Intercultural Tool Pilot for Upcoming New Worker Training
Supervisors and Tribal Leaders: For new workers participating in the upcoming Cohort 106 of Child Welfare Foundations Training (CWTA X100), they will be the first learners to use a training tool called the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), which is a cross-cultural assessment of intercultural competence that is used by thousands of individuals and organizations to build intercultural competence to achieve international and domestic diversity and inclusion goals and outcomes. Registration for Cohort 106 will open on Friday, February 10. For learners, this will mean completing the assessment (approximately 1 hour) and participating in an individual feedback session (approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes) prior to the first day of training (April 4). This means that all learners must be registered by March 17. There will be no waitlist opportunity for this course due to the pre-work requirements. This training will take place at our Twin Cities Metro Learning Center. In total, workers will complete approximately 6 hours of IDI focused work. If learners do not
complete the IDI pre-work, they risk being dropped from the Foundation Cohort 106. A complete overview of the IDI process can be found here. Professionals entering in the child welfare workforce today need to be equipped with the knowledge, skills, and self-awareness to successfully interact with colleagues, partners, families, children, and communities who are different from themselves. This means that learners will be asked to engage in open and honest conversations about implicit bias, disproportionality, and disparity, especially in how it exists in the child welfare system. We believe in helping to develop child welfare worker competencies through the Minnesota Child Welfare Practice Framework, which includes guidance on cultural responsiveness for workers and for supervisors. To help prepare learners, we would encourage them to read this article on Difficult Conversations in Child Welfare Training. We look forward to using this new training tool with learners, as we continue to work to improve outcomes for children and families. If you have questions about the IDI or any of our training efforts, please contact us
anytime.
