History: In fall 1991, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Social Work Program was awarded a five-year child welfare training grant from the US Children's Bureau, USDHHS. The purposes of this grant were to: (1) develop training programs for currently employed child welfare workers in the four counties (Brown, Outagamie, Shawano and Oconto) and the three Tribes (Menominee, Oneida, and Stockbridge-Munsee) that were the co-sponsors of the project, and (2) develop a sequence in child welfare at the Baccalaureate Social Work level.

During the next several months, additional counties and tribes expressed interest in joining with the original counties and tribes and UW-Green Bay to work together in the development and implementation of training programs. In total, 26 county social service departments and six tribes worked in partnership with UW-Green Bay to form the NEW Partnership for Children and Families. In addition, the then Bureau for Children, Youth and Families (now Division of Safety and Permanence) in the Division of Community Services (now Department of Children and Families) and the UW Cooperative Extension became partners in the effort.

This cooperative effort resulted in the award of a Title IV-E training contract to UW-Green Bay for the purpose of developing and implementing a comprehensive training program for child welfare workers in counties and tribes that were partners in the endeavor. Title IV-E funds also provided stipends to students preparing for careers in child welfare.

DCF supported the expansion of the Regional Training Partnership model and by 2003 all 72 counties and 11 Wisconsin tribes were a part of regional training partnerships. Aside from NEW Partnership at UW-Green Bay, the other training partnerships are: Western Wisconsin Partnership at UW-River Falls, Southern Child Welfare Training Partnership at UW-Madison, Milwaukee Child Welfare Partnership for Professional Development at UW-Milwaukee, and the Intertribal Child Welfare Training Partnership at UW-Green Bay.

The Wisconsin Child Welfare Professional Development Advisory Council is the body that coordinates and integrates the work of the five regional training partnerships with each other and DCF. It is comprised of county representatives from each partnership region, tribal representatives, DCF personnel, each training partnership’s Director, and representatives from each of the three Universities that have Title IV-E stipend programs for social work students.

At present, 26 counties in Northeastern Wisconsin form the NEW Partnership for Children and Families. The NEW Partnership continues to receive an annual state Title IV-E Child Welfare Training Contract from DCF. The Social Work Program at UW-Green Bay has a separate state Title IV-E Child Welfare Training Contract with DCF for the purpose of providing stipends to BSW and MSW students who are interested in a career in public child welfare. Despite having separate contracts, the NEW Partnership and the Social Work Program work closely together to prepare (through education) and support (through training) public child welfare staff in northeastern Wisconsin.

Operation of the Partnership: At present the NEW Partnership staff includes a director, training manager, foster parent training manager, training specialist, full-time trainer, part-time trainer, program manager, program assistant, financial specialist, and student office assistants.

Administrators from all of the participating agencies in NEW Partnership are invited to meet twice annually to advise the Steering Committee on policies, goals, and plans. In addition, a Steering Committee, comprised of eight administrators elected by their county peers, a representative from the Social Work Program, and Regional Office Area Administration, meets on a regular basis with NEW Partnership staff. A Professional Development Advisory Committee, that includes supervisors and lead workers from the county agencies within NEW Partnership, meets with the Training Manager and Foster Parent Training Manager to advise on the content of training, identify training priorities and needs, and provide input on the content of the BSW and MSW child welfare courses.

Fiscal Resources that Support NEW Partnership:The NEW Partnership for Children and Families is supported by a mixture of funding sources, including Federal Title IV-E funds, state funds provided by the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (DCF) and UW-Green Bay, county funds provided by each of the 26 county agencies that are part of the NEW Partnership region, and in-kind resources provided by the county agencies, UW-Green Bay, and DCF.

Staff

URL: http://www.uwgb.edu/newpart/
University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
NEW Partnership for Children and Families
Rose Hall 310
2420 Nicolet Dr.
Green Bay Wisconsin 54311
920-465-2724

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