Minnesota trains record number of TAC cohorts

As one of the first organizations to provide the TAC, the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (CASCW) at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work has utilized the nationally-recognized curriculum as the foundation of their Permanency and Adoption Competency Certificate (PACC) with the addition of CASCW-developed modules. PACC began in 2011 as a response to the needs of the state to increase the availability and competency of a professional workforce able to work across systems to serve the unique and complex clinical and practice needs for adopted individuals and their families.

Reaching out to clinicians and child welfare professionals in both urban and rural communities in the state, Minnesota has trained eight cohorts of practitioners, a record number among all TAC sites, and PACC is currently training its 9th and 10th cohorts in St. Paul and Duluth. At the end of 2016, over 200 clinicians and child welfare professionals will have completed the program, with a vast majority choosing to become TAC certified by completing the requirements for both the classroom based training and post case consultation. With respect to the TAC, Keely Vandre, PACC Coordinator, says, “the program provides interactive training to both mental health and child welfare workers, by offering advanced level curriculum and case consultation that builds knowledge and networks that stretch far beyond classroom walls.”