Continuing Education

Child Welfare In-Service Training program (CWIST)

Cannabis Use and Cannabis Use Disorders

Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Harrison
Date: January 26, 2026
Time: 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Number of CE hours: Two
Fee: Free to all MDHHS and private agency child welfare workers; $75 all others. 
WMU faculty, staff, and current year instructors can apply a 25% fee adjustment before checkout.
WMU students can apply a 50% fee adjustment before checkout.
Format: Webinar format
Register
 

Cannabis is legal for medical or recreational use in 36 states and the perception of risk is far decreased. However, for youth and young adults and well as individuals with co-occurring mental illness, cannabis use can have additional risks. Develop an understanding of the epidemiology and medical uses of cannabis and protective factors for individuals who use cannabis. Finally, practice intervention strategies for people who may have developed a Cannabis Use Disorder. As a result of this workshop, participants will be prepared to: 

1. Participants will screen for cannabis use disorders with clients with other behavioral health needs and how to offer protective strategies to reduce the risk of development of Cannabis Use Disorders.

Confront the Loneliness Epidemic with Resiliency

Instructor: Brina Tiemeyer, LMSW, CAADC
Date: March 24, 2026
Time: 8 to 11:15 a.m.
Number of CE hours: Three
Format: Live synchronous training via WebEx
Fee: Free to all MDHHS and private agency child welfare workers; $75 all others. 
WMU faculty, staff, and current year instructors can apply a 25% fee adjustment before checkout.
WMU students can apply a 50% fee adjustment before checkout.
Register

Human beings are meant to be social; we thrive on companionship. As the Surgeon General has stated, we have been forced to live and operate within a multi-year public health crisis, which in turn accelerated isolation and loneliness amongst our communities. The Surgeon General has declared the US is in a loneliness epidemic. The nation is facing an unprecedented mental health crisis, particularly among children and teens. Depending on an individuals' resilience factors, this epidemic can be a stressor for some but a trauma for others. How should mentors, parents, educators, and caregivers respond? They should allow children, adolescents, and teens to recover.  Recovery begins with the role of resilience.  All children are resilient; however, children that see themselves as capable, lovable, and safe are more likely to recover from life's stressors and traumatic events.  In other words, more likely to break the cycle.  In fact, the strongest predictive variable to successful trauma recovery work is a caregiver that believes, supports, and protects their child. 
 

Navigating Parental Bias in Clinical Work with Children

Instructor: Anyssa Grendel, LMSW
Date: April 24, 2026
Time: 9 to 12:15 a.m.
Number of CE hours: Three
Format: Live synchronous training via Zoom or WebEx
Fee: Free to all MDHHS and private agency child welfare workers; $75 all others. 
WMU faculty, staff, and current year instructors can apply a 25% fee adjustment before checkout.
WMU students can apply a 50% fee adjustment before checkout.
Register: Link coming soon

This training is designed for social workers and mental health clinicians who work with children and families. The training will focus on recognizing and mitigating parental influences that may lead to a clinician’s parental bias and reducing the impact this could have in the process of clinical assessments, treatment, and therapeutic relationships. Clinicians will explore how parental bias may be influenced by cultural norms, socioeconomic stressors, and systemic racial inequities. Clinicians will assess and reflect on their own implicit biases and how these may influence their work with children and families of color. Participants will gain practical strategies for ensuring child-centered care while maintaining ethical and professional boundaries in family dynamics. 

As a result of this training, participants will be prepared to :

• Understand parental influences that may lead to parental bias.
• Provide child-centered care.
• Maintain ethical and professional boundaries.

Trauma Informed Removals and Placements in Child Welfare

Instructor: Bryan L. Warner, LMSW
Date: June 10, 2026
Time: 9 to 12:15 a.m.
Number of CE hours: Three
Format: Live in-person
Address: WMU College of Health & Human Services, 1101 Cass Street, Kalamazoo, MI 49008
Fee: Free to all MDHHS and private agency child welfare workers; $50 all others. 
WMU faculty, staff, and current year instructors can apply a 25% fee adjustment before checkout.
WMU students can apply a 50% fee adjustment before checkout.
Register: Link coming soon

Child welfare research reveals that child removal from a parent/parent(s) into foster care/kinship care is most often a traumatic experience. Separation from a parent/parents, acclimating to a new family the child often does not know, and the unpredictability and uncertainty of what will happen next creates anxiety, fear, and relational loss of the attachment person. This in-person training is designed to provide child welfare staff with knowledge and skills to effectively implement a trauma-informed removal process that reduces traumatic stress when children are entering substitute placement. This training will integrate trauma theory, research, and presenter experience into a trauma-informed removal model. Participants will learn the key principles of trauma-informed child welfare systems and practices that can be applied to the removal and placement process. Specific strategies to increase psychological safety for the child will be provided, addressing engagement, communication, and safety planning.

As a result of this training, participants will be prepared to :

• Identify elements of trauma-informed systems and how they specifically can be infused into the child removal/ placement process.
• Engage parents and foster parents/kinship care providers in addressing children’s emotional and relational needs in the removal/placement process.
• Effectively communicate with children about the removal process utilizing trauma-informed scaffolding to provide a language for the child to normalize and address his/her feelings.
• Develop trauma-informed safety plans with biological parents and foster parents/kinship care providers that enhance the “felt safety” for the children.