About the Northern Academy

Child welfare practitioners in public and tribal agencies serve some of the most vulnerable people in society: families and children in crisis.

The Northern Academy brings to the region a training, research, evaluation and consultation program designed to develop a uniformly high level of competence in services for families and children. We offer training for child welfare practitioners and leaders ranging from mandatory core education to innovative, specialized topics in social services practice. Training is accessible to child welfare staff and their partners in our service area in a combination of formats: on-site classes, interactive online courses, and digital archives of past course materials and recorded sessions.

The Northern Academy further strives to expand knowledge through conferences, convenings, webinars and other learning formats, bringing experts in the field together with child welfare practitioners and leaders for unique collaborative learning opportunities. As part of California’s regional training academy system for child welfare, the Northern Academy is funded by the California Department of Social Services.

Beyond training and education, the Northern Academy offers many additional services to counties and other agencies to assist with the development and operation of their respective organizations. From providing administrative and logistical support to assist counties in completing the California Child and Family Service Review (C-CFSR) process to developing and coordinating research and evaluation programs, the Northern Academy stands ready to support agencies in their mission to provide competent, efficient and effective services to children and families. Learn more about these and other services.

Participating Counties and Tribes

  • Alpine
  • Amador
  • Butte
  • Calaveras
  • Colusa
  • Del Norte
  • El Dorado
  • Glenn
  • Humboldt
  • Inyo
  • Karuk Tribe
  • Lake
  • Lassen
  • Mendocino
  • Modoc
  • Mono
  • Nevada
  • Placer
  • Plumas
  • Sacramento
  • Shasta
  • Sierra
  • Siskiyou
  • Sutter
  • Tehama
  • Tolowa Tribe
  • Trinity
  • Tuolumne
  • Yolo
  • Yuba
  • Yurok Tribe

Although most of our customers are employed by human service agencies or tribes in Northern California, we also offer contract-based training and consulting services to other organizations and regions. For more information about bringing training or other services to your agency, please contact us.