Targeted Training and System Change
FYJP can help your jurisdiction identify issues where you can undertake measurable system change efforts through targeted training and implementation efforts. We take an approach that is data informed, sensitive to local culture and needs, and mindful of the complex and interlinked nature of the work we do. Examples of our work include training court communities in the ABA Child Safety framework, which improves the quality of court hearings through explicit discussions of safety threats, conditions for return home and case plan goals. We are currently working with DCYF to infuse a robust approach to incorporating child safety into the dependency court process to improve case outcomes and timeliness, part of the agency’s federal Program Improvement Plan.
Learning Opportunities for Court System Partners
FYJP provides learning opportunities for dependency court system partners, including offering continuing Legal and Judicial education credits. Our focus is on creating interactive, timely, and relevant workshops and online learning opportunities that provide information and engage practitioners in conversations about how knowledge can be applied in their work. Sessions can range from a half hour, to multiple day engagements. As with our other efforts, we encourage a localized, interactive, data informed approach to our training. We strive to help participants understand why the issue is being discussed, what they can do about it in their own practice, and how we might know that such efforts were successful. FYJP’s educational offerings include our annual judicial training, focused on the fundamentals of dependency work, judicial leadership and topics selected by an advisory committee.
A silver lining of the pandemic has been the development of FYJP’s online training capacity. With the suspension of in-person gatherings, FYJP and our partners have responded to requests for information sharing and learning with webinars and virtual conference sessions. This format has enabled us to provide timely information in a changing COVID-19 landscape, and reach a wider audience than our traditional in-person trainings. We offer live and recorded educational content on our Virtual Learning page. Examples of our online learning include the series of COVID-19 Family Time webinars and a Back To School Advocacy 2020 session – both of which provide specific COVID-19 tools and inquiries to ensure children’s relationship and educational needs are met during the pandemic.
Facilitation and Workshops
FYJP provides process facilitation and breakout session workshops for meetings and conferences. We have facilitated groups as large as 300 and provided specialized breakout sessions for group as small as 10. We use a fast paced, highly interactive format that helps participants connect their work to the larger group and develop a plan of action that is meaningful and specific to the conference goals. Using tools such as Liberating Structures we fully engage the entire group and blend “evidence based practice” expertise with the “practice based evidence” experience of the group at large to co-create a significant experience that resonates with attendees and moves them to action. Examples of our work include conference sessions we have produced for the Washington State Children’s Justice Conference and the Indigenous Children, Youth and Families Conference, and the planning and facilitation of day-long Permanency Summits in counties across Washington.
