Individual Training Competency Assessment (ITCA) Project

Under contract with the North Carolina Division of Social Services, the Resource Program is developing the Individual Training Competency Assessment (ITCA), an Internet-accessible software program that will provide children's services social workers and supervisors an opportunity to identify training interests
and needs, track of their personal training histories, and help them develop professionally. The ITCA will also provide information to training system managers about when and where to best offer training.

The ITCA is comprised of a website and database that combine to form a learning management system designed to provide social workers with a structured enviroment for reviewing, assessing, and tracking their professional development. The ITCA's password-protected website will allow workers to view and update their personal training-related information, personal training history, and ITCA history, and to register for training online.

Workers will be able to use the ITCA as often as they like, but in general workers will be asked to verify and update their training information at least once a year.

The ITCA project has successfully evolved into an application with the flexibility to accommodate a variety of features and reporting options. An overall ITCA development plan was developed consisting of four major phases: preparation, assessment, implementation, and evaluation. During 2001, emphasis was placed on the preparation phase, which consisted of the development of the underlying database logic and structure. The assessment and implementation phases are scheduled for completion by July 2003.

Why the ITCA?

The answer is simple: In our rush to address the development needs of our clients, we frequently forget to address our own development needs. The ITCA will:

• Provide social workers with a tool for assessing and tracking their professional development.
  
  
• Provide a structured system by which workers can reflect upon job-related competencies.
  
  
• Clarify training options for experienced workers, whose training requirements may be less apparent.
  
  
• Facilitate the coordination of training resources by letting data guide the selection, time, and location of child welfare courses.

For more information please contact Ms. Lane Cooke, Coordinator of the Family and Children's Resource Program (Phone: 919/962-3597; e-mail: lgcooke@email.unc.edu).