Equipping social workers on the front line: The child welfare and addiction specialist fellowship program

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PROJECT SUMMARY Best estimates suggest up to 68% of child welfare cases involve a caregiver with an alcohol and/or other substance use disorder (AOSUDs), which is a significant public health problem given that in 2020 alone there were 3.9 million child welfare referrals involving 7.1 million children! Child welfare professionals lack knowledge of AOSUDs and their evidence-based treatments and many caregivers’ AOSUDs go unidentified and untreated, which puts children at greater risk for maltreatment and out-of-home placements. To address this issue, the proposed training program seeks funding to enhance Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) federally-supported Title IV-E child welfare professional training program with specialized training on AOSUDs integrated with an ongoing clinical/peer supervision and a tele-education (ECHO) model. Project aims include: (a) to recruit 30 child welfare professionals who are alumni of VCU’s Title IV-E child welfare program to participate in a two-year specialized training program; (b) to assess the impact of the program on caseworker skill and confidence in screening, intervening, and referring child-welfare involved families impacted by AOSUDs; and (c) to identify barriers and facilitators to the effective implementation of AOSUD training in child welfare settings. Without enhanced training programs such as the one proposed here, child welfare professionals will continue to lack the education and support they need to address AOSUDs among the majority of families and children involved in the child welfare system. With almost 150 Title IV-E programs across 35 states, the findings from this innovative training program will inform the development of an evidence- based program that can be replicated to improve child welfare outcomes across the country.