Institute for Human Services (IHS)

Since 1977, the Institute for Human Services (IHS) has worked throughout the United States and Canada, with both local public human service agencies and state and provincial governments, to protect children and strengthen families. IHS is committed to helping agencies achieve best practice and the highest standards of service. Quality, integrity, and value are not just IHS goals; they are IHS guarantees. In our goal to promote best practice, IHS offers consultation, research and evaluation, training, strategic planning, and training system development. For information about the Institute for Human Services, contact: Sally Cooper, scooper@ihs-trainet.com, or call 614/251-6000.

Inservice Training

IHS provides training for managers, supervisors, caseworkers, and foster/adoptive parents in a variety of content areas that include: Family-centered child protection Risk and family assessment, and special interviewing techniques Case planning for best practice Foster, kinship, and adoption assessment and planning Cultural competence Management and supervision for "excellent systems" Sexual abuse intervention Protective service agency leadership in community partnering Interpreting MEPA/IEPA, and the Adoption and Safe Families Act: strategies to assure both compliance and best practice

Training System Development

IHS has revolutionized staff development with its Comprehensive, Competency-Based Inservice Training (CCBIT) System for child welfare. We specialize in helping states and provinces develop and implement state-of-the-art training systems. Read More

Field Guide to Child Welfare

The Field Guide to Child Welfare was written to support the education and training of child welfare professionals throughout their careers. As a text for college-level child welfare courses and field placement, it provides students with a thorough understanding of the practice of child welfare, integrated with substantial content on basic tenets of child and family development, comprehensive assessment and case planning, cultural competence, and interpersonal helping skills. The Field Guide was also designed to support and enhance inservice training for child welfare caseworkers and supervisors. Read More