The Central California Training Academy (CCTA) provides training to child welfare workers in 11 California counties using funds from Title IV-E of the Social Security Act. CCTA aims to improve outcomes for at-risk children by offering various classroom and field trainings covering topics like induction, supervision skills, management, and emerging issues. Through enhancing the skills of new and experienced staff, CCTA promotes more ethical, culturally competent, and effective social services that uphold the rights of children and families in the community.

1. Social Welfare Evaluation,
Research and Training Center

2. Organizational Structure of
SWERT

3. Public Law; Adoption Assistance and
Child Welfare Act (Title IV-E)
 The Central California Training Academy (CCTA) is funded through a
contract with the California Department of Social Services.
 The Central California Training Academy (CCTA) utilizes Title IV-E funds to
provide various trainings to staff, supervisors, managers and other child
welfare-related staff working in child welfare agencies within the region.
 Title IV-E provides a funding mechanism for training because it has been
found that utilizing well trained child welfare staff is an effective strategy for
achieving the objectives below.
 PL 96-272 (Title IV-E) was established by the Federal Government to:
 Promote prevention of the unnecessary separation of children from their families.
 Reunite children separated from their families.
 Establish permanent situations for those children who either have no family or cannot be reunited
with their families.

4. Community Context
 The CCTA serves an 11 county region in Central California.
 Due to the large geographical area in the Central California Region,
and to enable the Academy project to better serve the twelve
counties in the region, four sub-regional training sites have been
established in the Northern, Central, Southern, and Coastal sub-
regions. Academy classes are held in various locations including,
but not limited to Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto and Santa Maria.

5. Populations Served
 The needs of children in the child welfare system play a huge role in
the implementation and effectiveness of training services provided
by CCTA to CWS workers.
 Children in the welfare system are usually victims of abuse and/or
neglect.
 There are 11 counties in California served.
 The populations trained in order to provide better service to this
community of youth includes:
 New staff in public child welfare services
 Seasoned and newly promoted supervisors
 Managers in Child Welfare
 Other child welfare-related staff working in child welfare agencies within the
region.

6. Mission and Aims
 To engage academic and community based partners in the
provision of research, training and evaluation in order to promote
the social welfare interest and betterment of Central California.
 The purpose of the SWERT is to support knowledge and learning
about the human condition, social issues, and service delivery
systems in the Central California region.
 The SWERT seeks to advance inquiry, theory, education, policy
and practice that promote social welfare and social justice.
 SWERT will serve as a university resource for human service
organizations, providers, and stakeholders in the identification
and study of social welfare issues and policies impacting the
region.

7.  Through acquisition of external resources and support,
SWERT will engage in research, training, and evaluation
activities consistent with the university’s mission of scholarship
and community engagement.
 The goal of Central California Training Academy (CCTA) is to
offer training that will:
 Eliminate the duplication of, and offer consistency in, the delivery
of training
 Assure linkages between the classroom and field
 Support staff retention
 Promote the professionalism of current and potential staff in public
social services and child welfare agencies within Central California
 Help develop and encourage promising practices in the field of
child welfare

8. Agencies Practices
 CCTA consists of 10 distinct components:
 New Employee “State of California Common Core” Induction Training
 Foundations in Child Welfare Supervision Core Training (California
Supervisor Common Core Training)
 Manager Core Training
 Ongoing Skills Training
 “Emerging Issues” Training Support
 Augmentation/Support of County Child Welfare Automation and
Outcome Data Efforts (CWS/CMS, Safe Measures, IBM Business
Objects, etc.)
 Field Training
 The Central California Area Social Services Consortium (CCASSC)
 Statewide Linkages
 University Linkages

9. Through the previously mentioned components of CCTA the
program is able to provide education to those serving in the
child welfare system. The knowledge instilled in the workers
through training allows for better practice and outcomes.
Representation of services delivered in 2009-2010:
 Classroom training to 4,827 child welfare workers, supervisors,
managers and administrators encompassing a total of 300 training
days.
 154 Child Welfare staff received Transfer of Learning focused
training offered by field-based trainers in Fresno, Tulare, Madera,
Kings, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

10. Significance of the Agency
In terms of Social Justice, Social Work Values, and Human Rights,
SWERT and more specifically the CCTA provides the following:
 Social Justice
 Training provides a broadening of the knowledge base that child welfare
workers use to serve those in need, therefore improving the quality of life
for those children and their families.
 Social Work Values
 Service is provided to those who work in child welfare so that they can
better serve the population at risk.
 CCTA promotes sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and
cultural ethical diversity. It provides an effort towards social change for
the betterment of child welfare services.
 The importance of human relationships in a change effort is promoted
through training provided by the CCTA.
 Ongoing training provides that child welfare workers maintain ethical
practices.
 Most of all, CCTA provides competence to all child welfare workers in
that it enhances their knowledge base and professional expertise.

11.  Human Rights
 SWERT and CCTA provides training for workers serving children
and their families. The trainings enhance the knowledge of the worker
so that they may better serve the community. This ultimately benefits
children who have been neglected of their basic human rights (food, shelter,
protection, healthy relationships, etc.) The betterment of skills to
those serving others is the way CCTA serves its community.