FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: November 03 2021

Contact:  Jon Ebelt, Public Information Officer, DPHHS, (406) 444-0936
              Chuck Council, Communications Specialist, DPHHS, (406) 444-4391

Child Welfare 101 Trainings

The Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) continued its series of Child Welfare 101 trainings in Great Falls today, November 2, 2021 at the MSU Great Falls College.

Child Welfare 101 brings together all the key community partners that make up the child welfare system and reviews how the different roles work together to ensure child safety and strengthen families. Participants included judges, county attorneys, public defenders and Court Appointed Special Advocates.

“Communication and understanding between all entities involved in child welfare is critical to successfully serving the children and families of Montana,” DPHHS Director Adam Meier said. “The child welfare system is complex, and it really takes all of us working together to improve the system as a whole.”

In addition, the trainings will include a two-hour introduction to Collaborative Safety. The Collaborative Safety model is founded in safety science, behavioral analysis, forensic interviewing and is encased in a trauma-informed lens. The model creates a culture of accountability, addresses underlying systemic issues and sees people as the solution.

Collaborative Safety is based on a modern, comprehensive approach to analyzing adverse events and promptly acting on areas of improvement.

DPHHS started to incorporate Collaborative Safety into its day-to-day efforts since Meier became the agency director earlier this year.

“It moves away from a reactionary approach toward a comprehensive process that addresses systemic factors so together we can make critical advancement to promote safe outcomes,” Meier explains. “This approach has been championed by safety-critical industries, including health care, aviation and others.”

Listening sessions are held following the training to offer an opportunity for participants to ask questions and provide feedback to help improve the child welfare system.

These trainings follow Collaborate Resources (CORE) trainings held in 2019 and 2020 that teach community partners about the safety model that CFSD uses to assess families and ensure children are safe.

Trainings were also held in Bozeman and Kalispell last week, and will wrap up in Billings tomorrow.