Leadership Testimonials

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Testimonials from National Leadership

Hover below to see what leaders share about the training:

“NTI Training has been very useful and was what we needed because we are the largest provider of mental health services in our state, unlike other states that contract out for a number of services. Where we’re in rural areas lacking private providers, sometimes we’re the only provider of mental health services. NTI is extremely valuable in giving staff informed evidence-based practical information when they work on care pathways involving children and families that we serve. I always tell them I don’t want them operating from the gut, and am so glad they have solid information to guide them.”

Louise Johnson
Director, South Carolina Department of Mental Health

“NTI is the most concise training I have seen for Child Welfare staff ever! It gets to the heart of the work, and really gives hands on tools for staff to use in supporting children and families. I keep sharing information with the rest of the child welfare executive team, regarding the training, and am excited for our entire system to get this information as soon as possible.”

Deputy Director
Foster Care and Adoption Child Welfare Services

“This interactive online training provides vital information for therapists, counselors, and clinical social workers who encounter families that have adopted or are guardians of children. Until now, mental health providers had scarce resources for training of this kind, and adoption competence was rare among providers.

Wide use of this curriculum will touch thousands of live and help reduce unnecessary emotional pain that can grow and fester when the underlying issues missed or ignored. For American Indian and Alaska Native Children who are more than three times as likely to experience such a placement, we hope this curriculum will bring much needed sensitivity.”

Terry Cross
Founder and Senior Advisor, National Indian Child Welfare Association

“I do a lot of training of mental health professionals, LCSWs, psychologists, or even occasionally some psychiatrists, in adoption clinical competency. And I’m often asked, “Why do I need NTI training? I’ve had good clinical training.” And for the most part, they have had good clinical training. Being clinically competent does not equate with being adoption clinically competent.

NTI offers an easy-to-use and comprehensive overview of the unique issues of children in adoption and foster care placement. Understanding challenges and issues that can influence self-esteem, identity, family relationships and psychological adjustment is critical for mental health professionals to consider in their work with these individuals.”

David Brodzinsky
NTI Advisor, Developmental, Clinical, and Forensic Psychologist, Professor Emeritus of Clinical Psychology, Rutgers University

“My team and I enjoyed completing the NTI training. It was very beneficial and applicable that the training specifically targeted child welfare workers, verses an overall mental health training. All the material was evidenced and research based with practical interventions that can be implemented.

The lessons were relevant to the work we do in foster care and gave us valuable resources to better our practice. The self-assessments/evaluations were great for personal development to identify areas we need to target and expand on in our practice. The modules addressed multiple learning styles, which was helpful to ensure each staff received the information in the best way for them.”

Knoxville TFC Clinical Supervisor

“We’re using NTI training to on-board new staff, and we are also going back this year and having every child welfare staff person that didn’t participate in the pilot, complete the NTI curriculum. So many comments that we got from experienced staff and experienced supervisors convinced us. They were saying it’s the best training they’ve had since they were at the agency.”

Becky Sharp
MPA, MSW, LMSW, NTI Pilot Site Leader, South Carolina Department of Social Services

“It was really exciting hearing from regions in our state as they went through the NTI curriculum as I was on calls with representatives and cohort leads. The main thing I heard was that the NTI training was breathing life into policies we already had.

Our state had some pretty good policies on sibling separation, but we’d begun to slip away from that. And as people were watching the curriculum, there were some regions that said, “Oh, my gosh, the importance of sibling relationships really came home to us partly through the videos and the hearing the words of children. And we’re really recommitting ourselves to ensuring that siblings maintain contact if they’re not placed together.”

Jan Dick
LCSW, NTI Advisor, Director of Child & Family Permanency, Family & Children’s Services, Nashville, TN

“I really feel good about the training and it has been my experience that professionals working with kids with trauma are ill prepared. I believe that this is a travesty to the children and families who need us to be more competent to provide the best possible services and begin the process of healing. Just let me know when you are able to talk so we can discuss and plan for getting this training to school personnel in Peoria Public Schools.”

Program Director – Outreach

“I would say the value of NTI training to clinicians is having a comprehensive training and body of knowledge all in one place. I have never seen anything like it.

I think there are very few therapists who really receive an in-depth education around child welfare issues. And it’s very hard for them to be competent if they haven’t had that practice. The NTI training really stands apart, especially with first-person perspectives from people who have been in the system, foster care, and those who have been adopted, and the parents, which really brings the curriculum to life!”

Sarah Gerstenzang
Clinical Social Worker, Birth, Foster/Adoptive and Kinship Parent, NTI Advisor

“The partnership with NTI through Tuskegee University College of Arts and Sciences Department of Social Work Continuing Education Academy has bridged the gap in the need for training developed specifically for child welfare supervisors, employees, and mental health providers. Students and professional learners comment on the cultural competency and thoroughness of the course curricula. The courses are a great complement to the child welfare related course work in social work education.”

Dr. April Jones
LMSW, Chair, Department of Social Work Tuskegee University College of Arts and Sciences Tuskegee, Alabama