2022 Devereux Early Childhood Assessment Training

Devereux Early Childhood Assessment Training (All Virtual for 2024)
The Michigan Department of Education is the lead agency for Early On. It is responsible for the general administration, supervision, and monitoring of early intervention programs and activities within the Early On system. All Early On activities are conducted, however, in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services (Public Health and Mental Health Divisions), through the auspices of the state's interagency agreement. Other key players in Early On include families, hospitals, other health care providers, universities, private service providers, advocacy organizations, parent groups, and community organizations.

Through MDE’s partnership with MDHHS Division of Mental Health Services to Children and Families, specialized trainings are offered to support service providers, supervisors and other community partners in learning more about social and emotional development of infants, young children and their families. Below, we list several trainings that support the understanding, interpretation and use of the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment Program for Infants and Toddlers (DECA I/T) and the clinical version being used in Michigan’s Mental Health System for children from 24 months up to the age of 47 months. These tools are strength-based and designed to promote the protective factors central to social and emotional health and resilience in our youngest children.

Who Can Attend the Trainings?

Attendees can include Early On staff who 1) complete assessments as a regular part of their job and/or 2) persons that are currently writing IFSPs and/or providing service coordination to families on a regular basis and 3) Early On Coordinators or those who support Early On staff regularly. Attendees can also include Community Mental Health staff or contract staff who work with infants, young children, aged birth to 47 months in a variety of services/programs (Home-based Services, Infant Mental Health, Assessment, etc.). In the MDHHS contract with the PIHPs/CMHSPs, the DECA is a required assessment tool for all infants, toddlers, young children with Serious Emotional Disturbance (SED) in the CMHSP system, ages 1 month through 47 months.

For currently scheduled trainings, please see the options below the descriptions.

Any questions, please contact Mary Mackrain at mackrainm@michigan.gov or Julie Helmer at jhelmer@michigan.gov 
For questions related to the electronic DECA system (eDECA) use, contact Mary Mackrain at mackrainm@michigan.gov

DECA-I/T One Day In-Depth Virtual

This more in-depth virtual training is geared to clinicians and practitioners who are new to assessment processes or who want a deeper dive into the theory and application of this tool.

In this training participants will:

• Learn about resilience theory and protective factors central to supporting infant and toddler resilience.
• Learn how to administer, score, and summarize results of the Devereux Early Childhood Assessment for infants and toddlers.
• Discuss how these results can be used to support outcome measurement within the Early On system and the Community Mental Health system.
• Gain experience with planning for individual children s social and emotional health using DECA-I/T program resources.
• Learn strategies that are developmentally appropriate, fun, and easy to do within home and group settings (for example, childcare, play groups, etc.) using DECA- I/T program resources.

DECA-Basic Virtual Training

This is a live, 120-minute virtual training that covers the same objectives as the full one-day training above but in an abbreviated format for those skilled in assessment interpretation and use. *For MDHHS DECA PIHPs/CMHSPs raters this or the one-day virtual (in-depth) reliability training is required for all child mental health professionals providing assessment and treatment to infants, toddlers, and young children, 1 month to 47 months.

DECA-Clinical Virtual Training

In this live, 120-minute virtual training participants will:

• Describe the development and psychometrics of the DECA-C
• Learn how to effectively administer and interpret the DECA-C, including analysis and advanced interpretation
• Gain experience in using the DECA-C as a tool to guide professionals and families in developing strength-based and intentional plans to reduce challenging behavior and increase social and emotional skills in young children

* For MDHHS DECA PIHPs/CMHSPs raters this virtual reliability training is required for all child mental health professionals providing assessment and treatment to infants, toddlers and young children, 1 month to 47 months. There is not a one day in-person option.

DECA Infant through Age 6- Infant, Toddler, and Clinical Combined Training

In this 180-minute virtual training, participants will:

• Describe the development and psychometrics of the assessment tools,
• Learn how to administer and interpret the assessments, including analysis and advanced interpretation, and
• Gain experience in using the assessments as tools to guide professionals and families in developing strength-based and intentional plans to reduce
  challenging behavior and increase social and emotional skills in young children effectively and reliably.

DECA-Infant, Toddler Clinical Virtual Booster Training

This is a live, 90-minute virtual training that provides a combined DECA-I/T and DECA Clinical refresher for those implementing one or both of these tools in their day to day practices. Main elements of the tool and new case studies are used to help participants dialogue and reflect to ensure DECA tools are being implemented with fidelity. Participants are required to have been trained in the DECA I/T and/or DECA Clinical by a certified trainer (MI’s Julie Helmer or Mary Mackrain or a Devereux Center for Resilient Children trainer)

Electronic DECA System Orientation for Clinical
Administrators

This 45 minute virtual training is for Community Mental Health administrators who supervise staff or contract staff who work with infants, young children, aged birth to
47 months in a variety of services/programs (Home-based Services, Infant Mental Health, Assessment, etc.) The training will guide administrators in using the web-
based application to enter new users, run real-time reports to monitor the completion of DECA ratings, and pre-post outcomes. There will be time for questions and answers following the overview.

Electronic DECA System Orientation for Clinicians

This 45 minute virtual training is for Community Mental Health staff or contract staff who work with infants, young children, aged birth to 47 months in a variety of
services/programs (Home-based Services, Infant Mental Health, Assessment, etc.). This training guides day-to-day users in managing the web-based application to
enter DECA ratings, access scoring, generate reports, and develop strategies for both school and home settings.

DECA Resources

DECA I/T:

• Required Virtual Training Materials
• DECA I/T Technical Manual
• To order DECA Infant Toddler Resources

DECA Clinical:

• Required Virtual Training Materials
• To order DECA Clinical Resources

DECA Combined Birth to Age 6 Training (Infant, Toddler, and Clinical)

• Optional Virtual Training Handout