Concern in Carbon County will serve as a pilot site for Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance’s Training in residential care settings to better protect children from abuse.

Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance is piloting a new training curriculum that’s designed to better protect children living in residential care settings.

The Concern Treatment Unit for Boys — Lehighton campus, has been chosen as a new pilot site for the Pa. Family Support Alliance’s Training Curriculum.

Ryan Nesgoda, director of the Concern Treatment Unit for Boys — Lehighton campus, said the training is set to begin on April 18.

“I think it will be absolutely beneficial; we are having them train all of our supervisory line staff and administration,” Nesgoda said. “This is just going to be another step moving forward to ensure the safety of our residents, providing proper supervision and providing the proper services that they need.

I’m very excited about this, very happy to be in the forefront and being a pilot site for this training.”

Nesgoda said the Lehighton campus continues to be a growing facility, adding that they serve anywhere from 20 to 25 residents.

“We’re trying to provide the best service and the best need for these residents that we have in the placement setting,” he said. “I think my staff has always done a great job providing the service; that’s why doing this training will continue to provide success for the agency, the program and the residents that we serve.”

The new course, titled “Reporting Requirements for Children Served in Residential Care Facilities,” focuses on requirements in the state Child Protective Services Law related to reporting suspected child abuse in the congregate care setting.

Training

This curriculum was developed specifically to address the unique issues faced by staff members who work in settings like managed care organizations, juvenile detention centers, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Office of Children, Youth, and Families (ChildLine, Bureau of Juvenile Services, and regional offices), and other investigating agencies.

“This new training expands upon our mandated reporter training curriculum and will help to ensure that some of the most vulnerable children in the Commonwealth — those living in group settings — are protected from abuse and neglect,” said Angela M. Liddle, MPA, PFSA president and CEO. “We applaud OCYF for making additional training available for agencies that provide residential treatment programs for children. The issues and situations faced by direct line staff and management in these programs have been very challenging. We’ve had a strong team approach from the first work group meeting through to curriculum development. We look forward to presenting the training.” The expanded training clarifies the often-blurred lines of recordable incidents, reportable incidents, and reporting suspected child abuse to ensure incidents and disclosures are documented and reported accurately and in a timely manner as required under the CPSL.

“When we looked at the landscape of training options for professionals and volunteers in child welfare in the state, we could see a clear need for more focused training for individuals who work in congregate care settings,” noted Haven Evans, PFSA’s director of training. “Professionals who complete this training will be at the forefront of knowing when to report suspected child abuse to keep kids safe.”

Agencies chosen for the 16 pilot sites were members of a work group that the Office of Children, Youth and Families assembled last year to discuss the issues and make recommendations on this topic.

The PFSA hopes to expand the training curriculum statewide to any agencies that would need it during the second half of this year.

Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance prevents child abuse and protects children from harm by helping parents learn positive parenting techniques, educating professionals and volunteers who work with children to recognize and report child abuse, and helping community members learn how they can play a positive role in keeping children safe.

To learn more about programs, schedule training or make a donation, visit pa-fsa.org, or call 800-448-4906.