Testimonials

I like that the process is non-judgmental and allows for learning from the experiences to better serve clients and develop new or changed policies if needed.

I can honestly say that in my 20+ years of experience in the child welfare system, this training was so well presented and made so much sense to me I asked myself, 'Where has this been all these years.

Collaborative Safety’s training got at the core issues we face every day in our work. How we can actually support workers doing difficult work and get to a better outcome for us and those we serve. It feels like the right thing to do to think and operate this way.

I think this will impact frontline workers and how supported they feel. It will help them feel more confident to make informed decisions and follow through with what they feel is in the best interest of their clients.

Instead of blaming and seeing my supporting staff as a problem and applying quick fixes. I will be able to apply a new Collaborative Safety model to harness a safe environment and understand my team better and to support them and strive for excellence.

Child Welfare work is already difficult as it is. When especially difficult outcomes occur, it is good to know there will be quality agency support and an evidence-based approach to competently evaluate what could be improved. Using language in a different and meaningful way when dealing with these kinds of things is huge!

With more awareness on the topic, we can start to model behavior, set new standards, and have further conversations to ultimately improve internal business but also this will show through our work with the public and those we serve.

I will try to focus on the New View to look at things through a different lens versus the Old View of Safety. People do not go into this career to fail this is a career that has many moving parts and we need to look at all the complexity in real time within at the agency. 

I love that Collaborative Safety’s mapping process helps surface technical issues and barriers to being able to efficiently do our jobs. It gives insight to issues that hinder our ability to do our job but explains why we do what we do and how we do it.

It’s always a good reminder that there are several views to the same situation. We need to break down our walls and collaborate to solve the bigger issues and not just treating the symptoms until the next big disaster happens.

By looking at all of the information specific to a situation, positive solutions for all can be found. It will help with making positive communication and relationships with staff and help retain them due to not placing blame immediately.

Collaborative Safety’s trainers were engaging, knowledgeable and present.

The second story is so important in the work that we do. It plays a huge part in how the case will play out. We need to take the time and effort to engage with our families to have them share their story and dig deeper.

I know it will take some time, but I think this approach will go a long way towards empowering caseworkers to do the best work possible by recognizing the difficult situations that we work in and taking a collaborative, “got your back” approach to addressing critical incidents that keeps caseworkers accountable but not fearful of the consequences of doing their day-to-day work.

I think it will impact frontline workers and how supported they feel. It will help them feel more confident to make informed decisions and follow through with what they feel is in the best interest of their clients.

I believe that this Collaborative Safety Model will help frontline workers feel supported and heard. I also feel that once implemented the Division will have greater retention of caseworkers. The example of budget cuts, fatality review, public outrage, caseworkers fired, more money thrown at the agency and low retention rates is now working. It’s time to fix the problem and support workers.

Scott and Noel have obviously done their homework in identifying research and real life examples to support this paradigm shift for Child Welfare Critical Incident Reviews. This is a great opportunity for Child Welfare Leaders to change the conversation about the complex work that we do, and counter the negative messages that have crept into our culture through the media and other voices, over the past decade or more. This training was enhanced by the passion and skill demonstrated by both Scott and Noel, and their ability to engage an audience. Thank you both for the work you are doing!!

Scott and Noel are fantastic presenters.  It's obvious how committed you are to this curriculum and helping organizations not only respond better when crises hit, but implement sustainable process improvements to reduce risk of future incidents.  Your tremendous expertise, ability to engage participants, and clever humor were all very appreciated!

The energy was great. I love that we are finally moving in a positive direction with critical incident reviews!

Very informative and useful information. The transformation from punitive to positive will be greatly received Statewide.

I believe that the shift in thinking will have a very positive impact on the field and them feeling supported by upper management.

I love the Direction that the Department is going with changing from "old views" to a new way. I think it will be a positive impact for all involved.  Thank you!

I am so excited to see our Agency become an amazing learning environment...great things are on the horizon.

Your passion and expertise are exceptional and I believe we all feel that we can be successful under your guidance and support.

The presenters were top notch in their presentation. They know their work, had plenty of examples that were applicable, and added laughter-bonus!

This way of thinking makes more sense than our previous way of thinking, and will likely bring about positive change to our practice and employee morale.

I am with the courts. I believe there is an added benefit to including stakeholders outside of the agency in this conversation.  I found myself looking at ways this type of training could be helpful to Judges and court staff, especially those staff who work directly with clients.

I feel a sense of hope for where we are going as an agency, but also as individuals. This is something that has been a struggle to find sought after for quite some time. Thank you for providing a sense of validation and direction not only to those of us in a leadership role, but to those of us who have come from the field into these roles.

Truly this was a great training and I feel really hopeful about what's to come.

Scott and Noel were knowledgeable, personable and respectful of the place each participant started with these concepts. Applying safety science concepts to child welfare egregious incident reviews requires a mind shift and their support and patience throughout this process was really amazing.

I am looking forward to working with you. For years, people have spoken of the need to change the culture of our child welfare agency, but offered no tangible construct for doing so.   In my view, safety science offers that construct and provides the organizational component to work in concert with family engagement practice and trauma-informed care.

I really appreciate, of course, the new view and the move away from blame, looking for a scapegoat, etc. This approach seems to create the safe environment "we" want where workers can make the tough decisions (when necessary) with higher levels of confidence and support.  Scott and Noel, too, created a very safe environment for us to learn and I very much appreciated that.

The trainers were experts in the field and presented what could be very challenging information using principles of adult learning. The trainers provided information and then examples that directly related to the concepts presented.  Their sense of humor made this training very enjoyable and their patience with the participants in "bringing them along" was such a role model for all of us in the training world.

I really like the philosophy/culture shift of safety science. I also liked learning about the theory behind safety science.  My impression before the training was that it would be really boring and technical, but I was very pleasantly surprised by the human and humane basis of everything taught.

Fun and engaging. Thought both Scott and Noel's real world experience was nice to hear and validate that other are going through what we're going through.

The two instructors were pretty amazing. I enjoyed both days but specifically the critical incident process.

Must see movie of the summer. If you attend just one executive leadership training session this summer this is the one to attend.

I like the positive message, and the positive change that this training is intending to create. It’s a testament that you've been listening to feedback from the frontline staff and are trying to implement changes based on that feedback.

Loved the training. It was very useful and I am hopeful for the future with our agency.  It fits perfectly with social work...how we do what we do.  It is sad (and sadistic) that we have historically treated ourselves so poorly during time of trauma and crisis.  Thank you for helping provide a new perspective (New View).

I enjoyed the effort our presenters gave to encourage leaders to be more vulnerable, meaning they look at employees' problems as their own in that everyone is involved in the same system influencing everyone's behavior.

I enjoyed the way you all presented the information. It was easy to follow and I could tell how passionate you are on the subject.

I like the idea of changing the approach and the narrative involved with high profile and child death cases. This training fills a gap that has long existed in the world of child welfare.

Presenters were very engaging, practical and positive. I like that we appear to be looking at the impact of how to positively change our practice while looking at the impact this work can have on our staff and being more supportive in this process.

I enjoyed the conversation and back and forth between Scott and Noel. It never felt like we were being lectured out more like a large group discussion.

Scott and Noel are very engaging. It was worth the time spent!

I appreciated the emphasis on using individual problems as learning opportunities in order to identify areas for system-wide improvement.