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All Children - All Families: Training Program
The All Children - All Families (ACAF) National Training Program offers expert training, capacity building, and coaching on a diverse range of LGBTQ+ topics for child welfare professionals and caregivers as well as professionals in social and human services more broadly at a sliding scale fee-for-service both in-person and virtually. High-quality, engaging, and evidenced-based training is available virtually and in-person and is customizable to the unique needs of your organization. Training for staff is a key component of LGBTQ+ inclusion within your organization, however training alone cannot fully equip an organization to be LGBTQ+ affirming. ACAF strongly recommends organizations participate in the Agency Self-Assessment program (at no cost) to address policy, practice, marketing, and community engagement to ensure full LGBTQ+ inclusion for your organization.
ACAF offers the following 90-minute modules as core competency offerings and can be provided to your team virtually. Please note, all of these are available as recorded webinars at no cost in our Field Forward Webinar Archive, but can also be requested for live virtual training for your team for a fee.
Introduction to LGBTQ+ Inclusion for Child Welfare Professionals
Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ+ Youth in Child Welfare
Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ+ Parents & Families in Child Welfare
ACAF offers the following 3-hour training modules as core competencies for child welfare and social services agency professionals. Each module includes interactive activities and customizable case studies for your particular organization and can be provided in-person or virtually. Additionally, where possible, ACAF works to provide local LGBTQ+ youth and family resources to agencies for follow-up and on-going support.
Introduction to LGBTQ+ Inclusion for Child Welfare Professionals
Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ+ Youth in Child Welfare
Best Practices for Serving LGBTQ+ Parents & Families in Child Welfare
Building Safety and Trust: Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth (caregiver training)
Introduction to LGBTQ+ Inclusion for Social Services
ACAF offers a day-long deep-dive for child welfare professionals with our “Setting the Foundation'' Training. This 6-hour course equips child welfare professionals with a comprehensive foundation of knowledge on LGBTQ+ youth and families and their experiences within the system and can be provided virtually or in-person. Please see details below:
Opening: Welcome, Introduction, and Expectations Setting (45-60 minutes)
Explore how and why SOGIE matters to the work of child welfare.
Discuss shared values, expectations and mandates as professionals and their connections to LGBTQ+ competency.
Explore intersectionality and what it means to bring an intersectional lens to LGBTQ+ inclusion.
Module 1: SOGIE Concepts and Identity (45-60 minutes)
Improve participants’ knowledge of and comfort with appropriate terminology re: LGBTQ+ and SOGIE issues.
Distinguish between sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
Explain the limitations of the gender binary.
Explore ways for workers to respond to clients from a place of "openness" when discussing SOGIE.
Module 2: Exploring Early Messages and Unconscious Bias (45-60 minutes)
Explore the underlying messages of participants’ earliest memories related to LGBTQ+ people and SOGIE.
Encourage participants to acknowledge their own beliefs, values and assumptions in relation to LGBTQ+ people.
Explain the connection between early messages and unconscious bias / the ways early messages can help or hinder participants in performing their professional roles and responsibilities.
Reflect on participants’ roles as messengers and what current messages LGBTQ+ youth and parents are receiving in their practice setting.
Module 3: Experiences of LGBTQ+ Youth & Adults Case Studies (60 minutes)
Explore main challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth and LGBTQ+ parents through case studies that are child welfare specific.
Understand the ways that barriers faced by LGBTQ+ community are often rooted in misconceptions.
Identify ways to respond effectively to misconceptions about LGBTQ+ people.
Module 4: Rolling Out the Welcome Mat (45-50 minutes)
Identify language and behavior that individuals can adopt to ensure they are creating a welcoming environment for LGBTQ+ youth and adults.
Identify concrete next steps for advocating for and improving practice with LGBTQ+ youth and families at the organizational level.
Explore “Coming Out” as a concept, as well as the importance of family and worker response.
Closing: Ongoing Learning and Allyship (30-50 minutes)
Identify concrete next steps for being an “active ally” to the LGBTQ+ community.
Reflect on participants’ learning, feelings and calls to action from the day.
The Training of Facilitators (TOF) program builds the capacity of organizations to deliver LGBTQ+ content to their own staff and caregivers utilizing ACAF’s materials. Over multiple days, the TOF equips prospective facilitators to deliver ACAF training content. The program includes instruction from ACAF’s Expert Facilitators, teach-back sessions with feedback for prospective facilitators, and optional on-going coaching for staff. The program provides an organization everything they need to provide LGBTQ+ inclusive training to their team, their caregivers, and even their partner agencies. Please note this will require a substantial amount of lead time and typically costs start around $30,000 for a small agency.
If you have not found what you are looking for, ACAF may be able to provide fully customized training for your organization. Please note this will require a substantial amount of lead time and a significant financial investment to customize content to your specific needs.
What Participants Have to Say:
“The training was excellent and really provided concrete skills for social workers to use when working with LGBTQ+ clients.”
“The ACAF Training of Facilitators experience is the most comprehensive in terms of preparation and support that I have participated in. Both the team of expert trainers and the well-developed materials serve as great learning supports for facilitators entering this work at all levels.”
“I learn best with visuals - this presentation was great! The presentation was helpful, the speakers were very knowledgeable. Great tips!”