Support to Practice: New Training to Support Staff Supervision

Last January, The Federation launched the first iteration of a new program for our members, allies, and partners throughout the sector—an ongoing series of regional training opportunities across the province. It was something we had wanted to do for a long time, both because of our commitment to being a truly provincial organization and because we recognize the challenges many community social services organizations face (even those in urban centres) accessing training for their staff.

The first offering was a series of Cultural Safety Training Sessions led by Tammie Myles of Mother Earth Whispers. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic forced us to transition those sessions online. Even so, the training was a great success and the discussions and exercises encouraged participants to recognize and challenge their own limitations, biases, and barriers and begin to transform how they think, work, and exist in the world.

And while we remain in the midst of a serious public health crisis, that doesn’t mean organizations no longer need training and professional development opportunities. That’s why I am very pleased to announce the second series of custom-built training offerings which will focus on staff supervision.

Supporting Practice, Improving Service Delivery

Working in the community social services sector requires you to deal with a lot of tough situations—you need to make difficult judgment calls all the time. But traditionally, “clinical supervision” has been mainly focused on staff in therapeutic roles. To support all of our valuable employees, we have worked in partnership with Community Action Initiative to develop a series of workshops for staff in supervisory roles that will create a framework for what we are calling “Support to Practice” that can translate to a wide range of service areas.

This cohort-based workshop series will teach supervisors and managers how to understand the spectrum of supervisory responsibilities and help them develop specific supervisory skills that enhance all of your direct services—ensuring your organizations are supporting your staff and meeting the unique needs, preferences, and circumstances of your clients and communities.

Two cohorts will be offered in Spring 2021—one launching in April and one in May—and registration for both is open now. (Additional cohorts will be offered beginning in the fall of 2021 and through 2022.) Dates, times, descriptions, more information, and the registration form for the Support to Practice training are all available on The Federation website now—learn more and register here.

This topic (like the Cultural Safety training before it and the Social Care Admin Support training that is in development) was selected based on feedback from Federation members, Leadership 2020 participants, our sector partners, and through the Social Services Labour Market Research Project. It also supports The Federation’s ongoing goal of building a stronger and more sustainable community social services sector.

As always, if you have ideas or feedback about ways we can support your organizations and employees or other ideas about how this Federation can work towards that goal, please get in touch with me. This program, like everything we do, is both for you and because of you—our members.

Rick FitzZaland
Federation Executive Director