Strengthening the Backbone of Child and Family Services:
A Guide to Management & Leadership Development with CalTrin
A deep passion for helping kids and families is what draws people into this work. However, that same intense passion and dedication can often lead to burnout and high turnover if staff aren’t properly supported. From championing staff well-being to intentional culture-building, strong and empathetic leadership is crucial to sustaining your team’s commitment to the mission.
That is where we come in! CalTrin’s Management & Leadership Development pillar serves as a practical professional toolkit for child abuse prevention organizations. Courses cover a wide range of topics, including roles and responsibilities of management, nonprofit board development, grant proposal design and writing, outcome measurement, financial management, fund development/donor relationships, human resources, volunteer recruitment and training, and skills associated with leadership, management, and staff supervision.
Whether you are a seasoned executive, a new supervisor, or an emerging leader, the Management & Leadership Development training and resources offered by CalTrin are designed to help you create inclusive spaces and provide the concrete tools you need to build a strong, stable, and sustainable organization.
Targeted Leadership Training
CalTrin’s curriculum goes beyond basic management. It provides a 360-degree view of what it takes to run a high-functioning agency in the child and family services sector. Areas of targeted focus for Management & Leadership Development include:
- Collaborative Leadership: Aligning goals and driving results across teams.
- Leading Through Change: Utilizing the J-Curve Change Theory and Team Development Models to navigate and lead organizational
- Performance Management: Navigating progressive discipline, delivering effective feedback, and documenting performance effectively.
- Building a Resilient Organizational Culture: Focusing on psychological safety and inclusive workspaces.
- Emerging Leaders: Equipping new leaders with practice, insight, and strategies for leading an effective and engaged workforce.
Recent and recurring CalTrin-facilitated training titles include:
- Boundary Spanning Leadership
- Collaborative Leadership: Aligning Goals, Driving Results
- Creating Accountability
- Direction, Alignment, Commitment
- Effective Feedback
- Emerging Leaders Development Program
- Essential Employee Conversations
- How to Lead an Effective & Engaging Team Huddle
- Leveraging CalTrin Staff for Onboarding
- Strengths-Based Leadership
- Talent Conversations
In addition, we regularly collaborate with subject matter experts from across the country to offer training on specialized leadership development topics, such as:
- Beyond Orientation: Designing Onboarding that Connects, Inspires, and Builds Culture from the Start
- Building Inclusive Leadership: Embracing Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
- Building Resilient & High-Performing Organizational Culture
- County Budgeting and Contracting for Community-Based Organizations
- Get Grant Ready
- Motivating Teams
- Performance Management
- Supervising for Success/Supervisando Exitosamente
- The Importance and Value of Coach Self-Awareness
Recordings and resources for many of CalTrin’s Management & Leadership Development training courses are available in the Training Archive.
Flexible Learning for Busy Leaders
Leadership roles are demanding, which is why CalTrin delivers content through multiple formats to fit any schedule:
Live, Virtual Training
For those who thrive on interaction and real-time engagement, CalTrin’s live webinars and workshops offer the opportunity to connect with subject matter experts and peers without leaving your desk.
Self-Paced Courses
For a deeper dive into specific topics, CalTrin’s self-paced and interactive courses let you progress through modules on your schedule and earn a Certificate of Completion for each course.
Training Archive
Recordings and resources for many of CalTrin’s Management & Leadership Development courses are available in the Training Archive. This library of recorded materials is available whenever a specific challenge arises.
Microlearning
Only have 10 or 15 minutes between meetings? CalTrin’s Training Tidbits provide “bite-sized” insights and practical tools that you can apply immediately to your work.
Please note that to access self-paced courses and some archived material, you will need to log in to your CalTrin account. You can create a free account here.
Supporting Professional Growth: Emerging Leaders Development Program
For those in the early stages of their leadership journey, the is a transformative eight-month series specifically for managers and supervisors with less than three years of experience.
Designed and facilitated by CalTrin, ELDP moves beyond theory into building a leadership identity through a high-touch learning model that includes:
- Six Leadership Development Topics
- Assigned Accountability Groups
- Individual Stretch Projects
- 1:1 Coaching Sessions
ELDP is offered annually in the *fall, with preference given to applicants from California. In this brief video, ELDP Facilitator Jessica Mattly provides more information about the program and the application process.
*If an ELDP series is currently in progress, we recommend signing up for the CalTrin Connect newsletter to be notified when applications open for the next cohort.
Voices from the Field: Learner Feedback
As part of our commitment to our own growth and development, CalTrin staff review all feedback provided via training surveys to ensure our content meets the evolving needs of child- and family-serving professionals. Here’s a look at what past participants have shared about their experience with CalTrin’s leadership offerings
Thanks so much – as always, I have come away from one of your trainings with so many ideas and some immediate actions to help improve our services, our team, and myself.
from Collaborative Leadership
LOVED this training! The trainer was funny, personable, and had real examples. The time flew by, and I was never bored or disengaged…
from Effective Feedback
I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to be part of ELDP. The content was rich, the facilitation was engaging, and the environment encouraged reflection and growth… I’m walking away more self-aware, inspired, and equipped to lead with intention.
from the Emerging Leaders Development Program
Jess [CalTrin] was fantastic. Her energy is infectious. I appreciated that her session was accessible and easy to digest. I’d recommend this training for any leader.
from Leading Through Change
It was very well organized; the interaction/audience engagement was effective in applying what we learned in real time.
from Building Inclusive Leadership: Embracing Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
Why It All Matters
When leaders are well-trained, turnover decreases, funding becomes more stable, and—most importantly—the quality of care provided to the community improves. This is why CalTrin focuses on Management & Leadership Development as one of our core pillars of learning. Our commitment to leadership development ensures that California’s prevention workforce is not just passionate but professionally prepared to lead.
Ready to grow? Explore CalTrin’s current leadership offerings and register for upcoming trainings at caltrin.org.
*Last updated June 30, 2026