Chicago Child Protection Training Academy

As a part of Illinois Department of Children and Family Services’ ongoing effort to satisfy legislature enacted in August 2015, Public Act 99-348, to provide an academy for training child protective investigators and their supervisors, simulation inclusive training has been implemented. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign continues this use of simulation-based training by expanding beyond the original Central Illinois simulation site, implemented by the University of Illinois-Springfield (UIS) to provide classroom and simulation-based training for child welfare workers and supervisors inclusive of child protection investigators in the northern part of the state. The expansion allows for a greater number of child welfare staff to participate in simulation training, while also reducing the Department’s travel related costs for sending child protection investigators to a Central Illinois simulation site alone.  Child welfare staff receive immersive professional development through simulations of day to day child welfare tasks.  The simulation lab is inclusive of multiple apartment home environments, court room, medical office, and supervisor office.