University of California, Berkeley
School of Social Welfare
Statewide Training and Education Committee (STEC)
Content Development Oversight Group (CDOG)
Review of Phase 2 Learning Objectives: Mental Health and Mental Disorders
Review of Content Guidelines for Developers of e-Learning Curricula
December 2, 2009 | 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Conference Call Summary
Decisions & Action ItemsDecisions
Mental Health and Mental Disorders Learning Objectives
§ Agreed to delete the specific competencies for the curriculum and include only the CalSWEC MSW competencies.
§ Agreed to list the relevant child welfare outcomes on the document
K1 Revised to add the word “safely” at the end.
K2 Revised to “The trainee will be able to recognize that there is a range of functioning among children, adolescents, and adults who experience mental and emotional disorders.”
K3 Revised to add the words “and behavioral (i.e.; substance abuse)” after environmental.
K4 Revised to “The trainee will be able to describe the case management role of the child welfare worker working with health care and mental health professionals including:
a. accessing mental health services for adults, youth and children;
b. consulting with mental health and medical professionals regarding mental health assessment, diagnostic testing, medication recommendations and ongoing services for parents, youth and children;
c. ensuring ongoing court approval for use of psychotropic medication is in place for children and youth in placement;
d. advocating on behalf of parents, youth and children regarding the mental health services they receive.”
K5 Revised to add the word “engage” and change the words “children, adolescents and caregivers” to “children, youth and adults.”
S2 Revised to “Utilizing a case example, the trainee will be able to identify cultural factors that may influence behavior and articulate how such behavior may be misconstrued as symptomatic of a mental disorder.”
V2 Revised to “The trainee will value awareness of and sensitivity to cultural differences and their implications when working with families with mental health issues.”
V3 Revised to remove the words “the importance of.”
V4 Added new V4 “The trainee will value customizing mental health interventions to meet individual and family needs.”
Actions
Mental Health and Mental Disorders Learning Objectives
§ CalSWEC will send a draft version of the Mental Health and Mental Disorders LOs to CDOG prior to the STEC meeting on 12/14/09.
Actions
Content Guidelines for Developers of e-Learning Curricula
§ CalSWEC will provide more detailed descriptions/examples for the ‘Content Structure’ items and circulate a draft guidelines document to CDOG for consideration and comments.
§ The draft guidelines document will be discussed during CDOG’s February conference call.
Attendance: Irene Becker (PCWTA); Soledad Caldera-Gammage (Central); Jeanne Espil, Elizabeth Newby, Turid Gregory-Furlong, (CDSS); Barry Johnson, Melissa Connelly (CalSWEC).
I. CWS Documentation for Use in the Legal System
§ Reviewed the suggested revised learning objectives prepared by CalSWEC.
§ Discussed the competencies included in the suggested revision and agreed that we would move toward not including competencies specific to each topic, but would instead incorporate the relevant MSW Curriculum Competencies as the competencies for each curriculum.
§ Reviewed the relevant Child Welfare Outcomes added to the suggested revision and agreed to include the outcomes Safety 1, Permanency 1, Well-being1-3, and the California outcome regarding authorization for psychotropic medication.
§ Revised specific learning objectives as follows:
· Revised K1 to better reflect the importance of safety in assessing the impact of mental health status on parenting. Agreed to add the word “safely” at the end of the objective.
· Revised K2 to be more achievable in a 1 day training module by asking that trainees recognize that there is a range of functioning associated with mental disorders rather than asking them to identify the associated range of functioning. Also agreed to limit the objective to recognizing functioning and removed the section about intervention responses as it is included in K5 and the new V4 (see below). The revised objective reads: “The trainee will be able to recognize that there is a range of functioning among children, adolescents, and adults who experience mental and emotional disorders.”
· Revised K3 to include the commonly co-occurring factors associated with substance abuse by adding the words “and behavioral (i.e.; substance abuse)” after the word environmental in the list of factors that may influence mental health.
· Revised K4 to be more specific about the social worker’s role as a case manager. Included the concepts of access to services, consultation with service providers, and advocacy; as well as the role of the social worker in maintaining the court approval for any psychotropic medications used by children and youth in placement. The new objective reads: “The trainee will be able to describe the case management role of the child welfare worker working with health care and mental health professionals including:
a. accessing mental health services for adults, youth and children;
b. consulting with mental health and medical professionals regarding mental health assessment, diagnostic testing, medication recommendations and ongoing services for parents, youth and children;
c. ensuring ongoing court approval for use of psychotropic medication is in place for children and youth in placement;
d. advocating on behalf of parents, youth and children regarding the mental health services they receive.”
· Revised K5 to include the concept of engagement and to change the words “children, adolescents and caregivers” to “children, youth and adults.”
· Revised S2 to remove the concept of analysis and limit the objective to identifying factors and articulating how they might be misconstrued as mental health symptoms. The revised objective is: “Utilizing a case example, the trainee will be able to identify cultural factors that may influence behavior and articulate how such behavior may be misconstrued as symptomatic of a mental disorder.”
· Revised V2 to clarify the concepts of awareness and sensitivity included in the objective. The revised objective is: “The trainee will value awareness of and sensitivity to cultural differences and their implications when working with families with mental health issues.”
· Revised V3 slightly to remove the words “the importance of” but maintained the original intent of the objective.
· Added new V4 “The trainee will value customizing mental health interventions to meet individual and family needs.”
§ Discussed adding an objective related to confidentiality, especially as confidentiality is a key factor in the therapeutic relationship that is sometimes at odds with the child welfare workers need for information from the therapist. Agreed that this concept would be further explored and may be more appropriate as an addition to the Values and Ethics topic area.
§ Agreed that CalSWEC will complete the revisions as discussed on the call and forward them to the group for any final comments prior to the STEC meeting of 12/14/09.
II. Statewide Strategic Plan for e-Learning: Content Guidelines for Developers of e-Learning Curricula
§ The Statewide Strategic Plan specifies ‘Content Standards’ and ‘Content Values’ that will be included in the proposed guidelines document.
§ In addition, Sevaughn and Phyllis presented suggested guidelines for ‘Content Structure’ and ‘Content Components’ that were distributed prior to the call.
§ Phyllis and Sevaughn will provide more detailed descriptions/examples for the ‘Content Structure’ items and circulate a draft guidelines document to CDOG for consideration and comments.
§ It is planned that the draft document will be discussed during CDOG’s February conference call.
Upcoming CDOG Conference CallCasework Supervision Learning Objective and Curriculum Revision
Monday, January 25, 2010
10:00 a.m. – noon (Pacific time)
Upcoming CDOG Conference Call
SDM and Critical Thinking Curriculum Revision and e-Learning Content Standards
Monday, February 22, 2009
10:00 a.m. – noon (Pacific time)
CDOG Summary-December 2, 2009, p. 3