A few years ago around this time, in an effort to offset the holiday food marathon with some physical activity, I booked a session with a personal trainer at my local gym. I spent 90 minutes with her, and she really was great. She taught me some new stretches, fixed my lunge posture, and helped me draft a weekly workout routine.
But then I went home – and life got in the way. Between work, family, and the daily errands that probably also consume your to-do lists, I fell off the weekly workouts, neglected the stretching, and soon found myself in the exact same place, wishing I could remember those great techniques I’d learned.
Now at the time, I beat myself up about this. But what I didn’t know then – is that this was totally normal and basically inevitable. That’s because studies have shown that people learn 70% of what they know from day-to-day experiences that push them, 20% from mentorship relationships, and only 10% from formal trainings.
Eventually, (in case you were on the edge of your seat there), I got a Fitbit, and asked a friend to be my accountability buddy. Between the fun challenges I could work into my daily routine, the push notifications to drink water and move my body, and my friend’s repeated invitations to work out with her, being consistently active and building my physical fitness became a lot more manageable.
So, what does all this have to do with keeping children safe? It’s simple. Building your child welfare practice skills works in the exact same way. Formal staff trainings on family engagement, safety mapping, and practice models are important and useful – but they’re a lot like that personal training session I booked. If the concepts aren’t consistently reinforced and woven sustainably into the already busy daily work routine, the information won’t stick.
That’s why the team of child welfare leaders at SafeGenerations and I offer a full suite of Guided Practice Apps that can be used on any mobile device. With this easy-to-use technology, workers can track safety goals and apply the tools they’ve learned with families right in the field. Supervisors can share the data that matters most with staff, secure in the knowledge that all this data is stored on a fully secure platform
If any of this sounds familiar or interesting to you, don’t hesitate to reach out, and we can work on scheduling your free demo.
The sooner you start, the faster you’ll get to where you want to be.