PRESS RELEASE: APRIL 2022
Florida State Board of Education Approves New Behavioral Health High School Curriculum, Launching Pathway to Profession and a Long-Term Solution to Shortage
Behavioral Health Technician curriculum developed by School District of Palm Beach County, in partnership with BeWellPBC and community organizations, to become statewide offering.
The National Certification Board for Child Welfare Professionals Partners With Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services, 2INgage and Our Community Our Kids (OCOK)
Providing Certified Child Welfare Supervisor credentials to qualified professionals in the state of Texas.
PRESS RELEASE UPDATED: AUG 22, 2022 07:00 EDT
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., August 22, 2022 – Over 10,000 children are abused each day in our country. Florida is the nation’s first and only state to legislatively require child welfare staff and their immediate supervisors to earn and maintain professional certification as a condition of employment. The legislation took effect in 2011, and since that time, the Florida Certification Board has credentialed over 10,000 professionals, ensuring that certified professionals have demonstrated the competency necessary to provide for child safety, permanency, and wellness. Certification is maintained by ongoing compliance with continuing education and a professional code of ethics. Credentials are built and maintained according to industry best practices, providing assurance that credentials are valid, reliable, and defensible. The success of the first child welfare line and supervisor credentials led others in the child welfare space to request professional regulation, including Guardian ad Litem Child Advocate Managers and Child Protection Team Medical Providers. Further, Florida’s success in establishing minimum certification standards within the child welfare system has been noticed by other states interested in a different approach to staff development that follows best practices of other regulated industries.
In response, the Florida Certification Board established the National Certification Board for Child Welfare Professionals (NCBCWP) to promote a national standard of practice for child welfare professionals and facilitate the delivery of credentialing services to interested states and child welfare organizations. The NCBCWP offers a multi-tiered platform of child welfare credentials, from true entry-level through supervisor, in the disciplines of investigations, case management, licensing, child protection team, and child advocate managers. Earning a national child welfare certification through the NCBCWP validates professional competence, demonstrates a commitment to safe and quality care, and inspires public trust through professional regulation of certified child welfare professionals.
The NCBCWP brings the first national professional certification to enhance, elevate and advance the child welfare workforce. Its mission is to protect children and families in the child welfare system by systematically establishing, promoting, and disseminating professional standards of practice through a regulated, certified workforce.
Austin, TX. – The Texas Center for Child and Family Studies (The Center), a 501c3 nonprofit supporting organization of the Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services (TACFS), has entered into an agreement with the NCBCWP to implement programs necessary to prepare the child welfare workforce to apply for, test and hold the Certified Child Welfare Supervisor (CCWS) credential. This effort is being piloted with two of the Single Source Continuum Contractors (SSCCs) in Texas: 2INgage, a program of Texas Family Initiative LLC, and OCOK. The SSCCs will start with the supervisor credential and the goal is to expand throughout the state with both the supervisor and the case manager certification. The Center is providing backbone support and development and delivery of the required training associated with the credential. This is the first step in the development of a professional certification for child welfare throughout the United States. Once the Texas child welfare certification process is up and running, one of the many goals is to establish reciprocity rights between Texas and Florida for the different levels of certification, which would allow workforce mobility between two states for the first time ever. The SSCCs and The Center are excited about implementing professional standards and having child welfare professionals in Texas demonstrate the competencies necessary to provide for child safety, permanency, and wellness.
About Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services (TACFS) and the Texas Center for Child & Family Studies (The Center) – Every day, Texas serves tens of thousands of the most vulnerable children and families in the child welfare system. They experience trauma from physical abuse, neglect, poverty, domestic violence, substance abuse, and more. The Texas Alliance of Child and Family Services (TACFS) is a network of mission-driven organizations that have embraced the call to serve these children and families, and are working together to improve our care, services, and outcomes statewide.
At TACFS, our responsibility, above all, is to the children, youth, and families across Texas that we serve every day. Our vocation and our passion is to understand and work to undo the damage caused by trauma, create a system where vulnerable children and families experience safety and well-being, and maximize the potential of each child and family.
The Center is focused on providing Texas child, youth, and family service agencies with the knowledge, skills, and ability they need to provide high-quality services in their communities. Staying at the forefront of innovation and best practices while also anticipating issues and areas of concern, The Center strives to accomplish our mission through trainings, consultations, education, and rigorous research.
About the CCWS Credential. The NCBCWP’s exciting new credential is the first in the country to establish a set of core competencies for supervisors in the child welfare system. Supervisors holding the CCWS credential have demonstrated their experience and knowledge of child welfare models, evidence-based practices, and systems of care to achieve safety, permanency, and well-being for children and families. This credential further verifies that CCWSs have the skill and ability to lead, motivate, and manage the performance of supervises to ensure quality in service delivery and achievement of case plan goals.
Interested in certification opportunities? Contact Neal A. McGarry, CEO, Florida Certification Board | 850-222-6314