Breaking the Cycle of Child Maltreatment and Neglect

The DCBS of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, in conjunction with the University Training Consortium Project, will provide a specialized training and consultation program. This program will provide training to current and new DCBS staff in an ongoing, intensive manner. Training will be provided in scheduled didactic presentations and in a case-specific fashion (consultation). The case-specific training will be provided "in the field" to DCBS staff as requested. It will be coordinated by Regional Clinical Associates at the discretion of the Service Region Administrators or their designees (SRA's). A significant portion of this training will be centered on a case at hand and will be ongoing as the issues in the case evolve and the interventions are carried out. This training project will involve the education of DCBS staff, and foster parents on the understanding of the implications and implementation of the recommendations of the multi-dimensional assessments completed at the Comprehensive Assessment and Training Services Project (CATS Project). This training will be provided on-site in DCBS field offices, homes of foster parents, and on-site at the CATS project. This type of problem-based learning has been shown to effectively teach specific knowledge, but has also been shown to enhance communications skills and improve staff problem-solving skills. These new skills can then be applied in that staff's daily work.