Norma Ginther, MSW, LISW

Norma Ginther received her masters degree in social work from The Ohio State University in 1988, and has thirty-five years of child welfare practice and training experience. She has worked in both public and private child welfare agencies as a family services caseworker, a foster care program development specialist, in a physical abuse assessment and treatment unit, and in an adolescent services unit. Institute for Human Services A master trainer and mentor with IHS since 1986, Ms. Ginther has trained extensively throughout the continental U.S., Canada, and Alaska in topic areas of child protective services; separation and placement; culture and diversity; family and risk assessment; foster care recruitment, training, and program development; the professionalization of foster care; and promoting employment and self sufficiency through welfare reform. She is a co-author of Module IV of the IHS Core Curriculum for Child Welfare Caseworkers, titled "Separation, Placement, and Reunification," and is a contributing author to several adaptations of IHS' curriculum, Training in Culture and Diversity. Ms. Ginther is also the Coordinator of the IHS Center for Culture and Diversity, which provides training and consultation to help human services agencies and staff achieve cultural competence in their work. Ms. Ginther has consulted with program managers and has mentored Core trainers in many states and provinces implementing the Comprehensive, Competency-Based Inservice Training (CCBIT) System. She has consulted with a variety of local communities to develop and sustain community-based, professional treatment foster care networks for hard-to-place children and youth, and is the founder of a local treatment foster care network. Ms. Ginther is a lead assessor in child welfare program evaluations, and works directly with agency managers and staff to improve their services. The Ginther family served as a professional treatment foster home for twenty years, and cared for forty-six adolescents with emotional and behavioral disturbance. The Ginthers are also adoptive parents. Family Trust Clinic Ms. Ginther is a member of the Family Trust Clinic clinical case assessment team, specializing in topic areas related to separation, placement, and foster care. Center for Child Welfare Policy Ms. Ginther is a consultant to the Center for Child Welfare Policy on issues related to foster care, and culture and diversity.