The Alliance for Professional Development, Training, and Caregiver Excellence

Introducing our newest courses at The Alliance for Professional Development, Training, and Caregiver Excellence: Child Abuse Interviewing and Assessment (CAIA) Refresher, Child Information Placement Referral and Transition Planning, Nurturing Conversations with Children about Race, and Trauma-Informed and Healing-Centered Fundamentals Training. Register for these courses and more at RiseWithTheAlliance.org

Meet the Alliance Facilitation Lead, Deb Ausema.?Deb has been an amazing member of our team at The Alliance for Professional Development, Training, and Caregiver Excellence since 2021. Get to know Deb by reading through her responses below: Q: Which of our four values resonates with you the most, and why? A: I connect most with Support. I’m especially inspired by people who are natural “boosters” — those who uplift and encourage others simply by being their own best selves. My 12-year-old has a friend who is a big inspiration to me. She’s not in sports or band, yet she attends every game and concert to cheer on her friends. She helps rehearse lines for auditions she’s not going to. She’s always pointing out her friends’ strengths.?It’s like I can see these kids getting more confident when she’s with them. Her friends are going to grow into more successful adults because of the way this kid is in the world. That’s the kind of presence I strive for, too. I’m always trying to recognize and amplify people’s strengths, encourage folks’ interests, and celebrate everyone’s efforts. When someone launches a new initiative, I’ll show up and highlight what’s great about it.?When someone finishes a project, I’ll be the one noticing all the awesome details they included.?When someone wants to make a change, I’ll be there brainstorming about how we can make it happen. Support also means being open to feedback — both giving and receiving. Listening to constructive criticism wasn’t always easy for me, but I’ve worked hard to see it as a gift. If someone takes the time to help me improve, I want to honor that effort by truly listening and applying what I can. I’ve also learned that offering thoughtful, direct feedback is more productive than letting frustrations fester. That sometimes means having difficult conversations, but it almost always leads to stronger relationships and better outcomes. Q: What excites you about the work we do at the Alliance? A: I love the real, lasting impact we have on people’s lives. When we equip professionals and caregivers with better skills, they become more effective, more confident, and experience less stress. Instead of just white-knuckling through challenges, they feel empowered to navigate them successfully.?That doesn’t just improve their experience, it leads to better outcomes for the youth and families they serve.? This applies across everything we do — whether it’s workforce training, caregiver support, or leadership development. In my role, I have the opportunity to contribute internally, ensuring our facilitators are effective and confident in their roles. The ripple effect of good training is incredible: when we do our job well, the impact spreads far beyond the immediate audience, shaping stronger systems, more capable professionals, and ultimately, better support for families and children. I can’t believe I get to do this work!?I feel so privileged and grateful to be in this position.??

Our values at The Alliance hold up inclusion and respect, and we have really appreciated the consultation we've gotten from?Natania Malin Gazek around our hiring process.

The March workforce training schedule is here! Find details, registration links, and more about our upcoming training opportunities here: https://lnkd.in/emwhGYrk Sign up to get these notices sent right to your inbox: https://lnkd.in/ed_yz7qT

The February workforce training schedule from The Alliance is available now! Don’t miss: ?? Working with Immigrant Communities:?People born outside of the United States often face challenges when adjusting to life in a new culture. Immigrant communities may encounter xenophobia, racism, discrimination and bigotry. This workshop helps you better engage and support immigrant communities by looking at different factors related to human migration and race. You will learn how to anticipate core challenges immigrant communities typically face and integrate skills to improve cross-cultural communication. ? Learn about all the upcoming classes here:?https://lnkd.in/eQ2t-hm7 Sign up?to get these notices sent right to your inbox: https://lnkd.in/ed_yz7qT WA Department of Children, Youth, and Families

The Alliance CaRES quarterly report is here! This report highlights our team's celebrations, changes to our program elements, plans for the next quarter, and our new CaRES Program Manager, Shana Burres, Ph.D. Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/esRGDzrx Thank you so much to our CaRES team of mentors, connectors, and specialists, and our incredible partners across Washington for making this work possible: WA Department of Children, Youth, and Families, Evergreen Caregiver Support, Treehouse, The Mockingbird Society, Mobius Discovery Center, Compelled to Care, and Cloth + Foster. Learn more about Alliance CaRES at: AllianceCaRES.org

The February workforce training schedule from The Alliance is available now! Don’t miss: ?? LGBTQIA+ Youth: Guiding the Work for Licensing Staff:?In this course, licensing staff will learn to center the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ youth in conversations with licensed providers, both in childcare and out-of-home care systems. You will have the opportunity to look at your own assumptions, biases, and reactions related to LGBTQIA+ youth, as an opportunity to build your confidence in guiding providers through similar processes to prepare them to better serve these youth. ? Learn about all the upcoming classes here:?https://lnkd.in/eQ2t-hm7 Sign up?to get these notices sent right to your inbox: https://lnkd.in/ed_yz7qT WA Department of Children, Youth, and Families

We're excited to announce that Aaron Jacobsen is joining our team as the Instructional Design Excellence Lead. Welcome, Aaron! Aaron is a learning and development professional with 10 years of experience spread across instructional design, training, coaching, teaching, and developing learning experiences for adults and youth in a wide variety of modalities. He earned his BA in English Education from Brigham Young University, Idaho, and his MS in Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning from Boise State University with an emphasis in eLearning.

The January training schedule from The Alliance is available now! Learn about all the upcoming classes here: https://lnkd.in/eGc-T_Uf Sign up to get these notices sent right to your inbox: https://lnkd.in/ed_yz7qT

We're excited to work with Incoming Secretary Tana Senn as she begins her work with the WA Department of Children, Youth, and Families.