Child protection specialists with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) are frontline responders charged with investigating reports of child abuse or neglect. A new DCFS simulation training center operated by Illinois State University is designed to prepare investigators-in-training for their vital role in protecting children and promoting their well-being.

Funded by a four-year, $2.1 million DCFS grant, the Child Protection Training Academy (CPTA) at Illinois State is the program’s third and newest simulation (SIMS) lab, which opened on the Baby Fold’s Hammit School campus in Normal during a ribbon-cutting ceremony last spring.

“Working in child welfare, as you can imagine, is incredibly complex and can be emotionally challenging,” said DCFS Chief Learning Officer Monico Whittington-Eskridge. “These simulation centers give child welfare professionals the chance to experience real-world scenarios, like home visits, courtroom testimony, and safety assessments before they’re out in the field.”

The center also provides professional development for experienced child welfare professionals to enhance their family engagement and safety awareness skills.

Dr. Doris Houston, an associate professor of social work and director of the Center for Child Welfare and Adoption Studies at Illinois State, oversees Normal’s SIMS lab. She said new child welfare professionals and investigators receive several weeks of classroom training during their onboarding process.

“However, the enhanced simulation training provides a much-needed opportunity for learners to practice what they’ve learned in the classroom as they prepare to go out into the field,” Houston said. “Child welfare professionals face intense pressure as they enter a family’s home charged with the responsibility of effectively engaging with parents and caregivers while ensuring the safety and well-being of vulnerable children.”

SIMS lab lead facilitator Laura Roehm ’07, M.S. ’17; facilitator Dorothy Davis; and logistics coordinator Colin Winkelmann ’23, M.S. ’24, are working with Houston to expand professional development opportunities this fall. Once fully staffed, facilitators will guide groups of eight child welfare practitioners through several days of simulations based on real scenarios encountered by DCFS investigators.

“Staff need to be very observant as they visit a family with the responsibility of identifying potential safety risks and hazards such as a medication sitting out within reach of a small child, or a crib that’s unsafe,” Houston said. “It’s also important for staff to observe the strengths that a family possesses, such as a strong extended family support network. Even if a family is in crisis, it’s essential that child welfare staff identify resilient qualities that can be nurtured and built upon.”

More than 1,400 staff have already participated in the DCFS Child Protection Training Academy’s SIMS lab sessions in Chicago, DeKalb, and formerly in Springfield. Illinois State’s facility expands access to simulation training opportunities among DCFS and private agency staff.

Becky LaMont ’98, M.S.N. ’07, previously the Mennonite College of Nursing’s director of nursing simulation and student success, and Winkelmann, a School of Creative Technologies graduate, worked with Houston and DCFS partners last spring to develop Illinois State’s SIMS lab based on statewide DCFS scenario specifications. The Normal facility includes two fully furnished apartments complete with kitchens and bathrooms.

The SIMS lab also includes a pediatric examination room and a courtroom. Along with in-home visits, investigators and other child welfare specialists are often called upon by medical personnel who are mandated reporters of child abuse and neglect. Investigators are also expected to present testimony of their findings in juvenile court.

Each simulated space is equipped with discreetly placed video cameras and microphones that livestream and record the trainees’ interactions for their classmates and facilitators to observe.

“There’s live emotion tied to this process, and I think when you experience something with all the dynamics of a simulation, that really sticks with the learner and helps that person grow beyond what they might have learned in a classroom,” LaMont said. (LaMont departed from her role with the project over the summer.)

Professional actors from Bloomington-based Coalesce Theatre, led by Don Shandrow, M.S. ’76, play highly developed roles in the simulations, including parents, teens, and sobriety coaches, who interact with staff in each training scenario. Experienced attorneys, medical providers, and retired judges are also tapped to play roles.

Dr. Doris Houston and Colin Winkelmann ’23, M.S. ’24, place potential safety hazards throughout the SIMS lab according to DCFS scenario specifications.

“This is uncharted simulation territory in child welfare, with the heavy use of actors,” LaMont said. “Standardized participants are often used across medical simulations, but the complexity is much higher with the child welfare SIMS lab model because actors need to demonstrate social interactions, and there’s this up-and-down swing of emotion. It’s a good challenge.”

Houston was a DCFS social worker and supervisor before arriving at Illinois State in 2005. She said simulations help investigators achieve the department’s primary goal: keeping children safe and promoting child and family well-being.

“However, if there appears to be an urgent and immediate necessity to remove a child, then court involvement comes into play, and the child welfare agency has the responsibility of finding a suitable home for that child as parents work toward rectifying safety concerns.”

The CPTA program is one of several partnerships between Illinois State and DCFS. Established in 1998 by retired faculty Dr. Jeanne Howard and Susan Smith, the Center for Child Welfare and Adoption Studies engages School of Social Work faculty and students in research on children who experienced adoption from foster care.

The center’s work expanded in 2007 to include managing the research-based Illinois Permanency Enhancement Project (PEP). Led by Houston, the project engages community stakeholders and policymakers to jointly develop policies aimed at improving permanency outcomes for children within the state’s foster care system through a bias-free lens.

Houston said her team’s analysis of DCFS data has informed department policy, which is reflected in the department’s CPTA training materials.

“With our new DCFS SIMS lab partnership, we have the opportunity to prepare the new investigators and seasoned child welfare professionals to avoid stereotypes as they serve families from all backgrounds,” Houston said.

Illinois State and DCFS also facilitate First Star Academy, a college readiness program for high school students receiving foster care services, led by Dr. Deneca Avant, a School of Social Work professor, and Program Director Tameka Thompson.

While this is a workforce development initiative for DCFS and partner agency staff, Houston said she anticipates new research opportunities will emerge in partnership with DCFS, and eventually, Illinois State social work students will have an opportunity to learn and engage in the CPTA simulation space.

Whittington-Eskridge said Houston has been an “incredible partner” in bringing the CPTA SIMS lab to life at Illinois State.

“She is rooted and grounded in the same mission and values that DCFS holds dearly, and in working with Dr. Houston, she also has a deep knowledge of child welfare and commitment to equity and education, and they have shaped this program in very meaningful ways,” Whittington-Eskridge said.

“Working with ISU also means that we’re not only training current professionals, but we’re also building those connections with students and future leaders in the field of child welfare, and this partnership helps to strengthen the entire child welfare system, starting right here at ISU.”