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FOCUS Certificate Program

Empower Your Team & Elevate Care Coordination for Children, Youth & Families!

focus certificate programTransform the way your team approaches care coordination with the FOCUS Certificate Program—a 12-month intensive training and coaching experience targeted to increase, improve, enhance your agency team's skills. This program empowers agency teams in behavioral health, juvenile services, education, and/or child welfare settings to implement the FOCUS intermediate care coordination model; revolutionizing traditional case management to meet the unique needs of children, adolescents, and their families.

Until now only available to state systems, the FOCUS intermediate care coordination model is open to child-serving systems and behavioral health organizations seeking evidence-informed practice that revolutionizes traditional case management practices.

Learn More & Apply

Explore our national FOCUS work & download our infographic!

Apply for your team to begin the FOCUS Certification Program. Application.

Application Deadline for the Spring Cohort: January 15, 2025.

What You'll Gain

  • Expert-Led Training: Bi-monthly live online classes led by national experts, training and coaching core topics around engagement strategies, effective care planning, and trauma-informed crisis planning.
  • Individualized Coaching: Receive personalized coaching through live Zoom sessions and our state of the art Innovate Practice platform, ensuring your team's acquisition of fidelity FOCUS practices.
  • Cutting-Edge Tools: Access to innovative practice improvement tools and resources that drive fidelity and positive outcomes.
  • CEC: Up to 90 hours.

Program Highlights

Interactive Learning

Combine live, real-time instruction and skill building with flexible, asynchronous assignments.

Comprehensive Curriculum

Develop foundational skills, implement effective supervision practices, and track progress through data-driven methods.

Team-Based Approach

Designed for a supervisor and up to five frontline staff, fostering collaboration and shared growth.

video call on a laptop with multiple participants Program Details

Duration: 12 months, starting March 2025, an entire year steeping your team in skill development toward positive outcomes for families.

Format: Live virtual classes (twice monthly), asynchronous learning, and virtual coaching

Cost: $40,000 per 6-person team

Continuing Education Credits (CECs)

Participants who attend the entire FOCUS Certificate Program Training series can receive up to 90 CECs.

Program Details

This is only an excerpt example and not the final course schedule--final syllabus/course schedule will be available January 2025.*

Course sessions are 4 hours long and occur once every other week at a time frame accessible across time zones (e.g., second and fourth Thursday of the month) for 90 clock hours over the 12-month period.

March 2025
Module 1 Async: Absorb registration, Prerequisite Online Modules
Module 2 Live: Orientation, System of Care Values

 

April 2025
Module 3 Live: Introduction to Intermediate Care Coordination Training, Part 1 & Follow Up Assignments
Module 4 Live: Introduction to Intermediate Care Coordination Training, Part 2 & Follow Up Assignments

 

May 2025
Module 5 Live: Introduction to Intermediate Care Coordination Training, Part 3 & Follow Up Assignments
Module 6 Live: Introduction to Intermediate Care Coordination Training, Part 4 & Follow Up Assignments

 

June 2025
Module 7 Live: (Supervisors Only) Supervision of Care Coordination, Introduction to Practice Improvement Tools & Data Practices--CCRSR, FSI;

Async: (Frontline Staff) Field Assignment #1/Instructor Check In
Module 8 Live: (Supervisors Only) Supervision of Care Coordination, Introduction to Practice Improvement Tools & Data Practices--SAS, CREST;

Async: (Frontline Staff) Field Assignment #2/Instructor Check In

*Entire 12 month example schedule is available by contacting us at FOCUSinfo@uconn.edu

Application Process & Cost

For the March 2025 program cohort, an application review committee offers admission to a select and diverse group of participants. A completed application is due no later than January 15, 2024, and will include the following documents:

  • Completed application form
  • Statement of Purpose/Intent

The cost per team once accepted, is $40,000 per 6-person team, for the entire 12-month program, including access to all virtual platforms, use of FOCUS practice improvement tools per terms of certificate. Option to continue support and access beyond the 12-month program may be possible through individual contracting with us at Innovations Institute.

Cancellation Policy

In order for the cohort to be viable, The Institute must have at least five participating teams.

Your team pays nothing until there is an opening available, at which time you will be notified of availability on a first come-first served basis.

Payment must be received in order to have a complete registration. Registration must be completed before the first orientation. Once your team’s registration is completed, the Institute will work with you to accommodate for any changing or unanticipated circumstances.

Steps to Register

  1. Identify your team of six staff to be trained, as well as a training lead who will be responsible for registering the team and be the main point of contact for Innovations.
  2. Contact our FOCUS national coaching staff: FOCUSinfo@uconn.edu to voice your interest and make initial contact with our staff.
  3. Fill out the application form for your team.
  4. Once your team is registered and paid, you will receive an “enrollment key” that will allow you to access the FOCUS certificate program curriculum and enroll in the training session series.
  5. You will receive individual follow up communications from our FOCUS national coaching team to address any further questions or clarifications.