Join us as we have an in depth discussion about how the Assessment Response Team uses strategies to give case managers more time to provide direct service to children and families in need. Our guest Miranda Slaughter, Senior Child Protective Investigator for DCF, discusses how ART helps caseworkers reduce the red tape in order to focus efforts on those families in crisis.

This episode explores the impact of cutting-edge technology on the child welfare system. Join us as we have a riveting discussion with Leah Dienger about the new technological advances she and her company, IBM, have developed to assist social workers in the field. Leah's work is groundbreaking and has the potential to impact children's lives throughout Florida and globally.

What does it mean to be color-conscious? Corey Best helps us understand how our own biases and beliefs about individuals can be in conflict with personal and organizational values. Putting the facts in the context of the family and community strengths and resources is necessary to reach the best decision for the child.

Hear Terri’s wise offerings of advice based on her experiences as a teenager currently in the system. Her suggestions seem simple and logical, but all too often are infrequently used in our interactions with children and youth with whom we work.

When helping hurts. The emotional and psychological risks associated with providing direct social work services to vulnerable populations are real. But they are referred to by so many different labels. What’s the difference between burnout, compassion fatigue, and having vicarious trauma? April Lott explains the correct terminology and provides suggestions on how to protect yourself and heal.

Listen to a victim advocate and researcher discuss the co-occurrence of child maltreatment and intimate partner violence and provide concrete recommendations on ways you can improve your collaborations with other community professionals on cases that involve both.

Join Kim Purinton and Dr. Pryce as they discuss how maternal depression can affect a mother’s relationship with her child. You will also learn the different behaviors that may indicate that the parent is struggling with depression.

Listen in to learn how to use the tenants of Motivational Interviewing (MI) to engage parents who are ambivalent about changing their behavior. Using the “Spirit” of MI will help you build a collaborative relationship as well as compassion for the families you work with.

Listen to Dr. Cynthia Lietz, developer of the strength-based supervision model, share strategies for both supervisors and front-line case workers to engage in “courageous conversations”. Utilizing both crisis supervision opportunities and scheduled in-depth supervision meetings can improve the supervisor-direct report relationship and thus case management practices and outcomes.

This episode discusses the child welfare workforce - what it is like to work in the system with families in crisis while managing and juggling competing priorities and decisions. Listen to Dr. Dina Wilke, a child welfare workforce researcher and Timothy Morris, a child protective investigator, discuss the “impossible imperative”. They speak frankly about caseload severity, challenges in decision making, and distinguishing between present danger and impending danger. Some suggestions for self-care are also offered.