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New Worker Training

This series of trainings is designed to prepare all new child protection workers in Minnesota on the policies, practices, and expectations needed to be successful in this work. Minnesota county agency child protection workers are required to complete this training in the first six months of employment. New Worker Training is available to tribal agency workers, but is not required. Private agencies who contract with Minnesota counties or tribes to carry cases in child protection may also qualify to participate (contact info@mnchildwelfaretraining.com to find out more).

All New Worker Training courses are found in the Course Catalog of the Training Portal. Access is located in the upper right corner of this website.

The following graphic shows all courses that will eventually make up New Worker Training:

Illustration showing a sequence of training stages with corresponding icons and durations.

New Worker Training Courses

At this time, New Worker Training includes:

  1. New Worker Orientation: Self-Paced Modules (CWTA X110)
  2. New Worker Orientation: Instructor-Led Enhancement (CWTA X111)
  3. ICWA/MIFPA Foundations (TTCP x101.C) - Any of the current ICWA/MIFPA 2-Day trainings will satisfy this requirement.
  4. New Worker Foundations (CWTA X113)

Supervisors should assign these courses to new child protection workers using their Training Portal AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to ensure workers complete prerequisites and can enroll in their preferred Foundations cohort. We have a few support articles that supervisor may find helpful:

Supervisors can use this New Worker Checklist to help assign and monitor employee progress.

example of quick navigations drop down found in Training Portal

Following is a complete overview of each of the four courses that currently make up New Worker Training.

1 | New Worker Orientation: Self-Paced Modules (CWTA X110)

As the initial course in the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy's New Worker Training series, New Worker Orientation: Self-Paced Modules is an interactive, virtual training designed to give you a basic understanding of the Minnesota child welfare system. You’ll be introduced to the values, concepts, and practices underlying child welfare practice in Minnesota, and you’ll gain an understanding of and become familiar with the following areas:

  • Development of Cultural Practice for New Workers
  • Roles and Responsibilities of Child Welfare Workers in Minnesota
  • Structure of the Child Welfare System
  • Child Welfare History and Policy
  • Guiding Statutes and Practices
  • Family Assessment/Family Investigation
  • Disparity and Disproportionality
  • Self-Care and Well-Being
  • Mandated Reporting

Please note: You must complete this course before you can register for New Worker Orientation: Instructor-Led Enhancement. 5.0 CEUs.

This course takes about 5 hours to complete; however, the Attest Completion of IDI Assessment quiz and the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) - Debrief Session quiz may take 1- 3 business days to be graded. Please plan accordingly.

Ask new workers to finish this course in the first few days on the job, and remind them that they cannot register for the instructor-led course until this is complete.

2 | New Worker Orientation: Instructor-Led Enhancement (CWTA X111)

This four-hour virtual training is designed to enhance what was learned in the Orientation Self-Paced modules, rather than repeat the information. The goal is to provide experiential learning that shows how the content covered in the Orientation Self-Paced modules intersects with worker practice through a case study. This course must be completed before you can register for New Worker Foundations (CWTA X113). 4.0 CEUs.

3 | ICWA/MIFPA Foundations (TTCP x101.C)

This training is brought to you by the University of Minnesota Duluth Tribal Training and Certification Partnership (TTCP). This is an introductory course to the basics of the history of ICWA and application of ICWA and MIFPA. We have an education team comprised of several community trainers that come from University of Minnesota Duluth's MSW faculty and instructors, the Center for Regional and Tribal Child Welfare Studies instructors and researchers; tribal child welfare workers, county child welfare ICWA specialists, urban ICWA workers, individuals with lived experience, the MN GAL program, and elders. Your education team will include a mixture of individuals representing these varied backgrounds. This course is only for new child protection workers. 12.0 CEUs. This course must be completed before you can register for New Worker Foundations (CWTA X113).

Note - Any of the current ICWA/MIFPA 2-Day trainings will satisfy this requirement.

4 | New Worker Foundations (CWTA X113)

New Worker Foundations provides comprehensive training for new child welfare workers. The Foundations curriculum is a blended learning experience staggered over time for workers to further integrate knowledge and skills into practice that supports healthy outcomes for children and families. Building intercultural competence is a golden thread that is introduced and followed throughout training by way of debriefs, check-in’s and connections that are made throughout the curriculum. Training is designed to support anti-racist practice and reduce disparities and disproportionality of Native American and African American children being removed from homes. 114.0 CEUs. A complete overview of this training can be found here.

Learners are expected to monitor their progress through the Training Portal by selecting the View Schedule & Progress button. If your grade is incorrect, please submit a help ticket.