The Child Advocacy Studies (CAST) Consortium will strengthen the knowledge base and skill sets of mandated reporters who make up the child-serving workforce, thus, improving outcomes for vulnerable children and families. The CAST Consortium is composed of institutions and leaders with expertise in child protection, curriculum development and dissemination, post-secondary instruction, and statewide and national program implementation. The Consortium will focus on the target population of emerging and current mandated reporters enrolled across the spectrum of postsecondary education (e.g. community colleges, four year colleges and universities, pre-service training academies, professional continuing education). Curriculum and other resources will be tailored to support and meet the needs of these child serving professionals not only during their post-secondary education journeys, but also during critical transition junctures between their educational and vocational milestones.
The Consortium will continue with its work on this initiative by conducting curricular assessments to determine the feasibility of four types of post-graduate CAST credentials: certificates for professionals in pre-service training academies (e.g. law enforcement, child protection), post-baccalaureate certificates for professionals in child-serving sectors; a Masters degree in Child Advocacy Studies, and accelerated “3+2” programs of study for professionals seeking to combine undergraduate and graduate coursework related to CAST. Once complete, the Consortium will make recommendations to OJJDP regarding development of or adaptations of curriculum, potential academic maps and coursework, and resources necessary to launch and sustain appropriate credentials. The Consortium will continue to integrate innovations into CAST programs by hosting a Learning Community for teams interested in utilizing problem-based learning simulations into their courses and training. Additionally, the Consortium will plan and host a Breakthrough Series Collaborative (BSC), an innovative quality improvement strategy aimed at inviting teams to come together, learn from each other and subject matter experts to initiate or improve a process. The Consortium BSC will provide technical assistance and support for teams wishing to implement and/or enhance a CAST program. Teams will work to understand and apply the principles of implementation science to improve the scalability and sustainability of CAST programs. Throughout years 2 and 3, the Consortium will create new curriculum to be made available to CAST programs which will include the development of two new problem-based learning simulations, Field Training Guides to assist with internship infrastructure, and workshops, webinars, and course modules with topics ranging from setting up Mock House experiences to using actors in simulations to addressing potential bias in child welfare investigations.
