Training at the Heart of Excellence in Child Welfare
This November 2025 National Adoption Month, we are standing in a moment of possibility.
Across education, child welfare, and mental health, leaders are recognizing that true healing happens when systems work together. Policy that heals brings our efforts into alignment—so every child, caregiver, and educator experiences connection, belonging, and support across every doorway they walk through.
We now understand how early experiences shape the brain and how courageously children adapt to feel safe. With this insight, we can meet them with empathy, skill, and high expectations grounded in relationships.
When educators understand the why behind behavior, they don’t just guide a moment—they shape a future. With the right tools, schools become engines of healing and connection where students feel seen, educators feel supported, and families feel valued as partners.
Children flourish in environments built on connection, safety, and hope—and we have the opportunity to create those environments everywhere. As states expand mental-health initiatives, we can build systems that elevate strengths, grow resilience, and inspire possibility in every child and every adult who supports them.
That is the future we are creating alongside the Center for Excellence in Child Welfare (CECW) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work. Through the Youth-in-Care with Disabilities Training Project, we are helping Illinois grow a community of educators, social workers, and caregivers prepared to champion healing, partnership, and hope.
Together, we are building a model where every child—and every family—has what they need to thrive.
The Center for Excellence in Child Welfare (CECW) was established in 2024 by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work as a premier training center. The center was created in response to the ongoing need to expand training opportunities that build and retain a highly skilled child welfare workforce and provide for the integration of research to training and practice for child welfare professionals, caregivers, educators, and other professionals working with youth in care. CECW training opportunities include a simulation lab offering experiential learning for child protection specialists, high quality coaching for supervisors, and many other learning opportunities.
CECW’s newest project is the Youth-in-Care with Disabilities Training Project, which aims to assist school-based mental health professionals and others in strengthening their skills to support this population. The project includes a 4-part webinar series with renowned speakers presenting on cross-system collaboration, strategies to support mental health and complex medical needs, and transition services for youth with disabilities aging out of care. Communities of Practice will commence in Spring 2026 to further strengthen skills through in-depth conversations. A handbook and other resources are made available as part of this project. CECW is proud to partner with iCARE on this project.
For more information about CECW and to learn how to become involved in its work, visit Center for Excellence in Child Welfare – School of Social Work or contact Barbara Moore, CECW’s Director, at bam14@illinois.edu.
