Frequently Asked Questions

What is NTI?

NTI is state of art, web-based training to enhance the capacity of child welfare and mental health professionals to effectively address the complex mental health needs of children in foster care, moving to permanency through adoption or guardianship or living with their adoptive or guardianship families.  NTI seeks to enhance casework and clinical practices to improve well-being and long-term stability outcomes for children and families. 

NTI was developed by the Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.), leading a team of experts in curriculum development, web-based production, and evaluation to oversee the development of the NTI trainings and works collaboratively with an advisory group of nationally recognized experts in child welfare and mental health, including foster and adoptive parents and former foster youth to develop the competencies that provide the foundation for the curriculum. 

Funded through a $9 million cooperative agreement with the Children’s Bureau, access to NTI is free in all U.S. states, tribes and territories. 

What trainings are available through NTI and who can take the trainings?

Child welfare and mental health systems each play an important role in impacting outcomes for families experiencing adoption and guardianship. One of the goals of NTI is to effectively address the complex mental health needs of children in foster care, moving to permanency through adoption or guardianship or living with their adoptive or guardianship families.  NTI seeks to enhance casework and clinical practices to improve well-being and long-term stability outcomes for children and families. Another goal is to create a shared understanding and improved collaboration between professionals. Toward that end, NTI is comprised of three complementary and well-aligned trainings: 

  • NTI Training for Mental Health Professionals (30 hours) was designed for behavioral/mental health professionals in public and private agency, community-based, or residential settings, as well as private practitioners. NTI provides foundational knowledge to more effectively address the unique adoption-related issues that arise throughout the lifespan of the adoptive or guardianship/ kinship family. This includes work with children and youth in foster care, adoptees, birth families, adoptive/kinship families. This training is approved by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) for 25 continuing education credits for individuals who enroll though C.A.S.E. on the Ideas@TheInstitute Learning Management System and pass the module post-tests at 80%. 
  • NTI Training for Child Welfare Professionals (20 hours) is designed for professionals working for public and private child welfare agencies with children and youth in foster care, families preparing to foster or adopt, and children and youth and their adoptive or kinship families. This training is more focused on casework, whereas the MH professionals training has a focus on clinical assessment and treatment. The training is relevant for staff across the continuum, including prevention, child protection, permanency/foster care, licensing/home study, CASA/GAL, post-adoption and more. This training is approved by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) for 20 continuing education credits for individuals who enroll though C.A.S.E. on the Ideas@TheInstitute Learning Management System and pass the module post-tests at 80%.
  • NTI Training for Child Welfare Supervisors (25 hours) is designed for supervisors working in public and private child welfare agencies. It is the same training as NTI Training for Child Welfare Professionals but includes additional lessons to help supervisors support their staff to apply new skills in practice. There is also a Supervisor Coaching and Activity Guide that offers a variety of activities that can be used in individual or group supervision with staff. This training is approved by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) for 25 continuing education credits for individuals who enroll though C.A.S.E. on the Ideas@TheInstitute Learning Management System and pass the module post-tests at 80%.

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Are there any prerequisites or licensure required to take either training?

There are no prerequisites or licensure requirements for any of the trainings.

Do I need to take the whole training, or can I choose specific modules to complete?

NTI is designed as a comprehensive training to prepare professionals to effectively address the mental health challenges of children and youth and their foster, adoptive and kinship families. Content builds on previous modules and is intended to be completed in full. Certificates of completion are only provided for those who complete all the modules and pass all module post-tests at 80%. NASW approved continuing education credit is also based on completing the entire training.   

What technology is needed to access the training?

The training is web-based and requires an internet connection. The training is viewable on computer, tablets and smartphones and works in all web browsers but is best with Firefox or Google Chrome.  

 Organizations interested in integrating NTI into their training arrays will need to have a learning management system that accepts SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004 Tin Can or HTML 5 files.  

  

What are the ways that NTI can be accessed?

There are three ways NTI can be accessed: 

  1. States agencies and national organizations can integrate NTI into their state learning management systems (LMS). To learn if you can access NTI in your state, view the Directory of Host Sites on our NTI website. Please note this list is updated as new agencies/organizations are added. For organizations interested in hosting NTI, see FAQ section below for organizations.  
  2. NTI Trainings can be accessed free of charge (as federal funding allows) through C.A.S.E. Learning Management System. 
  3. NTI can be accessed free of charge on the CapLEARN online training center with no CE’s provided here: https://learn.childwelfare.gov/.  

What CEU’s can I receive?

Attaining Credits and CEUs:

NTI is approved by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) for continuing education credits for individuals who enroll though C.A.S.E. on the Ideas@TheInstitute Learning Management System and pass the module post-tests at 80%. Other state licensing boards may also accept NASW credits; individuals should check with their licensing boards.  Please contact your local licensing board to verify your options. The credit hours are as follows: 

  • NTI Training for Child Welfare Professionals (20 credit hours) 
  • NTI Training for Child Welfare Supervisors (25 credit hours) 
  • NTI Training for Mental Health Professionals (25 credit hours) 

Individuals interested in other CEU’s have the option to purchase CEU’s (cost is $40) for a wide variety of disciplines through R. Cassidy Seminars.* 

Individuals accessing NTI via CapLEARN will have the option to purchase continuing education credits for a wide variety of disciplines from R. Cassidy Seminars* once they have successfully completed all the module post-tests (passed at 80%) and have received their certificate of completion.  

Organizations that integrate NTI into their own learning management systems have two options: 

1. They can submit the NTI trainings for CEU approval through national or state licensing boards and provide CEU’s (for free or a charge). 

2. They can also provide access for those who successfully complete to purchase CEU’s for $40 through R. Cassidy Seminars*, which has already approved NTI Trainings for a wide variety of disciplines. NTI provides organizations hosting NTI with the necessary links and wording to provide training participants access at the successful completion of the training. Organizations may also be able to arrange with R. Cassidy Seminars to purchase CEU’s for a group of users (i.e., a designated number of staff). Interested organizations should contact R. Cassidy Seminars directly to discuss this option. 

*R.Cassidy Seminars is a third party CEU provider. Click here for the listing of CEU credits available. 

Learn more:

How were the CEU hours calculated for the NTI trainings?

In calculating the total number of CEUs per training, hours were based on the average time it would take a learner to go through the training itself.  Because of the interactive elements of the training and time individuals may spend reviewing resource provided, it is not possible to provide an exact “running time” for each lesson.  An average of 30 minutes per lesson was used taking into consideration that some lessons may be shorter while others are longer. The actual time spent in the training may be more than the hours reflected since some individuals may spend more time than others answering questions, reflecting on content or reviewing resource materials.  

Do these trainings result in certification?

Participants who successfully complete all modules and pass all the module post-tests (80% passing) will receive a certificate of completion. This, however, is not a certification or credentialing program.  

 

What accommodations are provided for persons with disabilities?

In compliance with federal funding and Section 508 (www.section508.gov), the trainings are designed to be accessible to users with both hearing and sight impairments.  This content is compatible with screen reading software. All presentation content is narrated with closed captioning. Additionally, the training can be used with mouse or keyboard functions. Each lesson has the entire narrative available for users to read along with the presentation in the Transcript tab of the player and users can also print out the transcript from the Resources tab to follow along with the presentation.  

Once I start the training, how long do I have to complete it?

NTI has no requirement to complete the training within a certain amount of time. To help staff pace themselves and stay motivated, we recommend that each curriculum be completed within 4 months, based on pilot testing. Host agencies can set their own expectations for completion dates or time frames for completing each module to keep staff progressing through the curriculum. The Implementation Planning and Transfer of Learning Guides can provide organizations with best practices and learning from the pilot of NTI.   

Will I be able to go back to the modules after completing the training to review or to share information and resources with my staff?

This depends on where the training is accessed. If you access the training through CapLEARN or C.A.S.E. Ideas@TheInstitute you should have access as long as you have an account in the learning management system.  If you access NTI in your state systems, you will need to check with the system administrator to determine what the limits are for access.  

How is this curriculum different from the Training for Adoption Competency (TAC)?

NTI is free, web-based training ranging from 8 modules (20 hours) to 10 modules (30 hours) depending on the curriculum. It provides core foundational knowledge, values and skills for child welfare professionals and mental health clinicians. NTI trainings were evaluated with over 6,000 child welfare professionals and 2,800 mental health professionals to assess satisfaction, efficacy and impact on practice.  

TAC is a 72-hour 12-module training developed by C.A.S.E. designed for master’s level, licensed clinicians that includes classroom and remote instruction as well as clinical case consultation. TAC has been rigorously evaluated with over 1,000 training participants including trainee and trainer feedback, fidelity measures, and family outcomes. In 2019 TAC was rated by the California Evidence-based Clearinghouse as having promising research evidence (3) and high relevance with the child welfare population as a Child Welfare Workforce Development and Support Program. TAC is on track to be an accredited certificate program in 2020 requiring a passing score on a written test through the Institute of Credentialing Excellence. 

Download the TAC-NTI Flier: “Which Training is Right For Me?”

Why is NTI free?

NTI was developed by the Center for Adoption Support and Education (C.A.S.E.) and funded through a $9 million cooperative agreement with the Children’s Bureau (Administration on Children and Families, US Dept of Health and Human Services) with the goal of providing free access to NTI in all U.S. states, tribes and territories.  

C.A.S.E. led a team of experts in curriculum development, web-based production, and evaluation to oversee the development of the NTI trainings. This team worked collaboratively with an advisory group of nationally recognized experts in child welfare and mental health, including foster and adoptive parents and former foster youth to develop the competencies that provide the foundation for the curriculum. 

FAQs for Organizations Interested in Hosting NTI Trainings: 

For organizations that integrate NTI - what technology is needed to provide the training?

Organizations interested in integrating NTI into their training arrays will need to have a learning management system that accepts SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, Tin Can or HTML 5 files. Implementation Specialists can work with you on developing your implementation/integration plan. Organizations can access the File Transfer Document for more information.

Are there any restrictions or terms of use for organizations that host the training?

Each host agency is required to sign a Host Site Agreement with the Center for Adoption Support and Education. The template can be located here. There are restrictions against editing, copying, re-distributing, or re-purposing the training content or materials. There is a requirement to provide the training in full and a request for organizations to share de-identified data back with C.A.S.E. to help us with evaluation and data tracking.   

Can I offer Continuing Education Credits (CEU’s) for NTI Training?

State and organizations that integrate NTI into their training system will need to submit NTI Trainings for CE approval by national or state licensing boards. NTI can provide the information needed for CE submission packets. Alternatively, organizations can also provide links to R. Cassidy Seminars at completion of the training for training participants to purchase CEU credits ($40). Click here for the listing of CEU credits available.  Organizations may also be able to arrange with R. Cassidy Seminars to purchase CEU’s for a group of users (i.e., a designated number of staff). Interested organizations should contact R. Cassidy Seminars directly to discuss this option.

For organizations that integrate NTI - how are the training files received?

Once the Host site agreement is signed, the contact person listed on the agreement will receive an invitation to a Microsoft Teams through the University of Maryland Institute for Innovation and Implementation. NTI publishes SCORM 1.2 or SCORM 2004 (specify 2nd Edition or 3rd Edition in Reporting and Tracking), Tin Can, as well as HTML 5 formats. There are separate files for each training (Child Welfare Professionals, Child Welfare Supervisors, and Mental Health Providers). There is a unique file for each lesson, and they are bundled as modules (8 modules for child welfare and 10 modules for mental health). For each module, there will also be a folder of handouts provided in PDF format to allow for individual or group download. The pre-/post-test questions and answers are provided in an Excel file. These questions will need to be manually entered into your system. 

What Implementation Support is provided to our organization?

NTI has Implementation Specialists who can work with your state, tribal/territory or large organization to plan for integration of NTI trainings into your learning management systems for free access by child welfare and mental health professionals. When this is not an option, Implementation Specialists can work with your implementation team to determine the most appropriate option for access (see the LMS options below). Implementation Specialists can also assist in problem-solving to overcome implementation barriers, support planning for transfer of learning from training to practice and planning for sustainability of NTI within your training array. NTI also has a Marketing Project Manager to assist your team with promotion of NTI and the NTI website has a Communications Tools To Share navigation tab with resources to support implementation and hosting of the training on your LMS. 

How can a child welfare agency best integrate/coordinate with mental health providers in their state?

We know how important and challenging it can be to work across systems. NTI is designed to effect system change – by building the capacity of both child welfare and mental health professionals to understand and address the mental health and developmental challenges of families served. The trainings are aligned, provide shared language and encourage collaboration across child welfare and mental health service systems. NTI Implementation Specialists are available to assist you and your agency to plan for effective collaboration and to build the network of adoption competent mental health providers in your state/community. NTI also has an Implementation Planning Guide to assist with implementation best practices.

Our organization is interested, what is our next step?
  • If you represent an organization interested in integrating NTI into your training system or discussing the options for access, email info@adoptionsupport.org and one of our Implementation Specialists will be in touch to provide guidance on NTI implementation.  
  • Agencies/organizations that do not have an LMS and/or who want enhanced features such as access to the training with evaluation, coaching or other fee-for-services, can contact Dawn Wilson, Director, NTI at wilson@adoptionsupport.org. 
NTI provides a foundational understanding of the core issues impacting children and youth and their foster, adoptive, and guardianship families, including the impact of loss and trauma on attachment, brain development, and behavior. NTI also provides strategies and tools that parents and caregivers can use to support their child’s healing and strengthening of attachment. NTI is also exploring the possibility of creating an adaption for parents/caregivers.

NTI provides a foundational understanding of the core issues impacting children and youth and their foster, adoptive, and guardianship families, including the impact of loss and trauma on attachment, brain development, and behavior. This understanding can assist school social workers, school counselors, and educators to understand youth behavior in the context of the child’s early experiences and provide strategies to support the child, youth and family.

NTI has a new training adaption for educators: School-based Mental Health Professionals Training. Schools and school districts can get free resources to support the well-being of K-12 students!

NTI provides a foundational understanding of the core issues impacting children and youth and their foster, adoptive, and guardianship families, including the impact of loss and trauma on attachment, brain development, and behavior as well as the connection between early adverse experiences and current functioning and physical and emotional health.

NTI is also exploring the possibility of creating an adaption for medical professionals.

NTI provides a foundational understanding of the core issues impacting children and youth and their foster, adoptive, and guardianship families, including the impact of loss and trauma on attachment, brain development, and behavior. This knowledge will help inform permanency placement decisions.

NTI is also exploring the possibility of creating an adaption for court officials.

The Training for Child Welfare Professionals will assist CASA and GAL volunteers and staff to understand the impact of trauma, loss and grief, breaks in attachment, identity formation, on children and youth as well as the specific challenges experienced by transracial/transcultural families
Social workers interact with individuals and families who have experienced adoption in many different settings. NTI provides a foundational understanding on the unique and core issues of adoption to better meet the needs of children, youth and families in foster, adoptive, guardianship and kinship relationships.

Children and youth experiencing foster care and adoption are over-represented in RTCs and are often misdiagnosed or prescribed psychotropic medications for symptoms that relate to trauma experiences and unresolved loss and grief. NTI training will prepare staff to understand and address the issues relating to loss, grief, trauma, breaks in attachment, identity formation, etc.

Children and youth experiencing foster care and adoption are often misdiagnosed or over-prescribed psychotropic medications when their symptoms relate to trauma experiences and unresolved loss and grief. NTI will prepare staff to understand and address the issues relating to loss, grief, trauma, breaks in attachment, identity formation, etc... that children in foster care, adoption or guardianship may be experiencing. NTI also creates system change by improving collaboration between the child welfare and mental health service systems through aligned curriculum that uses shared language and provides understanding about the impact of loss and trauma on attachment and behavior.

NTI provides a foundational understanding of the core issues impacting children and youth and their foster, adoptive, and guardianship families. NTI also creates system change by improving collaboration between the child welfare and mental health service systems through aligned curriculum that uses shared language and provides understanding about the impact of loss and trauma on attachment and behavior.

Adoption is a lifelong journey and the core issues of adoption can impact the family through developmental stages from childhood into adulthood.  NTI provides training to increase the knowledge, values and skills critical to understanding and supporting families post adoption to enhance family stability and well-being.

NTI provides a foundational understanding of the core issues impacting children and youth and their foster and adoptive families, including the impact of loss and trauma on attachment, brain development, and behavior. NTI provides strategies for addressing the loss and grief issues inherent in adoption (for all members of the triad) and how important is it to prepare families for developmental challenges ahead.

NTI provides staff across the child welfare continuum with free training that focuses on understanding the impact of loss and trauma on attachment and behavior. NTI provides effective strategies for working with children, youth, and parents to address the challenges that often lead to placement changes in foster care and disruption or dissolution in adoption.

NTI provides free online training that is consistent with FFPSA requirements for a skilled, competent, trauma-informed workforce and addresses several CFSR indicators. Because it is web-based, NTI is accessible to staff throughout your jurisdiction on-demand.

NTI also creates system change by improving collaboration between the child welfare and mental health service systems through aligned curricula that uses shared language and provides shared understanding about the impact of loss and trauma on attachment and behavior.

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