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

P A R T I C I P A N T

F E E D B A C K

1 & 3

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

2

N E W A D D I T I O N S T O

B E I N G W E L L

3

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

S P O T L I G H T

4

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

P R O F E S S I O N A L

D E V E L O P M E N T H O U R S

5

Q U A L I T Y S E R V I C E

R E V I E W ( Q S R )

R E V I E W E R

O P P O R T U N I T I E S

6-8

P A L E T T E

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

9

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M A R C H 2 0 1 6

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

PARTICIPANT FEEDBACK

In March 2016, the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center (CWRC) will

initiate a new process for collecting feedback from training participants. The

CWRC Participant Feedback Form was developed over the past year with input

from internal and external CWRC stakeholders, including trainers. The purpose

of the form is to gather information from the participants’ perspective on

actionable items related to their training experience (e.g., expectations,

relevance of content to their work, level of engagement).

The process for administering the Participant Feedback Forms has been revised

to encourage participants to provide more in-depth and candid feedback.

Feedback forms will now be distributed at the beginning of trainings to allow

participants to familiarize themselves with the questions and keep them in mind

throughout the training. In addition, trainers will leave the room while

participants complete these forms and a participant volunteer will gather the

forms and seal them in an envelope. This will allow participants to provide

feedback with greater privacy.

In addition, participants will now generate a unique identifier that they will use

when they participate in any training provided by the CWRC. The addition of

the Participant ID will allow the CWRC to examine how participants’

experiences and learning differ by training while maintaining their anonymity.

Because the ID is self-generated, only the participants will know their ID and it

will not be possible for CWRC staff to link participants to their IDs and

responses.

The CWRC will review the feedback for trends and identify issues in the course

content or delivery that warrant attention.

Submitted by: Sonya Stokes

There is

only one

corner of

the

universe

you can be

certain of

improving,

and that's

your own

self.

-Aldous

Huxley

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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

FEBRUARY

Amy Scheuer Feb 2

Brian Weir Feb 3

Jerry Lauro Feb 21

Elizabeth Coyle Feb 24

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

MARCH Ceil Bartolai Mar 1

Cynthia Scott Mar 1

Nancy Lindahl Mar 7

Karen Robos Mar 7

Denna Hays Mar 12

Darla Henry Mar 14

Judith Hoover-Thompson Mar 16

Carla Sanders Mar 19

Bonnie Marsh Mar 21

Kathy Donson Mar 24

Linda Spiritoso Mar 24

BJ Treser Mar 24

Lynette Drawn-Williamson Mar 25

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 3

Trainers will benefit from the new form by receiving more information about participants (e.g., education level,

role) and more detailed summaries of their feedback. Trainers may use this information to inform their

training delivery and provide recommendations to the CWRC about course content. Trainers can expect to

receive a summary of Participant Feedback via email from Regional Resource Specialists within 6-8 weeks of

the trainer box being returned to the CWRC.

Directions about the process for administering the forms will be included in trainer boxes and will be reviewed

with trainers at a CTAG meeting and an upcoming professional development session.

Any questions about the new form or process can be directed to Sonya Stokes at sos47@pitt.edu or

717-795-9048 or shared on your Trainer Feedback Form.

Continued from page 1...

New Additions to Being Well

Make time to check out the latest additions to the Being Well resource list. The webpage is designed to give parents/caregivers, resource parents, and anyone in the child welfare field comprehensive and easy-to-digest information on common health and wellness topics as they relate directly to children. Being Well is a collaborative effort of the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC and the PA CWRC. The latest additions to the Being Well page include factsheets on ADHD and cystic fibrosis. Stay tuned as more topics will be added in the near future!

Please feel free to share this resource with the participants in your trainings as it relates to the subject matter. Additionally, please share any suggestions you may have for future Being Well topics. Being Well can be found here http://www.beingwell.pitt.edu/ or by clicking the Being Well banner on the CWRC homepage. Thank you for your continued support of the PA Child Welfare Resource Center!

Submitted by: Andrea Merovich

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 4

TRAINER/CONSULTANT SPOTLIGHT

Thank you to all of our trainers and consultants for your commitment to child welfare

training. Your dedication does not go unnoticed. We appreciate all of the CWRC trainers

for their hard work. We would like to highlight your diligence and commend your efforts

by recognizing them in this ongoing feature.

We would like to give a BIG KUDOS to all trainers for regularly providing us with your

feedback, which is part of our continuous quality improvement efforts. We encourage you

to keep submitting your trainer feedback, it is appreciated and valuable. We read every

comment and implement your suggestions whenever we can. For instance, Marjorie

Ruschel recently wrote to us suggesting that in Section 3, Part 3 of Charting the Course

Module 8, the activity, “Sad, Glad, Bad, Mad” seems to work well as a gallery walk. This

activity is currently being done as a round robin. However, after an internal consultation,

Ms. Ruschel was given approval to do as she suggested. Other trainers have provided

feedback which has been reviewed and is very helpful as the curricula is revised. Please

feel free to follow up with me, sos47@pitt.edu, if you don’t think we received your

comment and you haven’t heard back from me or one of the instructional design team.

THANK YOU to Lynette Drawn-Williamson for mentoring a new trainer and providing

fantastic feedback to the Curriculum and Trainer Development Supervisor. Due to the

travel ban, a CWRC observer was unable to be present. However, Ms. Drawn-Williamson

went beyond expectations by providing insightful and relevant feedback. With her

assistance, the new trainer was able to complete the mentoring process and we were able

to add her to our training roster. Again, thank you, Ms. Drawn-Williamson, for going above

and beyond!

Another HUGE thank you goes to Pat Gadsden! Ms. Gadsden agreed to be video recorded

during a recent training session to support our continuous quality improvement efforts.

We will use this video to train our staff on the new observation format and to improve

their trainer observation skills. Ms. Gadsden, thank you for assisting with this project, it

will definitely be a useful video!

If you would like to shine the spotlight on any of your trainer or consultant colleagues for

exceptional effort please contact me, Sonya Stokes, at sos47@pitt.edu and let me know!

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 5

Trainer/Consultant Professional Development Hours All active CWRC Trainers and Consultants must obtain a minimum of six (6) hours of professional development training each fiscal year (July 1 – June 30) in

order to maintain active status as a contracted CWRC trainer or consultant. Below is a list of frequently asked questions and answers regarding this policy.

Who is required to obtain credit hours?

All active Trainers and Consultants of the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center are required to obtain credit hours.

How many credit hours are required?

Six (6) hours of professional development training are required each fiscal year (July 1 – June 30).

What counts as professional development training?

Most courses offered by the CWRC will satisfy this professional development requirement. In addition, professional development training in child welfare, consulting or training skills or related topics offered by other organizations are acceptable. Online courses are acceptable as long as the

trainer or consultant can provide a course description and documentation that he/she has completed the online course.

What training opportunities does the CWRC offer for trainers and consultants?

Trainers and consultants have many options for obtaining their six required professional development hours. Trainers and Consultants can take

advantage of:

Most CWRC instructor-led training courses offered around the state

Spring and Fall Regional Consultant and Trainer Events

CWRC Online Courses

What do I have to do to get professional development credit for a CWRC course?

Trainers and consultants who wish to attend CWRC training must register through Rachael Ickes at rmi6@pitt.edu or 717-795-9048. If you register

for and attend a workshop offered by the CWRC, you do not need to submit documentation of your attendance.

Which CWRC training courses do not count as professional development training?

Attendance at CWRC Training on Content workshops and the Development of Trainers and Consultants Course DO NOT count to ward your annual

professional development hours requirement.

How do I get credit for completing non-CWRC professional development training hours?

Mail, email or fax the workshop or course description and your certificate of attendance/completion to:

FAX: 717-795-8013

EMAIL: Melissa Yoho: MEC153@pitt.edu

MAIL:

The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center

University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work

Attn: Melissa Yoho

403 East Winding Hill Road

Mechanicsburg, PA 17055

What is the deadline for submitting documentation for non-CWRC professional development training

hours?

To get credit for non-CWRC professional development training hours, trainers and consultants must submit documentation by June 30th of each

year.

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 6

DATE: February 2016 TO: Trainers/Consultants for the Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center FROM: Sonya Stokes and Jeanne Edwards SUBJECT: Quality Service Review (QSR) Reviewer Opportunities

Casey Family Programs and the National Resource Center for Organizational Improvement define

continuous quality improvement as “the ongoing process by which an agency makes decisions and

evaluates its progress.” Many of you are aware that implementing change at the local level is critical

to the achievement of positive child, youth and family outcomes, particularly in a state-supervised

and county-administered state. Pennsylvania’s Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) effort is not a

time limited project or initiative as the CQI effort is focused on reshaping the system at the local and

state level to support the ongoing achievement of positive outcomes for our children, youth and

families. The state will do this by better aligning existing quality improvement efforts to meet county’s

needs in a more coordinated, connected way.

Pennsylvania has chosen a well-developed Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) process as its

vehicle to drive change forward. The Quality Service Review (QSR) is one critical component of the

CQI process that will be used to assess and monitor progress. The QSR process does not focus on

compliance enforcement; instead, QSR data is used to stimulate and support practice development

and capacity-building efforts leading to better practice and results for the children, youth and families

receiving services. The QSR provides a basis for measuring, promoting, and strengthening best

practice and QSR findings are used to provide safe, positive feedback to frontline staff, supervisors,

and program managers.

The QSR process uses a combination of record reviews, interviews, observations, and deductions

made from fact patterns gathered and interpreted by trained reviewers regarding children, youth and

families. The QSR Protocol is the tool that QSR reviewers utilize to conduct an in-depth case review

to find out how children, youth and families are benefiting from services received and how well locally

coordinated services are working for children, youth and families. The QSR Protocol contains

qualitative indicators that measure the current status of the focus child/youth and the child/youth’s

parents and/or caregivers as well as a set of qualitative indicators for measuring the quality and

consistency of core practice functions used in the case. The QSR serves as a measure of

Pennsylvania’s Practice Model and standards for child welfare practice. The Resource Center is

committed to the CQI/QSR process that is being implemented in Pennsylvania and to support this

endeavor we are requesting that our trainers and consultants become fully informed of the CQI/QSR

process.

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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 7

Continued from page 6...

To accomplish this objective, we are offering all trainers and consultants the opportunity to be QSR

reviewers. To be a QSR reviewer you must participate in a two-day training or refresher training to be

certified. Also as a QSR reviewer, you will have to commit to the process and tasks at hand and be

able to travel to a county to participate in the onsite QSR. Those consultants and trainers who are

interested in being a “state reviewer” can go online and fill out an application to be a QSR reviewer

at: http://www.pacwrc.pitt.edu/QSR-app.asp or contact Lisa Kessler at: lkk20@pitt.edu or by calling

(717) 795-9048.

If a trainer or consultant is selected by QSR Site Leads to be a “state reviewer” for a state-supported

onsite QSR, the trainer/consultant will be required to:

1. Sign a work plan documenting the specific tasks of a QSR reviewer including the expectation

that QSR reviewers will be required to work day and evening hours on the dates of the onsite

review.

2. Attend the required training (two-day QSR training or QSR Refresher Session) to be certified

as a QSR Reviewer. Participants will not be paid for attendance at this training session, but

they will receive credit towards their professional development hours.

3. Maintain all insurance requirements required by the University of Pittsburgh.

4. Participate in the designated onsite review days for their role as a reviewer during the QSR

and complete all required tasks as outlined in the work plan. (NOTE: If applicable, the trainer/

consultant would have to be selected as a “state reviewer” for a QSR in a county different than

which they are regularly employed.)

A one-time flat rate payment of $1,500 will be paid to trainers/consultants that are selected as state

reviewers and who have not previously received payment for serving as a QSR reviewer.

The following counties will be having onsite QSRs from January 2016 to December 2016:

Lackawanna; Montgomery; Butler; Snyder; Crawford; Wyoming; Clarion; and Philadelphia. The

following are the dates for the onsite reviews and the trainings that we know at this time:

Lackawanna QSR: 3/30/16 – 4/1/16

ᵒ 2 day training: 3/14/16 – 3/15/16

ᵒ Refresher session: 3/8/16 from 10am – 12pm

Montgomery QSR: 4/4/16 – 4/6/16 and 4/11/16 – 4/13/16

ᵒ 2 day training: 2/24/16 – 2/25/16

ᵒ Refresher session: 3/1/16 from 10am-12pm and 3/7/16 from 1-3pm

Butler QSR: 4/12/16 – 4/14/16 and 4/19/16 – 4/21/16

ᵒ 2 day training: 3/30/16 – 3/31/16

ᵒ Refresher session: 4/5/16 from 10am-12pm

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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 8

Continued from page 7...

Snyder QSR: 5/10/16 – 5/12/16

ᵒ 2 day training: 4/13/16 – 4/14/16

ᵒ Refresher session: 4/20/16 from 10am-12pm

Crawford QSR: 5/17/16 – 5/19/16 and 5/24/16 – 5/26/16

ᵒ 2 day training: 4/18/16 – 4/19/16

ᵒ Refresher session: 4/20/16 from 9:30am-11:30am

Wyoming QSR: 6/8/16 – 6/10/16

ᵒ 2 day training: TBD

ᵒ Refresher Session: TBD

Clarion QSR: TBD

Philadelphia QSR: TBD

Should you have any questions about the Continuous Quality Improvement effort or the Quality

Service Review process, please go to http://www.pacwrc.pitt.edu/CQI.htm or contact the CQI

Project Manager, Jeanne Edwards, at jls192@pitt.edu. All other trainer/consultant related questions

pertaining to this letter should be directed to Sonya Stokes at sos47@pitt.edu.

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 9

403 East Winding Hill Road

Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania 17055

Phone: (717) 795-9048

Fax: (717) 795-8013

www.pacwrc.pitt.edu

Melissa Yoho Andrea Merovich

Sonya Stokes Jeanne Edwards

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.