Full Agenda | 2025 West Coast Trainer's Conference

We're excited to share that the first day of WCCWTC 2025 will offer four in-depth seminars, giving participants the opportunity to dive deeper into key topics in a way that is not usually possible in a standard workshop. These seminars will have content prepared by the facilitator(s), and will also create space and opportunity for participants to share about their work and approach and to plan to apply what they have learned to their organization or practice. We invite you to join us for a deep dive on: 

Designing Child Welfare Training Using Authentic Assessment

Presenter: Megan Hellum

This seminar will focus on how to design child welfare training programs using an authentic assessment approach. 

This interactive 3-hour seminar equips child welfare trainers and curriculum developers with practical tools to design impactful, adult-centered training using authentic assessment. Participants will learn to differentiate course goals from measurable learning objectives, apply adult learning theory (andragogy) and design outcome-driven sessions that integrate content delivery with meaningful assessment. Through a combination of short lectures, live polling and collaborative small-group work, attendees will draft learning objectives, explore assessment strategies and outline a learning session tailored to real-world practice, leaving with actionable strategies to enhance training design and evaluation.

Getting to the Heart of the Matter—Training to the Affective Domain

Presenters: Nora Gerber and Chris Bowling

Research and lived experience show that learning is most powerful and enduring when it engages the whole person—not just the mind, but also the heart. This seminar explores how to intentionally design and deliver training that integrates the affective domain, tapping into learners’ emotions, values, beliefs, attitudes and lived experiences. Through engaging in content-rich activities and experiential exercises, you’ll increase your awareness of affective strategies (Receiving), actively participate in practices that bring those strategies to life (Responding), reflect on and evaluate their relevance to your own teaching context (Valuing), organize them into a consistent instructional approach (Organizing), and begin shaping a personalized plan to apply this “way of being” in your facilitation practice (Characterizing). Together, we’ll examine how tools like metaphor, music, storytelling, images, testimonials, props and shared reflection can foster deeper learner connection and enhance learning outcomes. Come prepared to share your own heart-centered teaching practices and be inspired by others who aim to teach beyond the cognitive—to truly touch the learner.

Narratives That Teach: Centering Lived Experience in Child Welfare

Presenters: Dawne' Lynch, Dawn Carini, Mark Amacher and all-star instructor panel!

Join us for an interactive and thought-provoking seminar designed to explore the vital role of lived experience in child welfare training. This session will create a collaborative space for trainers, facilitators and those with lived experience to reflect, share and strategize on how to meaningfully integrate personal narratives into training environments while ensuring authenticity, safety, and respect.

Whether you’re a seasoned trainer, someone with lived experience or simply curious about how to bring more humanity and depth into your work, this seminar offers a supportive environment to learn, connect and grow.

Simulation Training- A Multi-State Panel and Discussion

Presenters: Amanda Meyer Alex McNeal

We invite you to an insightful and practical seminar exploring the growing impact of simulation training in child welfare. This session brings together a multi-state panel of experts and practitioners to share their diverse experiences, innovative approaches and lessons learned in implementing simulation-based learning environments.

Whether you're a trainer, administrator or frontline professional, this seminar offers a unique opportunity to gain valuable insights into the design, delivery and evaluation of effective simulation programs, including robust feedback strategies. We'll delve into the nuances of creating realistic scenarios, leveraging technology and measuring the impact of simulation on professional development and, ultimately, on outcomes for children and families.

Empowered Learning: Using the Coach Approach to Spark Critical Thinking and Engagement

Presenter: Tiffany Salcido, ACC

Trainers are not just content experts—they're catalysts for growth. This session explores how using the coach approach in training can empower both trainers and learners by shifting from lecture to dialogue. Learn to ask powerful, open-ended questions that invite reflection, encourage ownership and inspire critical thinking. We'll explore how stepping out of Karpman’s Drama Triangle helps trainers avoid rescuing and enables participants to grow. Whether you're working with new staff or seasoned professionals, this approach lightens your load and increases learner engagement, confidence, and accountability.

Going There: Addressing and Navigating Culturally Sensitive Topics

Presenter: Carl Rabun, Ph.D.

Addressing sensitive topics is often a challenging, yet necessary component of preparing staff for interactions with the children and families we serve. Discomfort with the subject can lead to trainers not fully engaging with or rushing through the subject. This workshop will provide tips and best practices for navigating conversations that can be sensitive and emotional for learners…as well as ourselves!

A Trainer's Guide to Trauma-Informed Supervision

Presenter: Tory Cox

This workshop addresses secondary trauma and compassion fatigue by introducing a parallel process model that promotes collaboration, sustainability and well-being. Participants will learn how to recognize the impact of trauma on both social workers and client families. The model uses a structured weekly supervision format to support the practical application of SAMHSA’s six trauma-informed principles: safety, trustworthiness, peer support, collaboration, empowerment and voice/choice, and cultural responsiveness.

By the end of this workshop, attendees will learn a trauma-informed supervision model that can be introduced to supervisors to identify and reduce the impact of secondary trauma on staff and interns while supporting their use of trauma-informed practices with clients and families.

Using the Voice of Lived Expertise to Inform Trainings

Presenter: Margo Fudge

This workshop provides attendees with knowledge and skills to engage lived experts in both the development and presentation of curriculum, including best practice for the incorporation of youth/lived expertise. This workshop will be co-facilitated by Youth Engagement Program (YEP) youth ambassadors, who will share their experiences and perspectives. 

Increasing Instructor Excellence through Observations

Presenters: Emma Black, MSW, and Peggi Cooney, MSW

Join us for an engaging and interactive session co-facilitated by a seasoned trainer and a training coordinator who know firsthand that great trainers aren’t born—they’re made.

This workshop explores how supportive, structured instructor observations can elevate training quality, ensure curriculum fidelity and foster professional growth. Using the UC Davis Human Services trainer observation model, we’ll share tools, policies and real-life testimonials that demonstrate how structured observations and feedback—when done well—can build confidence, sharpen skills and strengthen our trainer workforce. Whether you're a trainer or training leader, you'll leave with practical strategies to enhance your own observation and coaching practices.

Embracing Vulnerability: A Transformative Workshop for Child Welfare Trainers

Presenter: Baljit Hundal, MSW

This dynamic conference session explores how child welfare trainers can harness the power of strategic vulnerability to create transformative learning experiences. Participants will discover how authentic trainer presence enhances connection, builds trust, and accelerates professional growth among child welfare professionals.  

The Power of Two: Mastering Collaboration in Co-Training Environments

Presenters: Betsy Watson, MSW, and Janice Boafo, LCSW

Co-training offers a dynamic opportunity to blend diverse perspectives, skills and experiences—but successful co-training requires more than just sharing a training space. This workshop explores the essential elements of effective trainer partnerships, providing practical strategies for planning, communication and mutual support that enhance the learning experience for participants. Whether you're new to co-training or looking to strengthen existing partnerships, this workshop will help you build trust, balance strengths and navigate challenges with confidence and professionalism.

How to Facilitate Trauma-Informed Training

Presenter: Lisa Maaca Bartlette, MSSA

This trauma-informed workshop provides educators, trainers and/or facilitators with the tools, knowledge and skills to conduct training sessions in a way that acknowledges the potential impact of trauma on participants and ensures a supportive, psychologically safe and inclusive learning environment. These skills are critical for creating an environment where participants can learn, grow and heal if necessary, ensuring that learning is a positive and empowering experience for everyone involved.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have a solid understanding of trauma-informed principles, the ability to create safe(r) and inclusive spaces for learners, and practical tools to enhance their training sessions. 

New Training Process for Butte County Child Welfare

Presenters: Jessica Bennett Nathaniel Cruz

In this workshop, Butte County Child Welfare Services will share their approach to redesigning their training/onboarding process for new child welfare social workers. The focus is to learn and share tools that can support the development and transfer of empathic engagement.

Increasing Well-Being Through the Lens of Safety Organized Practice & Self Mapping

Presenter: Peggi Cooney, MSW

This workshop focuses on the well-being of social workers and training staff at all levels utilizing tools and ideology from Safety Organized Practice (SOP). Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) is a common form of occupational stress resulting from frequent and/or chronic exposure to often emotional and detailed accounts of children’s traumatic events, and can lead to unhealthy coping strategies, illness, burnout and possibly leaving the field altogether. You will learn ways to recognize the signs of STS and system trauma using a personal well-being mapping process that includes Danger Statements, Safety Goals and the three questions of SOP: What am I worried about? What is working? And what are my next steps? We will also practice self-care mindfulness activities that will work to address workplace stress and increase well-being.

Training in Partnership: Amplifying Lived Experience for Training Excellence

Presenter: Dawne' Lynch
This 90-minute workshop explores the art of co-training with lived-experience instructors, trainers who bring firsthand insight from navigating child and family-serving systems. Trainers will gain tools to respectfully and effectively collaborate with lived-experience partners to enhance credibility, engagement and inclusivity in training spaces.

Whether you are new to co-facilitation or seeking to strengthen your current practice, this session offers strategies for integrating lived stories into structured curriculum, balancing authenticity with professionalism, and fostering trauma-informed, culturally responsive environments.

Participants will reflect on their own facilitation style, explore power dynamics in trainer partnerships, and co-create inclusive tools to support emotional safety and resilience for both learners and trainers.

Beyond Burnout: Trainer Well-Being, Self-Care and the Impact of Moral Injury in Human Services Education

Presenter: Joycelyn Wormley, Ph.D.

Human services trainers serve on the front lines of social service education, often bearing witness to the trauma, systemic injustice and emotional toll faced by professionals and the communities they serve. While burnout and secondary traumatic stress are well-documented in this field, an underrecognized but profoundly relevant concept is moral injury—the psychological distress that arises when individuals are forced to act in ways that conflict with their core values, or when they witness systemic failures that harm others.

This session explores how moral injury can impact trainers’ well-being and how it shows up in the context of adult learning environments. Trainers may experience moral injury when required to deliver content they feel is outdated, misaligned with their values, or fails to acknowledge systemic oppression. They may also feel ethically compromised when supporting professionals who are themselves struggling within broken systems.

Curriculum Kickstart: Building the Blueprint for Learning

Presenter: Melissa Bernier

Ready to jumpstart your curriculum design journey? This interactive workshop introduces the foundational steps of the curriculum development process—from identifying learning outcomes to aligning assessments and instructional strategies. Whether you're new to curriculum planning or looking to refresh your approach, you'll leave with practical tools, a clear framework and renewed confidence to design meaningful learning experiences. Perfect for educators trainers, and instructional designers at any level.

Training and the Art of Treasure Hunting

Presenter: Chris Bowling

In his upcoming WCCWTC workshop, presenter/adventurer Chris Bowling will lead a playful, reflective exploration into how creative facilitation can breathe life into your sessions. Participants and fellow trainers are invited to become co-explorers—collaboratively uncovering powerful insights to help transform training into memorable, active learning experiences. Using the metaphor of treasure hunting as our guiding framework, this experience isn’t just insightful—it’s hands-on, fun, and full of ideas you can use right away.