their life committed to being different. When you commit to being the difference, we have a chance to meet their biggest and most important need—the need to belong. And belonging changes lives. I know because it changed mine.
Listeners will learn:
- About the unique belonging deficit that foster youth must navigate.
- How to utilize SOP principles to cultivate belonging.
- How to maximize their positive difference through the CARE model.
9:45 am - 10:00 am
Break
10:00 am - 11:30 am
- Morning Workshops C
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Coaching Techniques for Quality Supervision
Derrin Ford and Kendrick Dial
This workshop is intended for staff and leaders alike to hear how a coach has processed conversations and taken workers from a crisis-oriented mindset to one of prevention. As the shift of preventive measures is at the forefront of Child Welfare Services, it is vital to comprehend what mindsets are still in place with staff so that we can recognize opportunities for growth. This workshop will offer learners the opportunity to explore coaching skills and tools and techniques that can be used during quality supervision to support workers developing their practice.
After attending this training, workshop participants will be able to:
• Identify coaching skills that can support the transfer of learning during quality supervision.
• Identify methods to support and develop skillset to identify family strengths as preventive measures.
• Apply tools to coach to time management and cultural responsiveness.
Increasing Social Worker Well-Being Through the Lens of SOP
Peggi Cooney, M.S.W.
Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is a common form of occupational stress that can lead social workers toward unhealthy coping strategies, illness, burnout and possibly leaving the field altogether. This workshop will provide ways to recognize the signs of STS and system trauma, using a personal well-being mapping process that utilizes the tools and ideology from Safety Organized Practice. The workshop will also provide some self-care mindfulness activities that will work to address workplace stress and increase the well-being of social workers at all levels.
After attending this workshop, participants will have increased capacity to:
• Recognize the warning signs of STS and system trauma in the workplace.
• Utilize a well-being mapping framework to identify strengths and worries related to social work practice and develop healthy and practical next steps to self-care.
• Practice mindfulness activities to lower their central nervous systems when dealing with the inherent stress of working in a child welfare-related environment.
Raising HOPE
Laurie Fortin, LCSW
One of the core values of the Integrated Core Practice Model (ICPM) is the core belief (and hope) that families can change and grow. But what happens when service providers lose belief and hope because of workload, vicarious trauma, and/or daily stressors? How might a provider’s low hope level impact the hope levels of children and families? Fortunately, the science on hope suggests that it can go from living a low-hope to a high-hope life. This workshop will introduce attendees to the science of hope; why hope matters; and how to measure and raise hope levels in themselves, as well as in the families they serve.
The Belonging Difference: A Way to Overcome Trauma and Unleash Potential
Gaelin Elmore
Belonging is an innate and fundamental need that we all have. Research and evidence have shown that a sense of belonging can increase motivation; problem-solving emotional; mental, and physical health; and resiliency. Unfortunately, we also know that if a youth has experienced childhood adversity of any sort, their sense of belonging is often destroyed in the process. This informative, challenging, and inspiring workshop explores how we can begin to erase the belonging gap.
After attending this workshop, participants will be able to:
• Comprehend the innate, fundamental nature of belonging.
• Utilize the “Core 3” (family, school community) to prioritize belonging.
• Identify the unique gap in belonging that youth with trauma histories must navigate.
• Appreciate the belonging difference in their role.
Unconditional Love: An SOP Approach to Substance Use and Suicide Prevention for LGBTQ+ Youth and Others at Risk
Luck Lucky and Emma Black, M.S.W.
Although substance use disorders exist in all types of families, child welfare data indicates queer children and other minority groups are disproportionately represented compared to the general population. Additionally, LGBTQ+ youth, indigenous people, and children of color face more negative outcomes because of racial bias, discrimination, structural racism, and other threats which place them at higher risk for developing substance use and mental disorders. Institutionalized discrimination, homophobia, transphobia, and negative unsupportive home environments have a direct link to child suicide. This workshop will equip participants with the understanding of LGBTQ+ culture, Sexual Orientation Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE), the origins of Substance Use Disorders, and the importance of authenticity and acceptance in healing. The presenters will share their own stories and lived experiences as a vehicle for deeper understanding of these issues, and participants will be invited to explore the ways implicit bias can affect family engagement.
11:30 am - 12:30 pm
Lunch
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
- Afternoon Workshops D
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Family Time Coaching: Partnering with Parents to Demonstrate Behavior Change during Visits
Emma Black, M.S.W., and Kim Stokem
Family Time Coaching (FTC) is an evidence-supported model for parent-child visitation that focuses on family strengths and individual needs of the child. In this workshop, participants will learn about the importance of family time for children in the child welfare system as an effective strategy to expedite reunification and prevent re-entry into the child welfare system. They will also explore how Safety Organized Practice (SOP) tools can be used in the context of FTC to ensure that the family time plan provides opportunities for the parent or caregiver to demonstrate their capacity to safely care for their children through planned and progressive visitation.
After attending this workshop, participants will be able to:
• Understand how FTC is different from traditional supervised visitation, and how the FTC model is enhanced by SOP tools and strategies.
• Identify coaching skills and strategies to be used before, during and after Family Time
• Value the importance of regular, quality Family Time as critical support for children's development, attachment, and well-being
Healing families with Trauma-Informed Care Practice and Cultural Humility
Dr. Keisha Clark
Engage with a trauma survivor, former social worker, and head of Office of Equity for the County of San Diego through vulnerable storytelling of experiences with social systems interconnected with Child Welfare. Examine real-life examples of interviews with refugee, CSEC, and Mexican border populations, and explore how trauma-informed responses, along with cultural humility, supported permanency for 100% of the families served, resulting in 0% removals. This workshop will be beneficial to those who are interacting in cross-cultural relationships, especially BIPOC, communities of color, and historically excluded communities below the federal poverty level. Bring your race and equity lens!
Implementation: Challenges, Strengths, and Next Steps for Tulare County
Michaela Woodward, M.S.W., Allison Hendrix, Leandra Mora, Meagan Munsen, Andrea Garcia
In collaboration with Tulare County leadership and line staff, consultant and trainer/coach Michaela Woodward will share their experience with implementation on a planning and practice level. They will provide insights into their implementation journey, placing it within the context of historical experience, Safety Organized Practice (the Three Question), and present practice competency. This workshop will begin with a short presentation and will spend much of the time in a facilitated Q&A panel with two supervisors, one direct practice social worker and one “long-term” coach.
After attending this workshop, participants will have increased capacity to:
• Understand what mistakes to avoid and things to try in planning for successful implementation practice.
• Appreciate the value of trying out new approaches and tools to support SOP skills in the context of their county culture, competencies, and past experiences.
• Utilize the Three Questions to apply critical thinking and planning in a broader context—including internal organizational implementation.
Using Coaching Skills to Develop Your Workforce
MaryBeth Hadaway
Mindfulness Self Compassion (MSC) teaches participants how to first turn loving awareness
toward difficult experiences, and then bring loving awareness to themselves. During this
interactive session (including group discussion, meditation, breath work and a journal exercise),
participants will learn well-being techniques they can use at home, in relationships, and in the
classroom/work. As a result of participating in this session, participants will have increased capacity to:
• Improve their mental, emotional, and physical health.
• Balance their emotions to increase morale and rapport with colleagues and students.
• Articulate the value of MSC for self, staff, and leadership.
2:00 pm - 2:15 pm
Break
2:15 pm - 3:45 pm
- Afternoon Workshops E
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Back to the Basics: The Use of Narrative-eliciting, Open-ended Questions in Gathering the Child’s Voice
Laurie Fortin, LCSW
While the Three Houses and the Safety House tools are great for integrating the child’s perspective, the tools are only as productive and good as the questions asked. Research shows that professionals tasked with interviewing children about the allegations of abuse often resort to the utilization of question types that inhibit children’s responses and undermine their true capabilities. This is through the overuse of closed-ended, directive questions and the underuse of open-ended invitational questions. This workshop will highlight the importance and revisit the basic use of open-ended invitational and narrative eliciting questions and allow participants practice opportunities to increase their interviewing and information-gathering skills.
After attending this workshop, participants will be able to:• Understand the benefits and limitations of the different question types.
• Demonstrate increased ability to recognize different question types and utilize open-ended invitational questions, prompts and cues in a mock child interview.
• Value gathering quality information from children and youth as vital to ensuring safety, well-being, and referral and/or case decision making.
Collaborative Case Planning with Families: The Child and Family Team Meeting Process
Jocelyn McCurry and Travis Bland
This workshop will familiarize participants with the process of using collaborative Child and Family Team Meetings (CFTMs) as a forum to build strength- and behavior-based case plans with families by relying on purposeful implementation of Safety Organized Practice (SOP) tools and strategies. Participants will benefit from a detailed overview of this process through examples of completed case plans created in collaboration with families and Child Welfare Services in San Luis Obispo County.
After attending this training, participants will have increased capacity to:
• Utilize the CFT process to engage families in building their own support network; support families in addressing their own safety concerns; and assist the family in creating solutions for their unique problems and needs.
• Craft clear, straightforward Harm, Worry, and Goal statements that are brief, fact- and behaviorally-based, and endorsed by all members of the CFT.
• Apply Solution-Focused Inquiry in CFTMs to engage families in the case planning process.
Cultivating Solutions Mappings: How SOP Strategies of Teaming, Assessment, Mapping, and Cultural Responsiveness Can Prevent Entry into Care
Myra Gonzalez, M.S.W., Lydia Lopez, M.S.W., Crystal Jimenez
Ventura County CFS will provide an overview of their internal practice, Cultivating Solutions Mappings, which is a strategy utilized internally in the Front End to enhance assessments, support completion of a balanced and rigorous assessment, and encourage culturally responsive strategies for families at risk of separation. Participants will have an opportunity to try on the Cultivating Solutions Mapping tool through activities.
After attending, workshop participants will understand how Ventura County is utilizing SOP strategies in Cultivating Solutions Mappings to:
• Support families at risk of separation.
• Develop more balanced assessments and address bias and blind spots.
• Bridge resource gaps.
SOP and Prevention in Action: Panel Presentation
Monica Montury, LCSW, Maria Avitud, Jessica Gavel, Kristen Jennings-Manners, Adriana Garcia, and Maria Rood
Strengthening families is the heart of prevention. Thoughtful and strategic utilization of Safety Organized Practice (SOP) in front end Child Welfare practice is a critical prevention strategy. SOP innately supports prevention efforts in its focus on engaging with families and their support networks through the use of collaborative, trauma informed, and culturally responsive practices that result in rigorous and balanced assessments. In this workshop, Child Welfare Social Workers from various roles will share their experiences using SOP in front end practice and how this has worked to support prevention efforts.
SOP Tools in the Kit
Tami McCalip, M.S.W., and Javi Perez, LCSW
Learn about the collaborative and ongoing work of the statewide SOP Backbone Committee, a workgroup that takes a statewide collective impact approach to the implementation and fidelity of SOP in California. Presenters will share several assessment and evaluation tools developed by the committee to help practitioners and agencies assess the fidelity of their SOP practice. Additionally, participants will learn how to locate these tools in the SOP Toolkit and how to be notified when a new tool becomes available.
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
• Identify at least three examples of SOP tools and strategies they can utilize to integrate SOP into their child welfare work.
• Access the SOP tools described during the workshop.
• Value the use of SOP tools and strategies toward improving outcomes for children, youth, and families
3:45 pm - 4:00 pm
Break
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Keynote: A Beginner's Mindset: Getting Past the Door and into the Heart
Dr. Keisha Clark
We must trust and consider that BIPOC families who are disproportionately represented in child welfare are proficient in creating safety for their children and communities. Systems have historically rendered a disservice to their minds, bodies, and spirits. Repetition of traditional child welfare training and practices must be deconstructed to remove the walls of compliance transactions and build bridges to mutual relationships.
Cultural humility and trauma-informed practice are the solutions to getting past the door and into the heart. But first we must start with a beginner’s mindset; by letting our expertise take a back seat and allow the families we serve to climb into the driver’s side and take us for a ride on a passport into their world. Buckle up! It’s going to get bumpy!
Learning objectives:
- Breaking down the silos to partnering for prevention, permanency, and preservation.
- Recognizing biases and leverage differences to work within the cultural contexts of communities through a cultural responsiveness lens.
- Assessing and applying characteristics from your personal relationships to commit to authentic, collaborative engagement.
5:00 pm - 5:15 pm
Closing Remarks
Learn More and/or Enroll
Visit our main conference page to learn more and to enroll.