NCWDDP

What You'll Do

To be a Director, you’ll need to understand the relevance of many, many things, and one of the most significant is that of Statewide Meetings and Regional Work. Throughout this module, you’ll learn just how this topic plays a role in developing Partnerships that assist the Director in meeting Agency Needs and supporting the overall success of Child Welfare Services. Additionally, you’ll become aware, knowledgeable, and able to establish Linkages with Statewide and Regional meetings. Finally, you’ll be able to promote collaborative interactions at statewide and regional meetings and Key Partnerships to meet agency needs.

What You'll Learn

The California Welfare Directors Association, or CWDA, is a nonprofit association representing the human service directors from each of California’s 58 counties. They promote self-sufficiency of families and communities, and protect vulnerable children and adults from abuse and neglect. Additionally, they advocate for policies and educate makers and the public on human services policies on human services operations.

Sub-Committees convened by CWDA are pre-approved and sanctioned by Agency Directors, more specific in focus and able to be “attended” in person or by phone. Participants include designated staff from counties and are responsible for numerous tasks centered on legislation and program details. Additionally, the CWDA Children’s Service Committee, as well as Children’s Operations (“Ops”) provide opportunities for interaction and collaboration across county lines and share recommended and best practices.

Finally, Regional Meetings provide each regional area a chance to meet regularly to debrief issues, concerns and policies discussed at the state meeting and to discuss the implications for regional implementation. Areas such as the Bay Region, Central Region and others hold regular meetings to discuss their needs. Additionally, each county will have specific standing meetings related to child welfare and inter agency meetings that the director may or may not participate in.

How to Prepare

In preparation for your Module 4 Learning Experience, here are some resources to review:

"CWDA Website"

"Bay Area Academy"

"Child Welfare Development Services"

Some Things to Think About

As you begin to consider what you’ll learn or reinforce as part of Module 4, consider the following:

"Did you realize that the child welfare director role requires so much collaboration and partnership?"

"How will you share important information from these meetings with your staff?"

"What will the tension between daily duties and attending meetings be like for you?"

"How do county restrictions play into providing input at state and regional meetings?"