National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI) · Workforce development resource
Leadership Model and Competency Framework (opens in a new tab)
Explore competencies with indicators for caseworkers, supervisors, managers and executives.
YOUR WORK. YOUR PRACTICE.
Motivational Interviewing (MI) in child welfare
Bring the family's perspective into conversations about parenting, family connection and practical support, while being clear about your role.
Families have an account of what is happening.
A parent may arrive with questions about why you are involved, what support means or whether their concerns have been heard. Your responsibilities and the family's priorities both belong in the conversation. The current practice collection focuses on family support, parenting and connection.
Practice explaining your part, hearing the parent's account and exploring a change they want to consider. MI consistency can show in how you check understanding, share a concern and make room for choice within the situation described.
What is Motivational Interviewing?
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a collaborative, goal-oriented way of talking that helps people explore and strengthen their own motivation for change. Careful listening, shared focus and respect for choice guide the conversation. These skills also help when the immediate task is to understand a concern, explain information or agree what happens next.
BECOMING WITHIN YOUR WORK
Become clearer about your role with children and families.
Professional identity includes how you understand family voice, your responsibilities and the assumptions you bring to the work. Practice connecting a respectful conversation with a clear account of your role, then reflect on what support you need to carry that responsibility.
A question to carry into practice
How can I explain my responsibility while making room for the family’s knowledge and priorities?
Explore professional identity and practice resources
NCWWI · Workforce development resource
Workforce Development Framework (opens in a new tab)
Consider how supervision, workload, organizational conditions and professional preparation support practice.
Explore the resources that fit your role, alongside your organization’s guidance and local credentialing requirements. These independent resources are offered for learning; their inclusion does not imply affiliation or endorsement.
CONVERSATIONS YOU CAN PRACTICE
Bring the realities of your work.
Make the support role clear
Answer a parent's question about voluntary support and clarify what each person can expect.
Explore a parenting change
Understand what a parent hopes will be different and draw on their ideas and experience.
Talk through practical support
Help a parent identify useful support and the questions they want answered before deciding.
Get the family's meaning right
Respond when your summary misses the point and use the correction to improve shared understanding.
The daily conversation rotates within your field. Additional conversation choices depend on your account's access.
FROM PRACTICE TO YOUR NEXT CONVERSATION
A few minutes today. Something to try tomorrow.
Have a short back-and-forth with a fictional partner. Get specific feedback on your responses, choose something to try next, and return to your saved conversations as you develop.
Reflect on how your role shaped what you assumed about the family. Identify one way to check that assumption or explain a responsibility more clearly.
Build my practice home →WHY BECOMING MI
Becoming is personal and professional.
Becoming MI connects daily practice with the person and professional you want to become. Try a response, consider feedback, and carry something useful into your next conversation.
Your whole well-being belongs here.
Your values, responsibilities and well-being meet in your work. We make room for that whole experience, including the resources and support you need.
Explore AMIGA’s approach to becoming →