Work in a Supportive Environment
IFD functions well when its employees are happy:
It starts during the selection process. We're clear up front about the job during the interview process. We work hard to ensure that it's the right fit all the way around.
Once on board, we strive to provide you with immediate, ongoing feedback, and request that you do the same for your supervisors and the agency in general. Evidence demonstrates this as the most effective form of feedback.
We have an open door policy. If at any point you aren't feeling successful or happy at work, we ask you to not ignore it. The work we do at IFD is challenging, and it's important. It's our responsibility as an agency to help our employees be successful in their jobs long term. And it's our employees' responsibility to let us know when that isn't happening so we can work together toward a solution.
How's it Going?
We survey our employees annually to find out how we are doing, and what we could be doing better. We distribute the results to all agency employees.
We also seek employee input whenever possible to help inform agency decisions. In addition to surveys we also ask staff to participate in committees and task groups.
Keeping Employees Informed and Connected
Sharing information is a key value at IFD, and we do so regularly via formal and informal channels. We want to be sure employees are aware of any upcoming changes to the agency, state policy, or child welfare system in general. This sharing of information helps staff make informed decisions at work.
- IFD staff receive minutes from supervisor meetings and copies of the agency's quarterly report to the board.
- Teams members decide how they will stay connected with one another. Some teams set aside time during consultation meetings, others have lunch together at their office, or have offsite events.
Clinical Supervision & Support
- Training: All new therapists attend our Homebuilders Core Curriculum. Most therapists receive additional classroom training such as Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Interventions, and Critical Thinking in Clinical Decision Making. All therapists providing an EBP are trained by model experts. In addition, new therapists receive training in the field from a supervisor.
- Ongoing supervision: Therapists participate in a weekly team consultation meeting, facilitated by their supervisor. Supervisors are also available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week for on-call consultations.
- Supervision for licensure: Therapists pursuing licensure typically spend thousands of dollars completing their supervisory hours. At IFD, that supervision usually comes with the job. We have staff members throughout the State of Washington qualified to provide supervision for licensure.
- Consultant involvement: Therapists providing EBP services receive additional consultation from an expert, someone with the highest level of clinical expertise in that particular EBP. The consultant reviews clinical work and program data to provide feedback regarding model fidelity.
- Supervisor training and development: One of our highest values is to provide our clinicians with close, high-quality supervision. Most teams have a supervisor to therapist ratio of no more than 1:5. New supervisors receive classroom and on the job training. Clinically trained program managers are on call to supervisors and therapists. Supervisor annual evaluations include feedback from the employees they supervise.
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