SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The social work department at Briar Cliff University is going nationwide with its commitment to child welfare.

Heather Craig-Oldsen, associate professor of social work and department chairperson at BCU, has been selected as chairperson for the review of discretionary grant applications for the U.S. Children's Bureau in the Department of Health and Human Services. 

In her appointment, Craig-Oldsen will make recommendations for funding of state, tribal, county and private agency programs nationwide for transformative foster and adoptive parent recruitment and retention in the bureau’s review of discretionary grant applications.

“The discretionary grants are significant with funding up to $2 million for each selected site in addition to funds for implementation and research,” Craig-Oldsen said. “This appointment also further enhances the child welfare and grant writing courses I teach at Briar Cliff with the latest information on child welfare policies, practices and research.”

At the National Staff Development and Training Association’s (NSDTA) Annual Conference in Boston, Mass., Craig-Oldsen recently presented an interactive paper titled “Creating Culturally Responsive Child Welfare Curricula” to human services staff development professionals from across the U.S. In her presentation, she provided an understanding of the importance of cultural responsiveness in child welfare training programs. She also discussed difficulties and solutions in creating child welfare training in which cultural responsiveness is fully integrated.

BCU’s Department of Social Work will sponsor a focus group titled “Creating Native Friendly Foster and Adoptive Parent Training,” Friday, Oct. 22, on campus. National trainer and consultant Denise Gibson of Kansas Children’s Alliance (KCA) will facilitate the focus group, which will consist of child welfare leaders from Nebraska, Iowa and Native American Tribes.

“Denise Gibson is an amazing national and international facilitator who offers excellent skills to staff and volunteers of child welfare agencies,” said Craig-Oldsen, who also serves as the program director for the Siouxland Indian Child Welfare Traineeship Project at Briar Cliff.  “We hope the focus group will help identify effective strategies for improving training programs for Native American foster parents.”

KCA oversees the licensing and trainer development for the Partnering for Safety and Permanence: Model Approach to Partnerships in Parenting Program (PS-MAPP). PS-MAPP is used nationally and internationally by public and private child welfare agencies and is Iowa's model for resource family preparation. The Nebraska Department of Human Services has recently added PS-MAPP as an approved method of resource family training.

Briar Cliff University is a Catholic institution with an enrollment of more than 1,150 students from 29 states and 11 other countries. Students are educated in the Franciscan tradition of excellence in the liberal arts and career preparation in an environment of care, compassion and service. For more information, please visit briarcliff.edu.

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