Motivational Interviewing for Child Welfare
Child welfare agencies are under increasing pressure to adopt evidence-based practices and demonstrate fidelity in service delivery.
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is rated “Well Supported” by the national IV-E Evidence-Based Clearinghouse—meaning it is backed by strong research showing improved outcomes for families and qualifies for Family First funding.
At Sage Training & Consultation, we help child welfare agencies implement MI across entire organizations—integrating it into unit practice, aligning it with other EBPs, and ensuring it becomes a lasting part of your culture.
Organizational Interventions
We partner with administrators and supervisors to align MI with agency policies, workflows, and outcome goals. Our approach includes:
Reviewing and adjusting current practices for MI fidelity and effectiveness
Selecting outcome assessments that matter to your agency
Coaching supervisors to model MI in their own supervision
Using an Implementation Practice Model so skills “stick” and don’t fade after training
Focus on Families
Family First was built on the belief that children deserve safe, stable, and secure families. MI supports this by:
Building engagement early through a trauma-informed, relationship-focused approach
Helping parents set goals that promote child safety while honoring their own motivations and values
Maintaining direction toward positive outcomes (e.g., sobriety) while preserving client autonomy and choice
Relationships are at the center of our MI framework because strong, supportive connections are key to lasting change.
Our Training Approach
Online, live, and highly interactive
Delivered anywhere in the U.S.
Includes supervisor/admin consultation, small-group coaching, and individualized training plans
Implementation packages run 9–12 months and start at $15k–$25k, depending on agency size and number of staff trained
Includes licensing for materials and recordings to support onboarding new staff
Guidance on measuring fidelity, client outcomes, and agency impact
📅 View our training rates and schedule to see how we can help your agency bring MI to life.
Our Motivational Interviewing classes with child welfare agencies are offered online synchronously, are very interactive, and are available anywhere in the nation. Implementation packages, including supervisor and administrator consultation, small coaching groups, and individualized training plans delivered over nine to twelve months start at the cost of approximately $25k depending on the size of your organization and number of staff who will receive training. We provide license to use all of our materials and recordings to support onboarding of new staff, and support you in creating a plan to measure fidelity and other client and agency outcomes.
See what our training schedule looks like by visiting our training rates page.