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 series will include three components:
- Crisis intervention and de-escalation training for current UWEC social work students
- CEU-eligible Friday morning breakfast session for practicing social work internship supervisors
- A faculty development workshop to strengthen instructional capacity across the College of Health and Human Sciences.
Together, these sessions will create a continuum of learning that prepares emerging professionals, supports practicing clinicians, and equips faculty to integrate crisis-response competencies into the curriculum. 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 & enhancing interdisciplinary collaboration and safety planning skills.
The selected speaker, Jessica Beauchamp, brings expertise in crisis response, trauma-informed care, and behavioral health education. Her workshops blend hands-on practice, scenario-based simulations, and accessible materials designed for diverse audiences. Her content directly aligns with the learning goals and will provide participants with actionable strategies they can implement immediately in their work. She is willing to design unique workshops for each of the sessions listed above.
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. Student participants will represent both BSW and certificate-based mental health education pathways, preparing them for internships and entry-level practice in behavioral health, healthcare, school social work, and community settings.
The CEU 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.
Faculty participants will include instructors from Social Work, Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Education, Special Education, and Kinesiology, as well as related health fields, who support students in interacting with individuals experiencing acute distress. Strengthening faculty competence in these areas will have a multiplier effect on curriculum and student preparedness.
Across all sessions, we anticipate approximately 60–80 UWEC social work students embedded in 4- 5 class presentations, 30–50 community practitioners seeking CEUs, and 50 faculty members and staff participating in professional development at our monthly college meeting. 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.