At the Academy for Professional Excellence, a program of the San Diego State University School of Social Work their purpose is to revolutionize the way people work to ensure the world is a healthier place. They provide exceptional learning and development experiences for the transformation of individuals, organizations and communities.

Child protection is extremely complex work as social workers manage the needs of the families they encounter every day, as well as a set of uncertain policies and often competing community priorities. There is often a barrage of system improvements all driven by well-meaning politicians, community stakeholders and government agencies with very little guidance.

This backdrop makes it difficult to make impactful learning experiences.

In response to the need for quality and accessible professional development, Ventura County embarked on a practice improvement using a set of skills and strategies named Safety Organized Practice. At the same time the State of California was endeavoring to develop a unified framework for practice in child welfare across all 58 counties.

Ventura asked the Academy to develop an innovative learning experience for their staff that help them integrate the two practice strategies in a seamless manner.

This game was developed to advance the Academy’s vision for excellence by Amy Jaffe, Laurel Rohlf, and Valarie Ryan