CHIRP - 1st Round of CIL Training

Coastal Bend Center for Independent Living in Corpus Christi, Texas

 The first pilot training was held September 28-29, 2006, in Corpus Christi. Nine CIL staff and three VR counselors participated in the training, along with representatives from the other pilot CILS (Austin and Amarillo). The agenda for this training is posted in the Curricula section.

At the end of two full-days of training, Coastal Bend CIL director Judy Telge stated that she felt that the VR agency had a better understanding of how Coastal Bend could contribute to the transition process and that the VR agency had indicated that they would support Coastal Bend’s efforts. Specifically, Coastal Bend is developing self-advocacy training for young people.

All of the participants agreed that the Zodiac Puzzle was a great way to start the training. It started all of the participants thinking about their role in collaboration, their attitude towards resources, and how they viewed potential collaborators.

Feedback from the participants indicated that they had a wide range of expectations regarding this training, and they suggested that we make the goals of this training and the reasons for including specific topics more clear. There was also some discussion of whether participants would rather leave with a shared vision statement or the beginnings of a strategic plan. Julie and Carri are reworking the agenda to allow time for both.

Overall the evaluations were positive, and most participants stated that they had gained something from the training. Both representatives from the other pilot centers were enthusiastic about bringing the training to their centers and indicated that they would not add or delete any portions of the training.

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