CSU, Chico News

In Service to Families, Children, and the Courts, a partnership between CSU, Chico Regional and Continuing Education and the Butte County Superior Court Family Court Services, has been awarded the University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) Western Region Innovative Non-Credit Programming Award for 2003.

The California State University, Chico program provides mandatory training for court-appointed mediators and child custody evaluators. These professionals make decisions daily that impact the safety and welfare of children and families. In Service programs also provide professional re-licensure credit for psychologists, therapists, counselors, attorneys, educators and behavioral health professionals.

The program, started in January 1999, now includes an annual two-day conference about children in trauma; a schedule of relevant professional development conferences featuring outstanding speakers from around the country; grant funding to create two new online noncredit programs–Domestic Violence Training and Child Custody Evaluator Training; and a partnership between the university and the courts to provide training for a new regional mentor court project.

Mentor Court is an innovative model for integrating criminal, juvenile and family court activities to achieve a coordinated approach to better serve the complex needs of families and children in the court system.

Clare Roby, Regional and Continuing Education, director of the program, said, “Families and children are the most important beneficiaries of the In Service program. Our through professional continuing education make a tremendous difference in the lives of those they serve.”

The program’s newest innovation is an online course series planned to launch in spring 2004 and designed specifically to meet new training requirements in the areas of domestic violence and child custody evaluation. The domestic violence training series is a 12-hour advanced domestic violence training and a 4-hour annual update required for all mediators and evaluators. The Child Custody Evaluation Training series provides the 40-hour mandated training and an annual 8-hour participants work with thousands of individuals annually. The new skills and knowledge the participants gain update. The online program is being developed in consultation with Family Court Services directors and clinical professionals from more than 12 counties in California, representing counties from across the state. The courses will be approved by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), an arm of the Judicial Council of California.

RCE is an approved provider for the Board of Registered Nursing and the Board of Behavioral Sciences Education for Psychologists (MCEP) and with the Butte County Bar Association to provide Minimum Continuing Legal Education units for attorneys.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2003 at 9:52 am and is filed under 2003 Fall.