Family Drug Court Learning Academy 2015 – Leading Change

Overview

The FDC Learning Academy consist of a series of web-based trainings that assess the needs, initiate strategic planning, implement program improvements, evaluate performance, and sustain FDCs. Launched in 2010, the Learning Academy is comprised of four levels of “learning communities” that are responsive to the developmental stages of FDCs.

Opportunities

Assistance in using the policy tools developed by the National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW) that assist stakeholders in multiple systems to clarify cross-system values and common principles for addressing joint goals

Customized assessment of the jurisdiction’s collaborative capacity, with an analysis of strengths and needs and recommendation for developing actionable priorities

Linkage to a range of practice and policy experts on families with substance use disorders in the child welfare and family court systems

Specialized networking and peer consultation with other FDC sites

Learning Academy 2015 Webinars

Date Title Video Description
March 12, 2015 Building Your FDC – Design or Default?
FDCs are built on a foundation of shared mission and vision, supported by client services and agency collaboration and achieved by shared outcomes. If your FDC is in the early planning stages, you will be challenged with a multitude of critical decisions, including model, target population, service array, partnerships, and outcomes. This presentation will outline these critical decision points and key considerations that your collaborative must explore if you want to build an FDC that reflects the mission and vision and meets the needs of your community. Components of visionary and barrier-busting leadership will be offered that will challenge “default” thinking that is subject to status quo or business as usual. Whether you are in the planning stages or re-thinking practice, policy, or design of your current FDC program, this webinar will help you lead change with strategic vision and intention.
April 16, 2015 So Who Wants to Be an FDC Coordinator?
Leadership in innovative or collaborative programs like Family Drug Courts are often taken for granted. FDCs get funded because someone took leadership. Collaborative relationships and partnerships across agencies and systems are developed because leaders persuade that working together is better than working alone. Collaborative programs like FDCs rely on leadership of a coordinator or similar leadership position to pull all the parts together. This webinar will explore what effective leadership in the FDC looks like and the pitfalls that lead to weak or ineffective leadership. Common pitfalls include “project-focused leadership (vs. systems-focused” and “too much leadership” in which a Coordinator “takes over” the collaborative team’s work and agenda resulting in team members sitting aback and allowing the Coordinator to run the show. This webinar will feature a State-level Drug Coordinator and a local FDC Coordinator who will share lessons learned and answer questions you have about this important leadership position. A post-webinar discussion will also be offered to attendees who want to engage in further dialogue with the presenters.
May 14, 2015 Case Managers in the FDC and Why You Need Them
As part of the FDC collaborative, child welfare social workers and drug treatment case manager professionals are charged with some of the most complex, challenging, and important responsibilities in their respective agencies – the protection of children while working with the entire family unit to address the issues that precipitated their involvement in CWS. Working with families affected by drug addiction and co-occurring conditions require skill, coordination, and collaboration.
This webinar explores the complexities of case management in the FDC context and their contribution to effective FDC programs. The dual-prong of case management is explored by drawing from the expertise from the child welfare and treatment disciplines. Viewers will review practice challenges, including meeting the complex needs of families amidst competing expectations and goals, department policies, and limited resources.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn key considerations and challenges in effectively prioritizing goals to meet the needs of families.
2. Explore the perspectives and needs of both child welfare and treatment agencies in case management.
3. Experience a facilitated virtual discussion to triage hot topics on case management.

June 11, 2015 Leading Change – Prevention & Family Recovery Project
The Prevention and Family Recovery (PFR) initiative seeks to advance the capacity of Family Drug Courts (FDCs) to provide and sustain comprehensive family-centered care to children, parents and families affected by substance use disorders, child abuse and neglect. Children and Family Futures (CFF), with the generous support of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Duke Endowment, is providing funding and intensive technical assistance (TA) and expert consultation to four FDC grantees. This presentation will provide an overview of the initiative and early lessons learned from grantees’ first year of operations. The presentation will highlight the work of the four FDCs and their efforts to integrate and institutionalize evidence-based parenting services and developmental and therapeutic services for children (primarily ages 0-8) into their larger FDC systems of care. The webinar will also highlight CFF’s use of a Change Leader, as part of the TA provided, to help each of the FDC programs advance collaborative practice and systems change.
August 13, 2015 FDC Peer Learning Courts – TED Talks
Family Drug Courts (FDCs) are a growing response to the problem of families affected by parental substance abuse and child maltreatment. With over 360 FDCs now in operation across the nation, FDC outcomes have shown significantly higher rates of parents’ participation in substance use disorder treatment, longer stays in treatment, higher rates of family reunification, less time for children in foster care and decreased incidence of repeat maltreatment and return to out-of-home care compared to the non-family drug court participants (Marlowe & Carey, 2012). Through the FDC Peer Learning Court (PLC) Program, Children and Family Futures has identified FDC best practice models by creating nine mentorship sites across the nation that further the exchange of learning through peer-to-peer technical assistance.
September 10, 2015 Leading Change – State Systems Reform Program
Funded by OJJDP starting in the Fall 2014, the Statewide Systems Reform Program (SSRP) is a two-year grant initiative aimed to assist five awarded states in developing and improving statewide policies that infuse or increase the scale of effective FDC practices. This presentation will highlight the barriers of taking FDCs to scale and the solutions underway at the state level to overcome those barriers. The presentation will also highlight the opportunities of the infusion approach and the strategies undertaken by these state leaders to change the larger child welfare systems. The webinar will also highlight the utilization of a Change Leader as part of the technical assistance provided to each of the awarded states to implement their strategic plan.