The California Social Work Education Center is dedicated to the reprofessionalization of public child welfare services in California. To that end, CalSWEC assists the State to support five regional training academies that provide training to state child welfare workers. As part of this effort, CalSWEC has developed this packet of model training materials that may be used by regional training academies to implement or supplement training on addressing substance abuse issues among child welfare clients.

PROCESS

In the fall of 1996, representatives from all five regional training academies identified substance abuse as a critical training topic. Consequently, CalSWEC conducted a survey of existing curricula and training materials on the topic of child welfare and substance abuse. Laurie Drabble, MSW, Doctoral candidate at the UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare and former Executive Director of the California Women's Commission on Alcohol and Drug Dependencies developed this resource notebook for CalSWEC with funding provided by the California Department of Social Services. Training materials from California Training Academics, local County training initiatives, training materials in use in other states, and sample curricula developed through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration were included in the review. 

Although many of the reviewed materials were well done and had useful components, not all were applicable to our child welfare concerns. The materials contained in this packet met three criteria. First, they are specifically developed for the training of child welfare workers who need to develop skills related to addressing alcohol and other drug problems. Second, they are detailed enough for an experienced trainer to use or adapt. Third, they center on providing practical information, sharing concrete tools, and building skills that may be used by social workers in the field.