Northern Illinois University
Family and Consumer Sciences
College of Health and Human Sciences

The NIU Child Protection Training Academy (CPTA) provides training to child welfare workers through classroom and engaged learning experiences. With multiple simulation environments in Wirtz Hall and Grant Towers, the academy offers participants immersive professional development. Facilities include:

• Two living environments designed to illustrate risk and safety factors encountered in child welfare investigations
• A mock courtroom to support simulation related to courtroom testimony by child welfare workers
• A mock medical provider office to promote learning about medical assessments as part of child welfare investigations

Attendees will benefit from our location in DeKalb, which is within driving distance of much of north central Illinois, as well as convenient overnight accommodations at our campus hotel.

For more information, contact Dahlia Roman, associate director, at Droman1@niu.edu.

Additional CPTA Locations

The NIU CPTA is one of three such organizations planned by the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (IDCFS) to increase training opportunities for child welfare workers across the state. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work manages an academy in Chicago, and a third location will be located at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.