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The Impacts of Diversity: Advanced Practitioner Credential Course
Valuing All People: Building Bridges of Professional Development Through Technology
Nurturing Fathers Program, Fathers and Families Coalition of America, Fatherhood Practitioners, Health, Psychology, Social Work, Early Childhood, Head Start, Educators, Family Studies, Professional Development, Credentialing, Head Start Parent, Family, and Community Engagement (PFCE) Framework.
Join The 2024 Advanced Practitioner Credential Training Program
Dr. James C. Rodríguez, MSW
President & Chief Executive Officer
Fathers and Families Coalition of America
What makes the Advanced Practitioner Credential Course truly transformative in ensuring diversity accessibility?
Reflecting on my journey, I remember conversing with my oldest daughter, Mrs. Amber Rodriguez-Young, LMSW, during an interview she had earlier in the year. She was asked what inspired her to become a professional social worker. Amber's response was a testament to the influence of my own experiences on her as my oldest daughter and now a professional Social Worker. She said, "Dad, do not have a big head when I share this with you. Dad, I remember as a child when you were helping young teenagers while you were on active duty in the military. I watched you in your uniform and helping others. I realized later in life that my dad was a social worker before he left active duty military to work for Head Start. Dad, I watched you serve, volunteer, and model to others and us, especially when you graduated from Arizona State University with your Master's degree in Social Work. And, it was why I wanted to be a social worker and why I graduated from ASU"
Amber's words brought back memories of my journey. I had forgotten about those times when I was a young non-commissioned officer, volunteering to help primarily young Latino and Black youth living in poverty and high-violence communities. Many of them were from single-parent homes, similar to mine. By then, I had already spent seven years as a professional in the Armed Forces, starting as an Army Combat Medic. The path was not easy, and a few years later, I found myself having to make a difficult choice. As a single parent, I had to choose between staying on active duty and potentially losing custody of my children or transitioning into active reserve status and my first position as the Social Services Coordinator for a Head Start agency.
VISION LEADS TO ENVISION
After one year in this great opportunity that boosted my career as a professional social worker, I had a question: Why weren't there the same professional development and accreditation opportunities for the family service staff as there were for the teaching staff? Leadership is essential to cultivate an environment of transformation that could lead to transcendence. The leadership by Dr. Sherry P. Ulmer allowed me to avoid being placed in a box, however, to create a vision for training similar to the then Child Development Accreditation used by Head Start and Early Head Start. Therefore, her mirroring led to one of the most important reasons this Advanced Practitioner Credential has trained over 10,000 individuals. Yes, ten thousand people, let this sink in for a second. The collaboration with Central Arizona College and Arizona State University led to the piloting of a thirteen-college credit credential, Family Preservation. Over the decades, it has been housed at Mesa Community College (where I served as a Professor) and within the Fathers and Families Coalition of America.
The Advanced Practitioner Credential course is rooted in the principles of collaboration, the "Person In Environment" theory, and culturally appropriate concepts vs. competence in the 11-Module Course. It is designed to meet the professional needs of all attendees and support Head Start and other professionals. In November 2023, The Head Start Early Childhood Learning & Knowledge Center released a report stating that the Head Start program serves a diverse group of children, families, and pregnant women. Thirty-seven percent identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino, and 28% were Black or African-American, non-Hispanic or Latino. Additionally, about 33% of enrolled children were dual language learners, with nearly two-thirds from families primarily speaking Spanish at home.
I am passionate about highlighting the history behind the creation of the credential Course and the current opportunities available to support professionals working with children and families at all levels. The Course has successfully connected individuals from over ninety nations through technology. We have also conducted the Course in Puerto Rico several times, offering it in a bilingual format. Furthermore, three modules are being offered in partnership with UCLA, specifically for parents in the San Fernando Valley, as part of a bilingual program. One awesome example of this program's influence includes an attendee from Misawa, Japan, who attended the APC program at a regional institute in Denver, Colorado. He used technology to translate simultaneously and completed the program in its 4th edition.
The course has evolved over the years and we are now in the 9th edition with a manual over 400 pages. However, the entire program is woven with dynamic principles, philosophies, and frameworks, and it challenges each of us personally so we can help others. Moreover, on the high road of valuing all people, we must ensure those working with families, like the report by ECKLC, support all families. Technology and multi-language captioning allow FFCA to even bridge the needs for professional development to more individuals in an open invitation to join this impactful continuous quality improvement model, all founded on the power of vision, leadership, collaboration, and more.
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