Evaluation Overview

California, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Washington, and the Cherokee Nation.

• The training pilot for Child Welfare Professionals ended January 30, 2018 with over 6,000 participants and a completion rate of 73%. See Child Welfare Infographic.
• The training pilot for Mental Health Professionals ended September 30, 2018 with over 2,500 participants.

Researchers with the University of Maryland School of Social Work evaluated the user experience, including satisfaction, relevance, ease of use, and infusion of adoption mental health competency in practice. At the systems-level, researchers evaluated the implementation and integration experience, including cost benefit. The evaluation found that participants of NTI experienced significant knowledge gains and reported specific ways they improved their practice as a result of NTI. Based on evaluation and feedback from the pilot, refinements have been made to each training in preparation for the national launch of NTI. Click here to see the list of lead contacts in each of our pilot sites.

Publications & Reports: NTI Training Effectiveness

1) Rudd Adoption Research Paper

In April 2019, the Rudd Adoption Research Program published a research paper, “Building an Adoption Competent Workforce: A Review of the National Adoption Competency” written by the Director of NTI, Dawn Wilson, the CEO of C.A.S.E., Debbie Riley, and The University of MD School of Social Work researcher, Bethany Lee.

2) Overview of Pilot Data Highlights for both Child Welfare and Mental Health Trainings

The following report summarizes NTI’s impact on the 2,403 mental health professionals and 5,163 child welfare professionals who piloted NTI and participated in the evaluation during 2017 and 2018. The pilot sites included: California, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, and the Cherokee Nation.