C O N S U L T A N T A N D T R A I N E R P A L E T T E 2012.pdfC O N S U L T A N T A N D T R A I N E R P A L E T T E I N S I ... training was an eye-opening experience in how personal

C O N S U L T A N T A N D

T R A I N E R P A L E T T E

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

T O A L L R E S O U R C E

C E N T E R C O N S U L T A N T S

A N D T R A I N E R S


T R A I N E R I N S U R A N C E

R E M I N D E R

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D E V E L O P M E N T

R E M I N D E R

W E L C O M E T O T H E

R E S O U R C E C E N T E R

N O R T H E A S T R E G I O N A L

T E A M T R A N S I T I O N

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T R A I N E R B I R T H D A Y S

D E V E L O P M E N T A L

S C R E E N I N G I N

P E N N S Y L V A N I A C H I L D

W E L F A R E S E R V I C E S

( A G E S & S T A G E S )

S A V E T H E D A T E :


T R A I N E R A D V I S O R Y

G R O U P ( C T A G )

P A L E T T E

C O N T R I B U T O R S

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5 - 8

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J U N E 2 0 1 2

C O N S U L T A N T A N D T R A I N E R P A L E T T E

In April 2012, the Diversity Task Force hosted its annual Spring Event in several

regions throughout the state of Pennsylvania. Dr. Annette Cremo and her staff from

Performance Plus Training, Consulting and Coaching, LLC, were the presenters for

the “Embedding Diversity into Family Engagement Strategies” workshops. With over

130 participants from all disciplines within the child welfare system, the Spring Event

was given great reviews by those who attended.

Throughout the course of the training, participants discussed topics including: The

Portrait of an Engaged Family, What We Strive For, Communication Breakdowns,

Generational Differences, Communications Styles, and Engagement Techniques.

Participants were actively involved in exercises which demonstrated how

communication styles, generational differences, and personality styles affect how we,

as professionals, serve families as well as work with other professionals. The

training was an eye-opening experience in how personal styles and experiences

directly affect how one perceives and reacts to situations.

With an ever changing population serviced by child welfare professionals, the Diversity

Task Force works diligently to bring annual trainings that will positively impact how we

serve our communities. For additional information regarding the Diversity Task Force,

please visit our website at http://www.pacwrc.pitt.edu/DiversityTaskforce.html or

contact the DTF Co-Chairs Cindy Milian [email protected]; Cindy Gore

[email protected] (717) 795-9048 ext. 203.

E M B E D D I N G D I V E R S I T Y I N T O

F A M I L Y E N G A G E M E N T S T R A T E G I E S

S U B M I T T E D B Y C I N D Y M I L I A N

O N B E H A L F O F T H E D I V E R S I T Y

T A S K F O R C E

http://www.pacwrc.pitt.edu/DiversityTaskforce.html

mailto:[email protected]


Page 2 C O N S U L T A N T A N D T R A I N E R P A L E T T E

In order to remain active as a Consultant or Trainer with the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource

Center, 6 hours of professional development need to be completed for each fiscal year. July 1, 2011

began a new fiscal year. Please remember to complete your professional development hours by

June 30, 2012.

We would like to announce a new opportunity to complete professional development hours through

the Resource Center. Historically, you were unable to receive professional development hours for

attending the Development of Trainers (DOT) workshop. The DOT workshop recently went through a

major revision and is no longer focused solely on trainers, but consultants as well. All new trainers and

consultants with the Resource Center will go through the same training, which is titled 820: The

Development of Trainers and Consultants Training. It is a 2-day workshop with a third day of

participant presentations. If you would like a refresher or simply want to become more familiar with the

role of the trainer or consultant, you are welcome to attend, with the bonus of fulfilling the professional

development hours requirement.

Trainings attended at the Resource Center will be tracked in Encompass. If you attend child welfare

related workshops outside of the Training Resource Center, please forward a copy of your certificate

of attendance to Sue Castles at [email protected], fax to 717-795-8013 or mail to 403 E. Winding Hill

Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055.

P R O F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T R E M I N D E R

As you know, to be approved to train a Resource Center curriculum, interested parties must first attend a Training on Content

(TOC). To support our dedicated trainers/consultants, Resource Center leadership discussed holding TOCs on the weekend, on

a case-by-case basis. According to leadership, staff will send correspondence to selectees to solicit feedback for date(s)/time(s)

that suit the majority. If a TOC suits the majority of selectees, this information will be submitted to leadership for consideration to

assess staff impact. Next steps would then be communicated to selectees. The number of hours allotted to a TOC will

generally represent the total number of hours associated with a curriculum. As always, when necessary, more than one

content-specific TOC will be held to meet the needs of selectees.

T O A L L R E S O U R C E C E N T E R C O N S U L T A N T S A N D

T R A I N E R S

Please remember to submit renewal policies for your commercial general liability and auto

insurances. The University of Pittsburgh requires that current policies be on file at least three

weeks prior to a scheduled training or consultation.

If you have been scheduled to train or provide consulting services and we do not have a current policy on file, we will not

be able to utilize your training and/or consulting services, and your training/consulting opportunity will be rescinded.

Renewals can be emailed to Sue Castles at [email protected], faxed to 717-795-8013 or mailed to The Pennsylvania Child

Welfare Resource Center, 403 E. Winding Hill Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055 to the attention of Sue Castles.

C O N S U L T A N T A N D T R A I N E R

I N S U R A N C E R E M I N D E R



Barbara Huggins was born in the small, but famous, town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Even

though she grew up in a small rural town, she managed to get a hunger for adventure and

exploration.

Barbara entered foster care when she was eight years old. After four different foster home

placements, she aged out at the age of 21. She found a permanent connection in her final

foster home with Lisa. She has thirteen years of personal experience with the child welfare

system, and has a lot to share including memories, advice and insight into how things work.

She enjoys sharing about what it has been like transitioning into adulthood, and her

experiences in some of her foster homes. Recently, it has become important for her to share

how foster care has had a lasting impact on her emotionally and in regards to identity.

Even though her childhood had been difficult, her sense of adventure and exploration stuck with her. She spent her first

semester of college in Stirling, Scotland. Somehow, she did this while still being a foster youth. She really appreciated having

this valuable and rare opportunity. Barbara kept busy in college and made a lot of friends in Philadelphia. In 2009, she

graduated from Arcadia University. Even though she was not a perfect student, she learned a lot about herself.

After graduation, she decided that Philadelphia was where the action was, and stayed close to a church that had become a part

of her extended family. She was a foster care caseworker for three years, and this provided her with an idea of what the other

side of the fence was like. She then moved onto her real passion of speaking in front of people and coordinating the South

East Pennsylvania Youth Advisory Board.

In 2012 she became a Youth Quality Improvement Specialist for the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Child Welfare

Resource Center in Mechanicsburg, PA. She trains brand new caseworkers with the hope that she can inspire them into

activism and changing the system from a grass roots level.

Amy Warnagiris joined the Curriculum and Trainer Development Department of the Resource Center on May 14, 2012 as a

Supervisor. Amy brings 14 years of experience designing, developing, implementing and evaluating training programs as a

consultant to State and Federal Government agencies and private sector companies. Her work has focused on incorporating

training best practices and on helping organizations to introduce technology into their training programs. Amy earned a

bachelor’s degree in English from Dickinson College and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling

at Messiah College. She lives in Harrisburg, PA with her husband and their three canine companions. In her free time, Amy

enjoys kayaking, cycling, gardening and sewing.

Barbara Huggins

W E L C O M E T O T H E R E S O U R C E C E N T E R

Amy Warnagiris


JULY

3 - Cindy Milian

7 - Michael Gill

Joan Mosier

9 - Robin Chapolini

18 - Dennis McCurdy

Lisa Walker

20 - Ron Bell

21 - Evelyn Lopez

23 - John Amato

Leasia Ayers-Caswell

24 - Paul Wildermann

27 - Trisha Gadson

C O N S U L T A N T A N D T R A I N E R B I R T H D A Y S

N O R T H E A S T R E G I O N A L T E A M T R A N S I T I O N

AUGUST

2 - Lester Michael Goodman

6 - Bruce Schaffer

11 - Chuck Laudermilch

13 - Anne Shenberger

18 - Kathleen Moore

20 - Carol Wikerd

21 - Tom Trafalski

22 - Debbie Leasure

24 - Marc Bluestein

Rhonda Farley

31 - Marilou Doughty

Currently, the Northeast (NE) Regional Team finds itself in transition. Recently, Joshua Foose, our Training Specialist for the

NE Region, moved on to a new position outside of the Resource Center. Those of you who knew and dealt with Joshua on a

frequent basis knew him to be readily available and willing to answer any question you had or assist you in tackling any problem.

As we wish Joshua well in his new position, we also want to assure you that we will continue to strive to be there for all of you.

We currently are working toward filling the vacant Training Specialist position in the NE Region. During the time of the vacancy

in our team you can contact Jessica Shiffler, the Southeast Regional Team Training Specialist, [email protected] or myself, Jody

Price, the Northeast Regional Team Supervisor, [email protected]. Both of us can be reached by phone at the Resource Center,

717-795-9048. Thank you for your patience and continued commitment to the Resource Center.




Developmental Screening in Pennsylvania

Child Welfare Services (Ages & Stages)

Research Notes

T H I S R E S E A R C H I S F U N D E D B Y T H E P A D E P A R T M E N T O F P U B L I C W E L F A R E ,

O F F I C E O F C H I L D R E N , Y O U T H A N D F A M I L I E S .

U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H , S C H O O L O F S O C I A L W O R K ,

C H I L D W E L F A R E E D U C A T I O N A N D R E S E A R C H

I S S U E # 9 ( M A Y 2 0 1 2 ) . F R O M I S O L A T I O N T O S O C I A L C O N N E C T I O N S :

T H E R O L E O F T H E C H I L D W E L F A R E C A S E W O R K E R

Congratulations to Huntingdon,

Butler, & Luzerne counties for

successfully completing their

caregiver interview quotas!

The third phase of this research study, the caregiver interviews, began in

June 2010. A total of 30 counties were randomly selected to participate in

this phase of the research project based on their location in the state, the

amount of data they had entered into the Developmental Screening

Database (ASQ Database), and what group of children were being

screened. Caregivers were randomly selected from the Developmental

Screening Database and asked to participate in the study by their Child

Welfare Services (CWS) caseworkers. Interviews occur primarily in the

caregivers’ homes and take about an hour to an hour and a half to complete.

Caregivers are compensated with a $40 gift card for their time.

Introduction:

In September 2008, the state government implemented a policy that all

children under age 3 who are substantiated for maltreatment, be screened

using the Ages & Stages Questionnaires® (ASQ™;Squires et al., 1999) and

its Social-Emotional version (ASQ:SE™; Squires et al., 2003). The ASQ is a

series of age-appropriate questionnaires designed to identify children who

need further developmental evaluation. The primary objective of this

screening initiative is to identify children with concerns and refer them to

early intervention for further evaluation.

Views from the Road: Interviewer Experiences

Seven of our interviewers were asked to respond to questions regarding their experiences in the field. Their responses are below.

How did this opportunity bring you back to

your direct service days?

Chuck: “It provided a “Reality” experience; reading and doing are two very different things.”

Continued on page 6 For questions about the study or for further information, please contact

Rachel Winters, Research Coordinator, at [email protected] or 412-624-

3838.



A long line of anecdotal information tells us that caregiver

social support is an important component for successful

parenting. In fact, when looking at the recurrence of child

maltreatment, DePanfilis and Zuravin (1999) found that

deficits in social support had a strong relationship with time

to recurrence of maltreatment, which echoes an earlier

literature review conducted by DePanfilis (1996) examining

evidence that social isolation presents an increased risk of

child neglect in families. More recent studies show the

positive influence of social support on parenting behaviors

(Ceballo & McLoyd, 2002; Green et al., 2007). Ortega

(2002) posits that the size of social networks is

inconsequential; instead, it is the caregivers’ perceived

satisfaction with existing networks that determine the quality

of parenting. Informal support (places of belonging), friends,

and family who convey acceptance and empathy for

caregivers can significantly impact caregivers’ lives (Manji et

al., 2005). With an increased awareness of child risk and

safety, protective factors such as social support and positive

family functioning are accessible and cost-efficient means of

family support. Social service organizations can provide

valuable programs to at-risk families. Caregivers value the

help they receive from social service organizations (Manji et

al., 2005) and just attending some sort of service has been

shown to reduce the recurrence of child maltreatment

(DePanfilis & Zuravin, 2002). The CWS agency can play a

critical role in referring caregivers to available community

services. However, with the increased demands on child

welfare caseworkers and decreased funding for social

services, this aspect of social work may become more

difficult to accomplish.

Research:

Research is being conducted by the University of Pittsburgh,

School of Social Work to understand county, child, and family

needs concerning screening and early intervention.

A total of 30 counties were selected for this portion of the

study, and so far data has been collected in 29 counties.

Renee: “I recalled what it was like to knock on someone’s door and to be uncertain of what was behind it; going into someone’s home and taking in your surroundings, and needing to assess your own safety needs while there.”

How were you able to have a different kind of experience

with child welfare clients?

Wendy: “It was so nice to be able to join with families and not have to think about how I was going to try to change them. I got to be present with them and listen deeply without having an agenda.”

What have you learned from this work?

Mary Beth: “The parents of these young children want the same thing I want for my child—to be happy, healthy, and to have a good life. But achieving this goal is much harder for them due to the fact that poverty makes everything so much harder.”

Chuck: “It struck me how isolated these families are; the system does a very poor job connecting caregivers to the larger community thus providing them with nurturance and support.”

Kathy: “I learned that all our efforts, statewide, of moving toward a stronger, strengths-based method of working with families, are working. With a few exceptions, most of the families felt that their caseworkers cared for them and were committed to their family being successful.”

What has been the most satisfying element of this work?

Oswald:”The most satisfying element had to be the apparent perception of several caregivers that I, in the role of an interviewer, was someone to whom they could express their hopes and fears.”

Renee: “Meeting people and hearing some of the struggles and how a few have successfully overcome or are managing the struggles in their lives. I interviewed a few parents who were dealing with life threatening illness, and they had the most amazing positive attitudes and hope for the future.”

What were you most impressed about as a result of

learning more about the caregivers and their lives?

To view all the interview responses, visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/PAs-Developmental-Screening-

Project/176308225746918

D E V E L O P M E N T A L S C R E E N I N G I N P E N N S Y L V A N I A C H I L D

W E L F A R E S E R V I C E S ( A G E S & S T A G E S ) C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 5

Continued on page 7


The data represents 301 caregivers across the state of

Pennsylvania.

Measures:

The Protective Factors Survey is a 20-item measure created

by the FRIENDS Network in collaboration with the University

of Kansas Institute for Education Research and Public

Service to provide feedback to child protective service

agencies for improvement and evaluation purposes

(FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community Based

Child Abuse Prevention, 2008). Caregivers rated each item

on a scale from 1 (none/strongly disagree) to 7 (always/

strongly agree). The survey has five subscales: family

functioning/resiliency, social emotional support, concrete

support, nurturing and attachment, and knowledge of

parenting/child development. Scores for the family function/

resiliency, social support, concrete support, and nurturing and

attachment subscales were derived by calculating the means

of the items. Since the last subscale comprises five unique

items, means and medians were calculated.

Results:

In general, caregivers felt that they had strong emotional

bonds with their children, as evidenced by the high rating on

the Nurturing and Attachment subscale. However, their

feelings toward their family’s (defined as caregiver and

children; caregiver and partner; caregiver and relatives for

this study) ability to cope in times of stress was on the lower

end of the scale with a rating of “about half the time.”

Caregivers felt comfortable in their knowledge of how to

obtain services for basic needs (higher rating on concrete

support subscale), but rated their availability of social support

a little lower on the scale.

Table 1: Results of the Protective Factors Survey Subscales

Kathy: “The families had overwhelming positive attitudes of their lives despite the dire circumstances in which they were living, and they still had hopes and dreams for their children.”

Mary Beth: “How resourceful families are and can be and how hard they worked to try and maintain a home for themselves and for their families.”

Any lessons learned?

Wendy: “Always take a snack with you and use the restroom when one is available, because you never know when you are going to be stuck in the middle of nowhere!”

Oswald: “I was reminded of the importance of being flexible.”

Kathy: “GPS is not always accurate; always have more than one method of locating a family. Have a good, working cell phone, and be comfortable in different surroundings. In the rural areas, call and verify directions with the family.”

Coordinating a Statewide Research Project: Tips from the

Project Coordinator

Persistence is important with contacting caregivers.

Despite the outcomes of the initial call, always be willing

to call back at a later time.

Alternate forms of communication, such as text

messaging and social networking sites, are a wonderful

resource to utilize.

Maintain strong working relationships with your contacts

within the child welfare agencies, as they can provide you

with insights on the caregivers and give you tips on how

best to contact them.

When scheduling interviews, ask the caregivers for

landmarks that make their house noticeable. It will

greatly help the interviewers find the residence without

incident.

Calling caregivers the day before a scheduled interview

has enabled us to maintain a high completion rate.

Mean Median

Family Functioning/Resiliency 4.97 5.2

Nurturing and Attachment 6.61 6.75

Social Support 5.77 6.33

Concrete Support 5.81 6.33



Continued on page 8


Citation for this report:

Child Welfare Education and Research Programs (2012).

From isolation to social connections: The role of the child

welfare caseworker (Report No. 9). Pittsburgh, PA:

The ratings for the five individual items that comprise the

Child Development/Knowledge of Parenting subscale were

all rated highly. The means and medians can be found in

Table 2.

Table 2: Results of the Individual Items of Child

Development/Knowledge of Parenting Subscale

Summary:

The results from the Protective Factors Scale, along with

anecdotal information provided by the research interviewers,

show that the caregivers in this study have a small amount of

social support. Since caregivers reported feelings of

isolation to the research interviewers, the study team has

been providing caregivers with brochures for Families &

Communities United, which brings families and agency

representatives together to discuss how to best serve

families in various systems across Pennsylvania. More

information can be obtained by visiting the group’s website at

http://www.fcu.pitt.edu/. With the research suggesting that

social support is an important protective factor against child

maltreatment, development of social networks and increasing

caregivers’ satisfaction with their social contacts may be a

viable resource in reducing maltreatment and recurrences.

References:

Ceballo, R. & McLoyd, V.C. (2002). Social support and

parenting in poor, dangerous neighborhoods. Child

Development, 73(4), 1310-1321.

DePanfilis, D. (1996). Social isolation of neglectful families: A

review of social support assessment and intervention

models. Child Maltreatment,1(37), 37-52.

DePanfilis, D. & Zuravin, S.J. (1999). Predicting child

maltreatment recurrences during treatment. Child Abuse &

Neglect,23 (8), 729-743.

DePanfilis, D. & Zuravin, S.J. (2002). The effect of services on

the recurrence of child maltreatment. Child Abuse & Neglect,

26, 187-205.

FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community Based

Child Abuse Protection (March 2008). The Protective

Factors Survey user manual. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from

http://friendsnrc.org/protective-factors-survey

Green, B.L., Furrer, C., & McAllister, C. (2007). How do

relationships support parenting? Effects of attachment style

and social support on parenting behavior in an at-risk

population. Am J Community Psychology,40 (96), 96-108.

Manji, S. Maiter, S., & Palmer, S. (2005). Community and

informal social support for recipients of child protective

services. Children and Youth Services Review,27, 291-308.

Ortega, D.M. (2002). How much support is too much?

Parenting efficacy and social support. Children and Youth

Services Review, 24(11), 853-876.

Squires, J., Bricker, D., & Twombly, E. (2003). Ages and

Stages Questionnaires, Social-emotional. Baltimore, MD:

Brookes.

Squires, J., Potter, L., & Bricker, D. (1999). Ages and Stages

Questionnaires: A parent-completed, child monitoring

Ages & Stages Questionnaires® (ASQ™): A Parent-Completed,

Child-Monitoring System, Second Edition, Bricker and Squires.

Copyright © 1999 by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. Ages &

Stages Questionnaires is a registered trademark and ASQ and the

ASQ logo are trademarks of Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc.

Ages & Stages Questionnaires®, Social-Emotional (ASQ:SE™): A

Parent-Completed, Child-Monitoring System for Social-Emotional

Behaviors, Squires, Bricker, & Twombly. Copyright © 2002 by Paul

H. Brookes Publishing Co., Inc. Ages & Stages Questionnaires is a

Mean

Median

Adequate Knowledge of

How to Parent

5.71 6.0

Knowledge of How to Help

Children Learn

6.36 7.0

Child’s Misbehavior is

Unintentional

5.84 7.0

Parental Praise for Child’s

Good Behavior

6.65 7.0

Parental Control when

Disciplining Child

6.66 7.0

For questions about the study or for further information, please contact Rachel Winters, Research Coordinator, at [email protected]

or 412-624-3838.




Page 9

"There can be no

keener revelation

of a society's soul

than the way in

which it treats its

children."

~ Nelson Mandela ~

Former President

of South Africa

C O N S U L T A N T A N D T R A I N E R P A L E T T E

S A V E T H E D A T E : C O N S U L T A N T A N D

T R A I N E R A D V I S O R Y G R O U P ( C T A G )

UPCOMING MEETINGS

August 28, 2012 CTAG Retreat, Mechanicsburg

UPCOMING EVENTS

October 11, 2012 Mechanicsburg

October 17, 2012 Monroeville

October 25, 2012 Norristown

C O N S U L T A N T A N D T R A I N E R P A L E T T E Page 10

403 East Winding Hill Road

Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania 17055

Phone: (717) 795-9048

Fax: (717) 795-8013

www.pacwcbt.pitt.edu

Cindy Milian Sharon England

Barbara Huggins Amy Warnagiris

Jody Price Shauna Reinhart

Rachel Winters Crystal Bittinger

Rob Winesickle Sue Castles

P A L E T T E C O N T R I B U T O R S

“The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center is a national leader in advocating for an enhanced quality of life for Pennsylvania’s children, youth,

and families.

In partnership with families, communities, public and private agencies, we prepare and support exceptional child welfare professionals and systems through

education, research and a commitment to best practice.”

C O N S U L T A N T A N D T R A I N E R P A L E T T E 2012.pdfC O N S U L T A N T A N D T R A I N E R P A L E T T E I N S I ... training was an eye-opening experience in how personal

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