Project Summary:
The goal of this learning event is to strengthen crisis intervention and de-escalation competencies across Wisconsin’s social work workforce, ultimately improving community safety, practitioner confidence, and client well-being.
Social workers at all levels regularly encounter escalating situations but often receive inconsistent training in how to respond effectively. This learning series addresses a clear professional development gap by offering evidence-informed, skill-based instruction rooted in trauma-informed care and best practices in behavioral health crisis response.
The learning objectives include strengthening knowledge of crisis theory and intervention frameworks, building practical de-escalation skills using trauma-informed and person-centered approaches, increase practitioner confidence in navigating escalating client situations and enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration and safety planning skills.
The primary audience for this learning event is the Wisconsin-based social work workforce, including UW–Eau Claire social work students, community-based practitioners, and faculty across the College of Health and Human Sciences. The event will draw practicing social workers, case managers, and behavioral health professionals from Eau Claire and the surrounding region, including county human services agencies, nonprofit mental health providers, healthcare systems, crisis response teams, and youth-serving agencies. The goal of this event is to provide training to partners who supervise our internship sites to better address the gap in educating new professionals in the workplace on handling crisis situations and incorporating our social work competencies.
This broad reach will help expand access to high-quality crisis intervention training and strengthen Wisconsin’s health and human services workforce. The Wisconsin-based health workforce audience attending the learning event includes the fields, organizations, and/or geographic areas represented.