Description

The National Adoption Competency Mental Health Training Initiative (NTI) has developed two state-of-the-art, standardized, web-based trainings to build the capacity of child welfare and mental health professionals in all states, tribes, and territories to effectively support children, youth, and their foster, adoptive, and guardianship families. The NTI trainings provide the skills, strategies, and tools professionals need to: (1) Support children to heal from trauma and loss; (2) Provide parents with skills to parent more effectively; (3) Collaborate effectively with child welfare and mental health professionals; and (4) Improve outcomes for permanency, child well-being, and family well-being and stability. The Child Welfare curriculum is 20 hours for staff and 25 hours for supervisors. The Mental Health curriculum is 30 hours and has optional coaching sessions.

Help professionals better understand and address the mental health needs of children, youth and their families moving toward or having achieved permanency through adoption or guardianship; Improve collaboration between the child welfare and mental health service systems with shared language and aligned curricula; Improve outcomes by infusing enhanced permanency, adoption and mental health competency in the provision of casework and clinical practice.