9602L • Family Engagement in Child Welfare: Ethics, Empathy, and Evidence-Based Practice

Table of Contents

9602L • Family Engagement in Child Welfare: Ethics, Empathy, and Evidence-Based Practice

How to Receive Credit

Course Overview

Audience

Accreditations & Approvals

Designations of Credit

Individual State Behavioral Health Approvals

Course Objective

Learning Objectives

Faculty

Faculty Disclosure

Division Planners

Division Planners Disclosure

Director of Development and Academic Affairs

Director Disclosure Statement

About the Sponsor

Disclosure Statement

Implicit Bias in Health Care

1. INTRODUCTION

2. WEBINAR

3. SLIDES

Works Cited

9602L • Family Engagement in Child Welfare: Ethics, Empathy, and Evidence-Based Practice

Ashley Castro, LCSW

www.netce.com

Copyright © 2026 NetCE, All rights reserved.

This live event takes place Friday, September 18, 11:30 am-2:30 pm EST (8:30 am-11:30 am PST).

This course equips mental health professionals with trauma-informed, ethical, and culturally responsive strategies for engaging families involved in the child welfare system. Participants explore the clinical impact of systemic trauma, learn to reframe "resistance" as a survival response, and strengthen communication and documentation practices that build safety and trust. Grounded in evidence-based practice, this course offers tools to enhance outcomes for families navigating CPS involvement. Through real-world case studies, reflective exercises, and applied frameworks, this course empowers clinicians to support family healing, safety, and reunification within multidisciplinary teams.

9602L • Family Engagement in Child Welfare: Ethics, Empathy, and Evidence-Based Practice

Education Category. Webinars

Release Date. 07/25/2026

Expiration Date. 09/30/2026

How to Receive Credit

To complete this course for continuing education credit please go to http://www.netce.com/course/3594 in your browser.

For assistance with receiving continuing education credit, please contact us at help@netce.com.

Course Overview

This live event takes place Friday, September 18, 11:30 am-2:30 pm EST (8:30 am-11:30 am PST).

This course equips mental health professionals with trauma-informed, ethical, and culturally responsive strategies for engaging families involved in the child welfare system. Participants explore the clinical impact of systemic trauma, learn to reframe "resistance" as a survival response, and strengthen communication and documentation practices that build safety and trust. Grounded in evidence-based practice, this course offers tools to enhance outcomes for families navigating CPS involvement. Through real-world case studies, reflective exercises, and applied frameworks, this course empowers clinicians to support family healing, safety, and reunification within multidisciplinary teams.

Audience

This live webinar is designed for mental and behavioral health professionals who would benefit from enhanced knowledge of family engagement in child welfare.

Accreditations & Approvals

NetCE has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6361. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. NetCE is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. As a Jointly Accredited Organization, NetCE is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs. NetCE is accredited by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). NetCE complies with the ANSI/IACET Standard, which is recognized internationally as a standard of excellence in instructional practices. As a result of this accreditation, NetCE is authorized to issue the IACET CEU. NetCE is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors #MHC-0021. This course is considered live online by the New York State Board of Mental Health Counseling. NetCE is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0033. This course is considered live online, as defined by the New York State Board for Social Work. Materials that are included in this course may include interventions and modalities that are beyond the authorized practice of licensed master social work and licensed clinical social work in New York. As a licensed professional, you are responsible for reviewing the scope of practice, including activities that are defined in law as beyond the boundaries of practice for an LMSW and LCSW. A licensee who practices beyond the authorized scope of practice could be charged with unprofessional conduct under the Education Law and Regents Rules. NetCE is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists. #MFT-0015. This course is considered live online by the New York State Board of Marriage and Family Therapy. NetCE is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0240. This course is considered live online by the New York State Board for Psychology.

Designations of Credit

NetCE designates this live event continuing education activity for 3 NBCC clock hour(s). NetCE designates this live event activity for 3 continuing education clock hours. Social workers participating in this intermediate to advanced course will receive 3 Cultural Competency continuing education clock hours. NetCE is authorized by IACET to offer 0.3 CEU(s) for this program. NetCE designates this continuing education activity for 3 credit(s).

Individual State Behavioral Health Approvals

In addition to states that accept ASWB, NetCE is approved as a provider of continuing education by the following state boards: Alabama State Board of Social Work Examiners, Provider #0515; Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling, CE Broker Provider #50-2405; Illinois Division of Professional Regulation for Social Workers, License #159.001094; Illinois Division of Professional Regulation for Licensed Professional and Clinical Counselors, License #197.000185; Illinois Division of Professional Regulation for Marriage and Family Therapists, License #168.000190;

Course Objective

The purpose of this course is to strengthen clinicians' knowledge, skills, and practice in trauma-informed, culturally humble, and ethically transparent engagement with child welfare-involved families

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:

1. Describe the impact of trauma on family engagement and participation in mandated services.

2. Reframe resistance and avoidance behaviors as protective trauma responses.

3. Apply ethical and documentation practices that reduce bias and support reunification.

4. Demonstrate cultural humility and awareness of systemic racism in child welfare practice.

5. Collaborate effectively with CPS social workers and other team members to support sustainable family change.

6. Integrate reflective supervision, peer consultation, and self-compassion into trauma-informed practice.

Faculty

Ashley Castro, LCSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over a decade of experience in child welfare, behavioral health, and trauma-informed systems training. She serves as a Staff Development Officer for a Public Sector and the founder of AC Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Inc., where she provides clinical therapy, consulting, and curriculum development. Her expertise bridges direct clinical practice and system-level change, with a focus on ethics, empathy, and evidence-based engagement strategies for court-involved families.

Faculty Disclosure

Contributing faculty, Ashley Castro, LCSW, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.

Division Planners

Scott Deatherage, PhD

Kimberly Byrd, EdD, PMSW

Division Planners Disclosure

The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.

Director of Development and Academic Affairs

Sarah Campbell

Director Disclosure Statement

The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.

About the Sponsor

The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.

Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.

Disclosure Statement

It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.

Implicit Bias in Health Care

The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.

Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.

1. INTRODUCTION

Child welfare-involved families often navigate systems shaped by historical trauma, inequity, and coercive power dynamics. Research shows that families who perceive services as punitive or judgmental are less likely to engage meaningfully in therapy, resulting in higher recidivism and slower reunification rates. Mental health professionals play a crucial role in reframing these interactions through trauma-informed engagement, ethical transparency, and cultural humility. Yet, many clinicians report uncertainty about how to maintain empathy while balancing mandated responsibilities revealing a significant gap in training and confidence.

This course bridges that gap by offering a nationally relevant, evidence-based framework that integrates trauma-informed care, ethical documentation, and culturally humble collaboration. Participants will learn to view resistance as communication, documentation as advocacy, and transparency as a pathway to trust.

2. WEBINAR

To see this media go to http://www.NetCE.com/activities/ using a browser that supports Adobe Flash.

3. SLIDES

The slides from this webinar are available here.

Works Cited

1. American Psychological Association. Multicultural guidelines: an ecological approach to context, identity, and intersectionality. Published 2017. Accessed February 6, 2026. https://www.apa.org/about/policy/multicultural-guidelines.

2. Casey Family Programs. Strategies for building effective collaboration between child welfare and behavioral health systems. Published 2021. Accessed February 6, 2026. https://www.casey.org.

3. Child Welfare Information Gateway. Family engagement: partnering with families toward better outcomes. Published 2021. Accessed February 6, 2026. https://www.coloradojudicial.gov/sites/default/files/2023-06/f_fam_engagement.pdf.

4. Dettlaff AJ, Boyd R. Racial disproportionality and disparities in the child welfare system: why do they exist, and what can be done to address them? Ann Am Acad Pol Soc Sci. 2020;692(1):253-274.

5. Hook JN, Davis DE, Owen J, Worthington EL. Cultural humility: ten years of research and future directions. J Couns Psychol. 2022;69(4):441-456.

6. National Association of Social Workers. Code of Ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Published 2021. Accessed February 6, 2026. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English.

7. Prochaska JO, DiClemente CC. Stages and processes of self-change of smoking: toward an integrative model of change. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1983;51(3):390-395.

8. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services: A Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) Series 57. Published 2023. Accessed February 6, 2026. https://library.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/sma14-4816.pdf.

9. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMHSA’s Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach. HHS Publication No. SMA 14-4884. Published 2014. Accessed February 6, 2026. https://ncsacw.acf.hhs.gov/userfiles/files/SAMHSA_Trauma.pdf.

10. Tervalon M, Murray-García J. Cultural humility versus cultural competence: a critical distinction in defining physician training outcomes in multicultural education. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 1998;9(2):117-125.

11. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Children’s Bureau. Child welfare outcomes report data portal. Published 2023. Accessed February 6, 2026. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb.