Father Engagement Skills Lab (Virtual)

About the course

This interactive skills lab offers practical skill-building experiences for trainees working with fathers in child welfare. It includes peer teaching activities as well as practice exercises for trying several engagement skills.

What will I learn in this training?

After attending this training, participants will be able to:

Model at least one practice behavior that allows for successful initial engagement with fathers at the beginning of the case worker/family relationship.
Demonstrate at least one effective engagement practice behavior to engage fathers and/or paternal relatives or tribes in their child welfare case.
Describe three techniques that promote effective communication and support fathers to successfully engage in and complete services.
Articulate how their own engagement practice behaviors can impact fathers’ experiences with CWS.
Commit to on-going exploration of individual biases and to reducing the harm caused by those biases.
Uphold the importance of maintaining and supporting relationships between children and their fathers, father-figures, and paternal relatives/tribes.
Honor a culturally responsive and strengths-based approach to engaging fathers and their relatives/tribes.

CEUs

0.6

Section Number

244SSA552

Instruction Method

Online class

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Section Schedule

Tues., May 13th, 2025, 9:00am to 4:00pm

Fees

Instructors

Roger De Leon

Roger De Leon is an independent contractor and trainer specializing in child welfare, parent partnerships, and fatherhood engagement, working with UC Davis, SDSU, CSU Fresno and other organizations. A former Parent Partner with Riverside County’s Children Services Division, he helped develop their program and supports families navigating child welfare systems. He serves on multiple state and national committees, including the California State Child Welfare Council and the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance. An active community member and youth minister, De Leon is the 2023 Casey’s Excellence for Children Award recipient, leveraging personal experience to strengthen families nationwide.

Lamar Henderson

Lamar Henderson is a family services supervisor for Merced County’s All Dads Matter program and a trainer for UC Davis Human Services and the Central California Training Academy. Previously, Henderson spent 13 years as the chair of the Merced County Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Commission, providing oversight to juvenile probation, group homes and the juvenile detention center. In addition to providing training on leadership topics, Henderson has presented at numerous conferences nationwide. He also serves in a leadership capacity with several non-profits serving youth in the community. Henderson received the inaugural “Hands on Hero” award for community service and was honored with the Silver President’s Award for Service of 2012.