Interested in Presenting at the 2026 CQI Conference?

Workshop Threads and Topics

During the 2026 conference, workshop threads will be built around the "Cycle of CQI Fundamentals" to help conference attendees consider their CQI needs and select workshops that would most support their learning and regional system improvement. We welcome your innovative, creative ideas and examples for utilizing CQI processes to improve practice in both child welfare and probation. We are especially looking for proposals that may fit within the following threads and topics:

• Ongoing Collaboration and Ownership
• Organizational Commitment and Leadership
• Data Collection, Analysis and Reporting
• Strategic Priorities
• Improvement and Taking Action
• Tribal Engagement in CQI
• Probation-focused Workshops

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For More Ideas

Please check out our 2025 CQI Conference Program Agenda for examples of workshops offered in our previous event.

You can also browse general information about each thread and/or topic below:

• Ongoing Collaboration and Ownership
• This foundational thread gets at the heart of “what is CQI” – specifically moving from a place where data reports may be generated without purpose to one where analytic insights are acted upon and systems improve. This thread also includes workshops that focus on the values of your agency, how to develop and evaluate evidence about whether those values are supported and thriving in your organization, and how to authentically engage and collaborate with stakeholders.
• Organizational Commitment & Leadership
• This leadership thread includes workshops that focus on building a positive data culture in your agency.  A positive data culture is one that is open to feedback and one where data are used early and often to learn about system performance issues (at all levels) instead of punishing particular individuals.  Topics within this thread may range from creating psychological safety within organizations, how to imbue data at key decision points, and finding ways to ensure adequate resources, time, and space to conduct CQI.
• Data Collection, Analysis, & Reporting
• This technical thread contains a number of skill-building workshops that will help you more effectively identify data needs, as well as procure, analyze, and present data to support CQI in your agency.   
• Strategic Priorities
• Strategic priorities are the outcomes and performance measures that define and describe organizational goals.  In California, a number of federal and state policies guide the selection of system improvement targets for child welfare.  This thread includes workshops that focus on such state and federal policies, as well as individual agency processes that support the identification and tracking of strategic priorities, and ensuring staff at all levels clearly understand agency priorities (e.g., Line of Sight).
• Improvement and Taking Action
• Once an agency has identified their system improvement priorities, it must then implement reforms and strategies to achieve its goals. This thread focuses on using intentional methods like the CQI Cycle of Improvement (i.e., Plan-Do-Study-Act) to monitor progress toward goal achievement and inform decision-making and includes workshops that address program implementation, fidelity tracking, quality improvement planning, and scaling from pilots to full-scale system change. 
  
  We also welcome workshops that involve multi-systems collaboration!
• Tribal Engagement in CQI

• We welcome proposals that showcase Tribal engagement in Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), while honoring the distinct heritage, sovereignty and perspectives of each Tribe. Such proposals may originate from Tribes themselves or highlight meaningful collaboration with Tribal communities, reflecting diverse approaches to engagement, allyship and culturally responsive CQI practices and recommendations.

  Approaches that elevate Indigenous knowledge, center community voices and foster strong, respectful and enduring partnerships are essential to advancing system-wide collaboration and improvement.

• Probation-Focused Workshops

• We welcome proposal topics related to CQI in Probation. Topic examples include:

  – Reunification or permanency within 12 months of youth entering a STRTP

  – Family finding and building lifelong connections

  – Building a Child Family Team and documenting in CWS/CMS

  – Supporting youth in extended foster care

  – Supporting youth and families in family reunification

  – Individual Rehabilitation Programs for youth in secure youth treatment facilities stepping down to a less restrictive program

   

All Ideas Welcome

If you have a conference workshop idea and would like to collaborate with staff from other counties, agencies, or the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), please let us know and we can help connect you! Have you started a project but haven’t finished it yet? That is okay, we want to hear what is working well and lessons learned through any stage of the implementation/CQI process. Proposals do not have to be well-defined, so please submit a proposal if you have an idea. Once you submit your proposal form, we will follow up with you to help solidify your ideas, connect you to resources and answer questions.

Submit Workshop Proposal

Questions?

If you are new to workshop presenting or have any questions, please call (530) 757-8725 or email cqiconference@ucdavis.edu.

2026 Continuous Quality Improvement Conference for Child Welfare and Probation

Sacramento: April 14-16, 2026

Learn more at our event website