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Florida’s Center for the Advancement of Child Welfare Practice Gets Reviews

ChildWelfarePortal

After only one year of operation, Florida’s Center for the Advancement of Child Welfare Practice has grown to serve a registered user base of more than 5,500 child welfare professionals who regularly access the growing collection of state resources offered through the center's web portal.

Funded by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), the Center provides information, tools, training, and collaborative networking services for child protective investigation professionals of DCF and various sheriff’s offices, child welfare legal services provided by DCF, the Attorney General or State’s Attorney Offices, and community–based care lead agencies. In February, the center was authorized to also allow public access to areas such as the Home Page, Knowledge Library, News Tab and Florida Contacts though www.centerforchildwelfare.org. Public access has increased the Center’s exposure within Florida and the nation and several efforts are underway to expand its reach to other states through grant opportunities and other avenues.

"I have recently been in various states and have heard wonderful feedback about our portal," said CFS Chair Mario Hernandez. "It has been described as innovative, informative and accessible."

Center staff have gathered and posted much information in a way that is easy to use, searchable by keywords, and accessible 24 hours a day from any computer with internet access. In addition to statutes, rules, federal legislation, statewide policies and research, Center staff have worked closely with the field to develop their own tools to assist child welfare professionals complete their jobs more efficiently and accurately.

One of the newest services is live web casting of various events such as trainings, conference presentations and other similar events throughout the state. The Center produces these live (or taped) resources and includes them in the Knowledge Library for later viewing. The Center provides resources for stakeholders to hold their own meeting or produce their own web casts for professionals in their service areas.

Recently, expert consultation services were expanded at the request of the DCF to provide statewide training to child welfare case managers on the use of the new components of their statewide computerized case management system. Known as the Florida Safe Families Network (FSFN), this system brings automated case management and vouchering/out-of-home care components to the current Hotline component. Additionally, the Center is building a robust automated FSFN resource component to their portal for use by the field 24 hours a day 7 days a week to enhance the training and assist with future workforce development needs.

A Steering Committee comprised of stakeholders from each of the major child protection/child welfare entities in Florida provide leadership for the Center and meets regularly with Center staff and the DCF contract manager to review goals, objectives, performance, and offer support and direction in the continuing development of services. The Committee also assists in championing the Center among stakeholders and in promoting its mission and utilization.

"The Center has experienced much success with this model of leadership and the role of the Steering Committee continues to be pivotal to the Center’s growth," said Center Director Don Policella. "I am also very proud of all that our team has accomplished this year. They have more than exceeded the very high standard set for consistent responsiveness to the professional community's content needs and fast friendly customer service."

"A special component of our success comes from the support we have had from FMHI's IT department. The technical aspects involved in creating a secure site are quite complex and I am so appreciative of the many hours they have dedicated to our project," added Policella.

Center Staff:
Donald N. Policella, Center Director
Pamela Menendez, Knowledge Management Administrator
Ron Menard, Center IT Applications Coordinator
Gwen McClain, Operations Coordinator/Quality Assurance
Lisa Coy, Knowledge Manager
Roxanne, McNeish, Knowledge Manager
John Moore, Knowledge Base Coordinator
Patricia Uber, Business/Fiscal Specialist
Kris Adler, User Application Specialist
Michelle Watkins, Training Coordinator
Ralph Cruz, Technical Assistance
Dawn Caldwell, Technical Support
Dahlia Holmes, Business/Fiscal Support
Chris McCann, Technical Support

 

The Department of Child and Family Studies (CFS) is a department of the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. The faculty and staff of CFS are committed to enhancing the development, mental health and well-being of children and families through leadership in integrating research, theory & practice.

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