MnDHS Foundation Training for BSSW Child Welfare Program
Foundation training prepares workers entering the child welfare workforce to do their best work. Find out how the BSSW Child Welfare Program sets graduates apart by offering this training before employment even begins!
Child Welfare Foundation Training (CWFT)
Minnesota statute {Minn. Stat. 626.559, subd. 1a} requires that all newly hired child protection workers receive training provided through the CWFT. Once hired, counties, as well as the White Earth and Leech Lake tribes, send employees to complete this training. Child Welfare Foundation Training provides a skill-intensive foundation curriculum that combines classroom and computer lab training, as well as web-based training. CWFT includes the latest in child welfare practice reform philosophies, along with web-based training module post-tests and supervisor resource pages.
CWFT consists of three classroom trainings and thirteen web-based modules. BSSW students will complete Modules 1-6 and Classroom 1, during their last semester of their undergraduate career. The WBT modules alternate with classroom training and is spaced over three months.
Classroom 1:
- Last semester of undergraduate career
- Web-based modules: 1-6
- Fundamentals of the child welfare system and interactions with clients.
Access to the WBT modules will be provided to you at the start of the semester you are completing your senior practicum. Each WBT modules takes approximately 1 hour to complete. Each Classroom training lasts 3 days and is typically scheduled for about the 5 week of the semester. The hosting for the classroom trainings are rotated through member schools of the Consortium and in St. Paul. Scholars are provided with financial support to complete their respective level of training.
Title IV-E Scholars will complete CWFT while in their primary public or tribal child welfare placement. The content of the training will be directly applicable to this placement and will include case consultations and discussion guides for your interaction with your field instructor/task supervisor for integration of your training into practice. The hours accrued as part of the CWFT count toward the completion of field practicum for BSSW students.
At the conclusion of Classroom 1, BSSW Child Welfare students will receive information on how to add this to their resume and alert potential employers they have completed this level of training. This documentation of training completed will provide Scholars with an advantage in their public and tribal child welfare employment search. With this training partially or wholly completed, Scholars will be more competitive in the job market. Further, the training itself will enhance field practicum experience. The Certificate of Completion will also allow supervisors to validate your training with the MNCWTS.
Exception: If you are a current county or tribal employee who has completed CWFT or its equivalent (previously referred to as “CORE”), you will not be expected to complete it again. There will be additional requirements for students who are exempt. The CWP Coordinator will work with stipend recipients to determine what those will be. Any other circumstances should be addressed with the appropriate CWP Coordinator.
