DCF Office of Training and Professional Development

Training Attendance Expectations and Protocol

Updated August 12, 2025

The DCF Office of Training and Professional Development (OTPD) provides the Department of Children and Families (DCF) workforce with learning experiences that support their job functions and carry out DCF’s vision that all New Jersey residents are safe, healthy, and connected.

OTPD and our contracted external training partners are committed to offering relevant learning experiences that use a variety of training modalities that are stakeholder driven, research informed, consider current practice trends, address cross department needs, and align with DCF values and core approaches.

The attendance expectations and protocol outlined below have been established to maintain the integrity of the learner’s experience and curriculum fidelity as it relates to the following trainings/learning pathways:

  • All Child Protection and Permanency (CP&P) Pre-Service and Foundation Trainings for new workers.
  • DCF trainings, such as Connections Matter, DCF New Hire Orientation, Kinship Care Matters, New Supervisory Training, Nurtured Heart Approach, SBC Supervisory and Case Consultation, and SPRU.
  • Any training facilitated or trained by Office of Training and Professional Development staff.
  • Any training offered through the New Jersey Child Welfare Training Partnership (NJCWTP).

*This does not include CLIP, UBHC/CSOC, or other supplemental trainings offered in the community.

Attendance Expectations and Protocol

CONSIDERED LATE:

Classes will begin promptly at their designated times. Participants logging on/arriving to the classroom after the beginning of class will be considered “late” and notification will be sent to their supervisors. Late participants will receive full credit.

CONSIDERED ABSENT:

Participants logging on/arriving to the classroom 15 minutes after the class has begun will be considered “absent” and notification will be sent to their supervisors.

  • Participants marked “absent” will not receive credit for the day and will need to complete the missed day(s) to receive full credit and take the post-test.
  • Multi-day and multi-module classes must be taken in sequence and in their entirety prior to moving on to the next day or to the subsequent module.
  • Following an absence, participants will be unenrolled from their original class and reenrolled in another class to complete the training.
  • Participants are expected to actively attend for the entirety of the class and will not be excused before the end of class.

EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES:

Participants delayed due to significant and unexpected traffic delays or road conditions may be admitted into class up to 9:30. Please call the front office to speak directly to an OTPD staff member at (732) 448-6300. Participants are expected to notify their supervisors if they are going to be late.

CP&P Pre-Service Training Attendance Expectations and Protocol for High Priority Core Trainings

“Stop, Drop and Reenroll”

Updated August 12, 2025

The CP&P Pre-Service Learning Path is designed to support new staff with paced and sequential learning to ensure appropriate skills development and readiness for family assignment. It is important that Family Service Specialist Trainees have a plan in place to attend all scheduled pre-service training dates to avoid disruptions in learning and prevent delays in completing pre-service training.

Due to sequencing needed for core training content, some classes in the Pre-Service Learning Path have been designated high priority core trainings. These classes include:

  • Thinking Through Our Why
  • Family Engagement and Building Trusting Relationships
  • Solution Based Casework
  • Child Development: Identifying Abuse and Neglect
  • Simulation 1: Engaging with Our Families
  • Structured Decision Making (SDM) Intake/Permanency
  • Final Simulation

CP&P Pre-Service (aka New Worker) Learning Path participants missing a day or more of these classes will:

  1. Stop their current Pre-Service Training Learning Path and cohort.
  2. Be unenrolled from their current Pre-Service Training Learning Path cohort.
  3. Be re-enrolled in the next Pre-Service Training Learning Path cohort and resume their training.

Please note: Attendance at Pre-Service Orientation is mandatory to begin Pre-Service. Participants who are absent will automatically be unenrolled from their originally assigned cohort and moved to the next one. One-day classes, with the exception of Pre-Service Orientation, will be made up as the participant’s schedule allows.

Note: Trainee absences may be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by OTPD and CP&P leadership.