"Oh, this is actually okay": Understanding how one state child welfare training system adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Training for new and existing child protection system (CPS) caseworkers is critical to developing and maintaining a competent workforce that effectively works towards safety, permanency, and wellbeing outcomes for children in the system. The COVID-19 pandemic required a shift to virtual training to continue training CPS professionals safely.

Objective: The purpose of our project was to determine if there were differences in learning outcomes between learners who completed training in the usual delivery methods (Pre-COVID) and the fully virtual delivery methods (Post-COVID).

Answering the big questions about differential response in Colorado: safety and cost outcomes from a randomized controlled trial.

Over the past 20 years, jurisdictions across the United States have implemented differential response (DR), which provides child protective services with the flexibility to tailor their response to reports of child abuse or neglect based on the level of risk. Given the widespread adoption of DR, there has been an increasing demand from policymakers, practitioners, and community stakeholders to build the evidence base for this innovative child welfare approach. This study was designed to answer the big questions regarding the effect of differential response on child welfare outcomes and costs using a randomized controlled trial in five Colorado counties.

Mutual expectation compacts: a means to link practice culture and vision.

We describe the development of a mutual expectation compact in an academic department of surgery as a means of reinforcing the department's vision document and promoting cultural change. The compact makes explicit those implicit agreements that exist between a physician and his or her practice. It strengthens the relationship by avoiding the misunderstandings that can arise when agreements are implicit.

Making a vision document tangible using "vision-tactics-metrics" tables.

We describe a method of making a vision document tangible by attaching specific tactics and metrics to the key elements of the vision. We report on the development and early use of a "vision-tactics-metrics" table in a department of surgery. Use of the table centered the vision in the daily life of the department and its faculty, and facilitated cultural change.

Mission statements and vision documents in medical practices.

Thoughtful, carefully constructed mission statements and vision documents serve both to signal the purpose of a medical practice to the public and other professional colleagues, and to keep the practice's providers focused on its key purposes. Practice culture is the primary driver ofmission and vision. We clarify the differences between mission statements and vision documents, and offer guidelines to aid in constructing them.