About this poster

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Panel information
Panel 6. Risk, Intervention, Prevention, and Action

Abstract

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Goals: The Community Partnerships for Protecting Children (CPPC) approach implements programs to prevent child abuse and promote shared responsibility for child and family well-being (Daro et al., 2005). Iowa’s 40 CPPC sites statewide develop collaborative networks among child welfare field staff, policymakers, and local community members. Cultural and Racial Equity Learning Exchanges aim to increase racial and cultural equity in child welfare. This study evaluates participants’ experiences in two learning exchanges, Race: The Power of an Illusion (RPI) and Understanding Implicit Racial Bias (UIRB). We tested the hypothesis that participants’ understanding of learning objective concepts will improve after the exchange and report increased motivation to use or act on what they learn. We also tested the relative efficacy of online and in-person formats.

Method: RPI Learning Exchange, developed from a three-part documentary by California Newsreel (Adelman, 2003), investigates concepts of race in society, science, and history. RPI facilitates courageous conversations about how race affects attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors and how awareness can build capacity to reduce disproportionally and disparity in the child welfare system. UIRB Learning Exchange draws on research literature on the role of implicit racial bias in decision-making across various disciplines and how it affects daily subjective decisions. UIRB prompts courageous conversations about the development and impact of interpersonal racism (Martin, 2017) and builds participants’ capacity to implement constructive ways to address microaggressions and implicit bias. Generally, RPI participation precedes UIRB. Developed through state agency and university partnerships (2021-2022), both use standard curricula.

Each 6.5-hour learning exchange is led by two intensively trained facilitators, one identifying as a person of color and one as white, from a pool of facilitators with professional or lived experience in child welfare committed to eliminating disproportionality and disparity in the child welfare system. After Learning Exchanges, participants complete retrospective pre/post surveys to assess if the content and activities were beneficial and expanded knowledge. Participants rate agreement from 1=strongly disagree to 4=strongly agree on whether they could define, explain, interpret, or describe learning objectives (seven for RPI; five for UIRB) before and after attending. They also answer open-ended queries about insights and intent to apply learnings.

This study uses RPI data from October 2021 to April 2022 sessions (5 virtual; 8 in-person) and UIRB data from November 2021 to April 2022 (8 virtual; 4 in-person). Of 225 RPI attendees (132 virtual; 93 in-person), 196 completed a survey (109 virtual; 87 in-person). Of 234 UIRB attendees (151 virtual; 83 in-person), 215 completed a survey (151 virtual; 83 in-person).

Results: For RPI, participants’ average ratings were highest on Equitable Services (3.80, in-person; 3.16, virtual) (Fig. 1). The greatest average before-to-after change was for Equitable Outcomes (+.97 points, in-person) Average ratings on all learning objectives were slightly higher for in-person than for virtual learners before and after RPI.

For UIRB, the highest average after scores were Microaggression (3.89, in-person) and Outgroup Interactions (3.85 in-person; 3.52, virtual) (Fig. 2). The greatest average before-to-after change for virtual (+.87) and in-person participants (+1.09) was for Intervention. Average in-person scores were slightly higher than virtual scores for most learning objectives before and after UIRB.

Participants described RPI and UIRB as “excellent” and “useful.” Some spoke of plans to use content and strategies learned in various ways and settings. Some stated their intent to recommend the Learning Exchanges to those they know.

Conclusion: The learning exchanges expanded self-reported knowledge growth. While there was some evidence favoring in-person formats, both formats can be considered useful depending on implementation needs. Findings inform potential adjustments and improvements within the curricula. The next steps include implementing substantive knowledge assessments administered before and after participation.

Author information

Author	Role
Rachel Vos Carrillo, Iowa State University	Presenting author
Janet Melby, Iowa State University, United States	Non-presenting author
Ashley Hopkins, Iowa State University, United States	Non-presenting author
Katie Granger, Iowa State University, United States	Non-presenting author
Carl Weems, Iowa State University, United States	Non-presenting author

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