Parent Partner Training Academy: Developing a Parent...

Parent Partner Training

Academy: Developing a

Parent Partner

Certification Program in

Los Angeles CountyMike Alba, PsyD

Fatima C. Baldizon

Carmen Diaz

Fran Goldfarb, MA, MCHES, CPSP

Marcia Taborga, PhD

PPTA Team

Marcia Taborga, PhD

Co-Founder and CEO

Seedling Consulting Group

marcia@seedlingcg.com

Fran Goldfarb, MA, MCHES, CPSP

Director, Community Education

USC UCEDD CHLA

fgoldfarb@chla.usc.edu

LA County DMH

Mike Alba, PsyD

Prevention Services Administration

Family and Community Partnerships

malba@dmh.lacounty.gov

Fatima Carmen Baldizon

LAC Prevention Services Bureau

fbaldizon@dmh.lacounty.gov

Carmen Diaz

LAC Child Welfare Administration

CDiaz@dmh.lacounty.gov

Overview

Parent Partner

Training

Academy

History

○Parent Partner Driven/Parent

Partner Informed

◦ Included topics relevant to all parent

partners and also included specialty

topics for parent partners working

with select populations.

○ Funded through the Workforce

Education and Training (WET)

○ Mandatory for all incoming

Wraparound Parent Partners

6

Parent Partner

Trainings

General Skills

Symposium

Specialty Skills

Reflective Supervision

Training

Supervision and

Program Integration

Parent Partner Training Academy v1.0

Evaluation

Program Review

○Parent Partner Training Academy

◦ USC UCEDD CHLA

○Symposium

◦ LA Training Consortium

○Reflective Practice Training for Supervisors of Parent Partners

◦ USC UCEDD CHLA

○Evaluation

◦ Seedling Consulting Group

Parent Partner Training Academy v1.0

2 levels

of

Trainers

○Focused on Sustainability

◦ Trainers

• Ensure availability of future trainings

◦ Master Trainers

• Ensure availability of trainers

• Manage the PPTA training and

certification program

Master Trainers

○ Trained and approved by Training

developers

○Conduct Training of Trainers

○Conduct observations of new trainers

○Supervise trainers

○Administer certification exams (in

collaboration with PPTA Point Person)

○Help to Mentor, grow and support all

parent partners

Trainers

○ Conduct PPTA trainings

○Participate in supervision/mentoring activities

○Must be approved by Master Trainers

Certification

Exam

PPTA by the

Numbers

○To Date:◦ 13 Essential Skills Trainings held

◦ 205 have taken some of the 12-day training

◦ 84 have completed the 12-day training

◦ 43 have taken and passed the certification test

▪ 10 honorary certifications to PPs who helped developed the exam

◦ 1 Master Trainer Training

▪ 2 Master Trainers Completed

▪ 3 more in final stages of completion

◦ 2 Trainings of Trainers

▪ 8 Trainers Completed

▪ 16 more pending completion

Parent Partner

Training

Academy v2.0

Next steps:

○ Parent Partner Training Academy – Essential Skills Training

◦ Expansion and updates

○Continuing Education

◦ Specialty Skills Trainings

◦ Mentoring Skills

○Certification Exam

◦ Alternate Versions

○Supervision and Program Integration

◦ Network Meetings and Trainings

○ Expanding the program

Development of

the Parent

Partner Trainings

[edits]

Phase 1

An evolving

Process

Content Experts

○Liz Barnett, CSULB

○Fran Goldfarb, USC UCEDD

○Joyce Javier, USC UCEDD

○Linda Landry, FRCNCA

○Vickie Mendoza, UACF

○Adriana Molina, CII

○Karen Rogers , USC UCEDD

○Sylvia Thompson, NAMI

○Marian Williams, USC UCEDD

Training Team

○Fran Goldfarb

○Linda Landry

○Adriana Molina

[edits – slide moved]

Original

Training

Model

○ Develop and Conduct 3 Levels of Training for

Parent Partners

○ Each training will be

• 5 days

• Skills based

• Tied to Certified

Parent Support

Provider (CPSP)

(FFCMH)

○ Level 1 – Foundation

Skills

○ Level 2 – Direct

Service

○ Level 3 – Training

Supervision

Morph

#1

3 becomes 4

Foundation Skills – 5 days

Direct Service -5 days

Supervision -2 days

Training Presentation – 3 days

Morph #2

Essential S

kill

sFoundation

Direct

Presentation

Feedback from

• Evaluations

• DMH Staff

• Master Trainers

• Co-trainers

• Evaluators

• 12 Day (72 hour) Training

• Preparation for LAC DMH Parent Partner

Certification

• Now required for all Parent Partners in Wraparound

• Skills Based

• Essential Skills for all Parent Partners/Parent Advocates

regardless

of agency or program

• Topics may be addressed several times •For greater depth

•To incorporate other learning

•Increase opportunities for practice

The Role of the

Parent Partner

Soft SkillsWorking with

Parents

CultureCrisis

Management

Your Journey/

Telling Your

Story

Resources

Domestic

Violence

Navigating

Systems

Working on

Teams

Trauma

Informed

Care

Communication

Dispute

ResolutionPresentations

/ Facilitation

Mental

Health

Phase 2

PPTA Revised

TOT

Training of Trainers

Requirements for Trainers

• Complete a 12-day training

• Pass the test

• Complete the 2-day TOT

• Conduct a 12-day training • Training teams (2-3)

• With observations

Role of the Trainer

Qualities of a Trainer

Reviewing the

Training Curriculum

Personalizing Your

Training

Training

Considerations

Training Materials

and Handouts

What Do I Do If?

Practice

Presentations

Challenges &

Lessons Learned

○Conveying purpose of the training

○The importance of training specifically for

PP/PAs.

○Different levels vs. training for everyone.

○Unyielding timeline

◦ PP/PAs are expected to keep up

productivity during training

○Keeping discussions on point

○This was a very different type of learning

for some Parent Partners.

[edits]

Next

Steps

○ Edit Curricula

◦ PPTA

◦ TOT

○ Develop Mentor Training (for Master

Trainers)

○ Enhance Professional Development for

◦ Trainers

◦ Master Trainers

Parent Partner

Training Academy

Evaluation

○D

EM

OG

RA

PH

ICS

Educated

English-

speaking

women

over age

35

N=95-96

BA

CK

GR

OU

ND

Full-time Parent

Partners with

varied years of

experience

4.4 or higher

High self-

reports on

core

competencies

.

4.4 or higher

High self-

reports on

additional

outcomes

Phase I

TRAINING

SATISFACTION

Trainees rated the training as VERY high on

all domains.

TRAINING

SATISFACTION

What Worked?

CONTENT

○Motivational Interviewing

○Resources

○Ways to Tell Story

○Role

○Brain Development

○Trauma

○DMH, DCSF, School

PROCESS

○Role Plays

○Vignettes

○Sharing Stories

○Sharing Resources

TRAINING

SATISFACTION

Improvement

Areas

MORE TIME PARKING

COFFEE!!Agency

Administrators &

Supervisors need

this training

Evaluation

“Morphs”

○Online survey offered in-person at trainings

○Survey shortened

○Questions shortened for clarity

○More variety in response options for

attention

○Questions rephrased, improved to get at

skills/knowledge rather than ability

◦“I know” instead of “I am aware of”

◦“I do” instead of “I am able to”

OutcomesPhase 2

38

PPTA 2

impacted all

outcomes

except

Attitude

39

No

Significant

Differences!

TOTs

Outcomes

were similar

to CHLA.

Phase II

TRAINING

SATISFACTION

Trainees rated the training VERY high on all

domains.

Phase II

TRAINING

SATISFACTION:

How did TOTs do?

On average, TOTs scored higher!

SUMMARY

TRAINEE OUTCOMES

○Phase I no significant

differences

○Phase 2 significant

pre to post differences

○Pre to post

differences were the

same for TOT and

CHLA trainees

TRAINING SATISFACTION

OUTCOMES

○Trainings rated very high

in all domains for Phases I

and 2

○TOT trainings rated high

○TOTs were rated esp

high on “Topic Relevance”

LESSONS

LEARNED

○Close collaboration with trainers, PPs, DMH

was vital

○Survey questions need to be revised to

really get to what PPs know and do

○TOT trainees can do as well as their trainers

with support

Developing the

Certificate Exam

○Marcia Taborga

Lessons LearnedInclude PPs

Plan to Maintain

Take-Aways

from this

PresentationOur Products –

BlueprintCertificate Exam

Our Process -

included PPs

“Ideally you use subject matter experts

to inform content and rate questions.

A good number 4-6 experts.

Parent Partner

Role in

Development

SUBJECT MATTER

EXPERTS (SMEs)

○10 PP from LA

County

○All attended PPTA

Essential Skills AND

PPTA TOT

○Each wrote

approximately 15

items

○Each rated every

single exam item

SME Content Develop

○Four (4) hour training

on exam content and

writing questions

○Decided on exam

content, areas of focus,

types of questions that

work for PPs

○Trained on how to

write clear, fair, relevant

questions

○Follow-up training via

Seedling support on

items

SME Rated Items

○Four (4) hour scoring

day

○Trained on how to

score items

○Reviewed full alpha

exam, scored every

item, reviewed scores

as a group

○Discussed discrepant

ratings

○Revised items

Step 1.

Develop Blueprint

“First, let’s be clear on “Who”

Our target audience is made up of Parent

Partners who completed the PPTA

Essential Skills Training

PPTA Essential Skills Training

Minimum

CompetenceSME Defined Competence

Minimum

Competence

Q: What is the minimum competency of a

person that we want to pass the exam?

SMEs answer:

“Attended the full PPTA training, grasped the most important content.”

Step 2.

Develop Content

Exam Content

Development

Method

○Each SME wrote approximately 15

questions

○Questions revised as needed with SMEs for

clarity

○The best of those questions were sorted

into a 76-item “Alpha Exam”

○All 76 questions were rated SMEs

How to rate the

item

For the target group defined as a person who

“Attended the full training,

participated, and grasped the most

relevant content.”

SMEs asked themselves…

“What percentage of the target

group testers would get this item

correct?”

Product:

Beta Exam

50-Item Exam, Paper-Pencil Exam

○ Multiple-choice, some matching

○ Short question stems, vignettes

○ 90 minutes allowed

○ Afterwards, testers gave feedback on

exam overall, specific items

Pass-score based on SME’s ratings = 43

Test the

Beta Exam

Method

○ 22 Parent Partners took beta exam

◦ Work experience as PP ranged from 6 mo to 15+ years

◦ Must have completed the PPTA training to take exam

○ Item analyses

○ Reviewed results with PPTA trainers &

PPTA team, SMEs and parent partners

◦ Deleted 3 questions, revised 4 questions

◦ Modified pass score from 43 to 33

Certificate Exam

Final Certificate Exam*

○ Paper-pencil, 50-item exam

○ Purpose - Assess PPTA core competencies

○ 90 minute exam

○ Items primarily multiple choice

○ Pass Score = 33

*See Blueprint for details

Lessons Learned

○Parent Partner

Input

○Time-consuming but

invaluable for

relevance, fit, and

quality of final product

○Increases community

buy-in

○Target Audience

○Important to keep

target audience in

mind.

○We used straight-

forward language, no

negatives (which is

not), and no trick

questions.

○Scores were lower

than predicted so

testing out the exam

was important

Plan to Maintain

Certification

○Develop the process

to administer the

exam, score the exam,

think through what

happens for those who

don’t pass, and how to

provide feedback.

○Multiple exams are

needed as public

becomes familiar with

items

○On-going training

Implementing the

Training

Conducting

Trainings

○15-20 people

○Must have lived experience

○ 2-3 trainers

○12 full-day sessions

○Weekly

○Throughout Los Angeles County

○Open to all Parents Partners

The Trainee

Experience

○Most liked it and felt it was valuable

○Many Parent Partners felt this was the first

training they had that was specifically

designed for Parent Partners

○Big Commitment

○Learning and unlearning their role

• Providing a foundation with theory and

structure

Trainer

Experience

○Pre-planning is essential

○Co-Trainer is partnership rather than multiple

people

• Roles should be clearly defined and agreed upon

○Many areas of responsibility

○Trainers need a wealth of information on the

modules they teach.

○You have to monitor the learning of the group

• Tag team if needed

• Check your ego

Lessons Learned

○Not all participants understood the

purpose of the training

○Some Parent Partners still had to meet

productivity while they were going through

the training.

○A lot of anxiety around the exam

• Sometimes overshadowed the value of

learning

• Study groups helped

○Some of the activities felt artificial because

they were necessarily brief

Questions?