What is Required to Withstand Legal Scrutiny: The CWS Guide to the Courts 6 hour

Level: Core/Advanced Practice – (Lineworker, Supervisor, Manager)

Credits: 6

Intended Audience: This course is intended for Child Welfare staff including, Lineworkers, Supervisors, and Managers

Description of Course: In addition to their role as case manager and agency employee, child welfare workers who handle cases that come before the Juvenile Court are also expected to write written reports that document nearly every facet of their work and, when necessary, testify before the court. This training is designed to prepare workers for these experiences by covering the following topic areas:

• Judicial decision making process
• How attorneys are taught to advocate
• Writing to address mandates from the code and rules
• Knowledge of how attorneys are taught to present testimonial evidence
• Participants will also have the opportunity to identify the particular challenges they are experiencing as a result of their courtroom experiences using didactic lecture, small group discussion and application activities. This is not a writing course, and was formerly offered as “Writing to Legal Scrutiny.”

Intended Objectives:

• List reasons why county social service agencies are sued
• Write reports that provide facts and supporting evidence for recommendation and conclusions drawn in reports
• Describe why certain recommendations are made
• Describe process for determining what information should be included in reports
• Demonstrate better writing skills in all areas of documentation