Charting the Course towards Permanency for Children in Pennsylvania (Charting the Course)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
WHAT IS CHARTING THE COURSE TOWARDS PERMANENCY FOR CHILDREN IN PENNSYLVANIA?
Charting the Course is a 120-hour curriculum designed to provide new Child Welfare Professionals with the fundamental concepts needed when working with children, youth, and families. These fundamentals are awareness, knowledge, understanding, and skills. Each of these fundamentals will assist Child Welfare Professionals in providing quality services for abused and neglected children and in stabilizing families.
IS CHARTING THE COURSE MANDATORY?
Yes, Charting the Course provides newly employed Child Welfare Professionals with the minimum 120-hours of training needed to obtain their certification as a Direct Service Worker as outlined in the Protective Services Regulations, Chapter 3490.
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN CHARTING THE COURSE?
Charting the Course emphasizes the development of skills of casework practice, particularly those skills related to interacting with families, assessment, and documentation. The Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), the Child Protective Services Law (CPSL), the Pennsylvania Juvenile Act, Commonwealth policies, and procedural guidelines are continuously emphasized in a contextual framework throughout the curriculum. In addition to focusing on the laws and regulations that guide child welfare practice in the Commonwealth, Charting the Course also focuses on the following major areas of child welfare involvement: building protective partnerships; protecting children; recognizing child maltreatment; conducting intake and screening; assessing for child safety and risk; planning for safety, permanency and well-being; partnering for effective alternative care, and achieving permanency.
Through the use of a “helping model,” Charting the Course also focuses on developing the following Interactional Helping Skills:
- Tuning in to Self;
- Tuning in to Others;
- Clarifying Purpose, Function, and Role;
- Communicating Information;
- Dealing with Issues of Authority;
- Reaching for Feedback;
- Questioning;
- Reaching Inside of Silences;
- Identifying Next Steps; and
- Summarizing.
These Interactional Helping Skills serve as a model for creating a positive working relationship with families.
Charting the Course is designed to provide participants with learning skills in the classroom and support while transferring those skills from the classroom to the job. Through the use of embedded evaluations, the Child Welfare Professionals' understanding of Family Service Planning, Risk Assessment, and Engagement are assessed during the training. This instruction/evaluation linkage enhances trainee learning and provides relevant feedback to the Training Program for course improvement and provides important data on the trainee's acquisition of skill. Child Welfare Professionals attending Charting the Course also complete Transfer of Learning activities at the end of each module, designed to help apply the knowledge and skills taught in the classroom to the field.
WHAT IS A COHORT?
For the purposes of Charting the Course , a cohort is a group of individuals who attend all of the fifteen (15) Charting the Course modules together. Participating in training as a cohort group has many positive rewards. For instance, cohort members naturally create an environment in which they feel comfortable in expressing their thoughts, views, and ideas on the topics about which they are learning. This environment is created by providing cohort members with the time needed to establish relationships, identify commonalities, build trust, and develop networks by which to share their individual and collective knowledge and experiences. Moreover, the experiences, ideas, and perspectives of other cohort members will enhance individual learning. Further, cohort members are often more motivated to learn, demonstrate increased critical thinking skills, and finish Charting the Course with a higher degree of individual knowledge and skill that can be readily applied to their work with children, youth, and families.
WHO CAN ATTEND CHARTING THE COURSE?
Charting the Course is designed for newly employed Child Welfare Professionals who need to obtain their certification as a Direct Service Worker.
WHEN AND WHERE WILL CHARTING THE COURSE BE OFFERED?
Charting the Course is being offered regionally throughout the state. The training dates are published in the Training Calendar distributed to the county agencies. The Training Program encourages new Child Welfare Professionals to attend the training offered in their region. However, if necessary, a new Child Welfare Professional may attend Charting the Course training offered in other regions.
HOW DO I REGISTER FOR CHARTING THE COURSE?
Registration for Charting the Course can be accomplished using one of the following methods:
HOW CAN SUPERVISORS LEARN MORE ABOUT CHARTING THE COURSE?
In order to learn more about Charting the Course, supervisors of newly hired Child Welfare Professionals who are attending Charting the Course are asked to attend the Supervisory Overlay (Overlay).
The Overlay provides Child Welfare Supervisors with an overview of each of the fifteen (15) modules that comprise Charting the Course. The Overlay also provides Child Welfare Supervisors with an overview of the helping and practice skills presented in Charting the Course. Moreover, it provides Child Welfare Supervisors with the ability to offer effective transfer of learning support for their new staff, helping to ensure the application of classroom learning to the field.
WHAT ARE THE COMPONENTS OF CHARTING THE COURSE?
Charting the Course includes the following modules. To view module descriptions and/or download associated materials, please click on the respective titles.
BACK TO CHARTING THE COURSE
