SECTIONS 16205-16208 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 16205-16208

16205. The department shall select and award a grant to a private
nonprofit or public entity for the purpose of establishing a
statewide multipurpose child welfare training program.

16206. (a) The purpose of the program is to develop and implement
statewide coordinated training programs designed specifically to meet
the needs of county child protective services social workers
assigned emergency response, family maintenance, family
reunification, permanent placement, and adoption responsibilities. It
is the intent of the Legislature that the program include training
for other agencies under contract with county welfare departments to
provide child welfare services. In addition, the program shall
provide training programs for persons defined as a mandated reporter
pursuant to the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, Article 2.5
(commencing with Section 11164) of Chapter 2 of Title 1 of Part 4 of
the Penal Code. The program shall provide the services required in
this section to the extent possible within the total allocation. If
allocations are insufficient, the department, in consultation with
the grantee or grantees and the Child Welfare Training Advisory
Board, shall prioritize the efforts of the program, giving primary
attention to the most urgently needed services. County child
protective services social workers assigned emergency response
responsibilities shall receive first priority for training pursuant
to this section.
(b) The training program shall provide practice-relevant training
for mandated child abuse reporters and all members of the child
welfare delivery system that will address critical issues affecting
the well-being of children, and shall develop curriculum materials
and training resources for use in meeting staff development needs of
mandated child abuse reporters and child welfare personnel in public
and private agency settings.
(c) The training provided pursuant to this section shall include
all of the following:
(1) Crisis intervention.
(2) Investigative techniques.
(3) Rules of evidence.
(4) Indicators of abuse and neglect.
(5) Assessment criteria, including the application of guidelines
for assessment of relatives for placement according to the criteria
described in Section 361.3.
(6) Intervention strategies.
(7) Legal requirements of child protection, including requirements
of child abuse reporting laws.
(8) Case management.
(9) Use of community resources.
(10) Information regarding the dynamics and effects of domestic
violence upon families and children, including indicators and
dynamics of teen dating violence.
(11) Posttraumatic stress disorder and the causes, symptoms, and
treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder in children.
(12) The importance of maintaining relationships with individuals
who are important to a child in out-of-home placement, including
methods to identify those individuals, consistent with the child's
best interests, including, but not limited to, asking the child about
individuals who are important, and ways to maintain and support
those relationships.
(13) The legal duties of a child protective services social
worker, in order to protect the legal rights and safety of children
and families from the initial time of contact during investigation
through treatment.
(d) The training provided pursuant to this section may also
include any or all of the following:
(1) Child development and parenting.
(2) Intake, interviewing, and initial assessment.
(3) Casework and treatment.
(4) Medical aspects of child abuse and neglect.
(e) The training program shall assess the program's performance at
least annually and forward it to the State Department of Social
Services for an evaluation and report to the Legislative Analyst. The
first report shall be forwarded to the Legislative Analyst no later
than January 1, 1990, and on the first of January in any subsequent
year. The assessment shall include at minimum the following:
(1) The number of persons trained.
(2) The type of training provided.
(3) The degree to which the training is perceived by participants
as useful in practice.
(f) The training program shall provide practice-relevant training
to county child protective services social workers who screen
referrals for child abuse or neglect and for all workers assigned to
provide emergency response, family maintenance, family reunification,
and permanent placement services. The training shall be developed in
consultation with the Child Welfare Training Advisory Board and
domestic violence victims' advocates and other public and private
agencies that provide programs for victims of domestic violence or
programs of intervention for perpetrators.

16207. Nothing in this chapter is intended to replace training
requirements established by the department in regulations contained
in Sections 30-196 and 30-272 of the department's manual of policies
and procedures.

16208. (a) (1) The department, in consultation with the Child
Welfare Training Advisory Board, shall contract with the University
of California or the California State University system to develop a
statewide protocol for telephone screening of emergency response
referrals to protect children from abuse and neglect, to be called
the Emergency Response Protocol. The department shall seek the advice
of the California Children's Lobby in the development of this
protocol.
(2) The Emergency Response Protocol shall incorporate written
procedures for screening each referral of abuse or neglect to assess
whether abuse of another family or household member is occurring.
This additional domestic violence assessment and referral criteria
shall be developed by the department in consultation with domestic
violence victims' advocates, and other public and private agencies
that provide programs for victims of domestic violence or programs of
intervention for perpetrators and the County Welfare Directors
Association.
(b) The department shall utilize available child welfare training
funds in the development of the protocol.
(c) The department shall incorporate the protocol into the child
welfare training program described in this article no later than
February 15, 1992.