Those working on the front lines of the state’s child welfare system now have a new, high-tech simulation training space in Normal.
Illinois State University and the state’s Department of Children and Family Services [DCFS] teamed up on the new Child Protection Training Academy. Located at The Baby Fold at 614 Oglesby Ave., it's the third of its kind in the state. The ribbon-cutting was Friday.
The new space includes mock apartments, a doctor’s office, and courtroom environments where front line workers can practice interviews, assessments and even testimony. Those in training can get practice followed by immediate feedback and coaching. There are cameras and microphones everywhere so trainees can be monitored.
“It allows space for missteps to be corrected, for reflection and growth,” said Doris Houston, co-director of the new space and director of ISU’s Center for Child Welfare and Adoption Studies. “And it can be transformative for those who are stepping into one of the most demanding yet deeply rewarding roles in our society: protecting the safety and well-being of children.”
Frontline DCFS staff and child welfare private-sector staff will train there. All new DCFS employees are required to train at an academy site for at least one full week after their hiring. ISU social work students will be offered the ability to observe, learn and engage in simulations, too.
Houston said learning how to do this kind of work in a classroom setting alone is not enough. The interactions between child welfare workers and families can be tense, even volatile.
“It’s a different experience actually walking into a mock apartment, where you’re knocking on the door, and then having someone on the other side answer,” she said.
To help make those spaces feel real, trained actors will be brought in from the Coalescence Theatre Project, a Bloomington-based social justice-themed theater troupe.
Executive artistic director Don Shandrow said it’s mostly improvisation.
“The actor has enough information about the situation that the character is in, who they are, and their family members and any other significant people that surround them, so that they’re able to walk in and interact with a social welfare professional,” Shandrow said.
The Child Protection Training Academy concept dates back to 2019, as a requirement imposed by the Illinois legislature. DCFS approached ISU about its interest in housing a site.
ISU will operate the academy on a four-year, $2.1 million grant finalized in 2024.
“The Illinois State community considers it an honor — and I say that with a deep appreciation — to house this facility and support social services workers through our partnership with DCFS,” said ISU president Aondover Tarhule, calling it a “labor of love" that was years in the making.
DCFS director Heidi Mueller was in Normal for Friday’s ribbon cutting. She said it takes a special kind of person to do frontline child welfare work. It’s often challenging and thankless.
“We absolutely owe it to those special people to invest in this kind of state-of-the-art training,” Mueller said.
This is not the first partnership between ISU and DCFS. Illinois State has partnered over the years with the DCFS through the Center for Child Welfare and Adoption Studies, which also implements the Illinois Permanency Enhancement Project, as well as First Star Academy, a college readiness program for high school students receiving foster care services.
