More consistent documentation
Practice separating observable facts from interpretation and apply an agreed note-quality rubric.
PREPARED PEOPLE. STRONGER SYSTEMS.
Strengthening
the workforce
behind the care.
Help your STRTP team strengthen documentation, shift handoffs, placement-stability practice, and staff support through practical training and supervisor follow-through.
Serving STRTPs across California · Direct staff-training partnerships
Child welfare / Behavioral health / California STRTPs
R.E.A.C.T. WORKFORCE INSTITUTE
Building stronger people.
Strengthening safer programs.RESEARCH
INTO
PRACTICE
Strengthening safer programs.RESEARCH
INTO
PRACTICE
RESILIENCEEMOTIONACTIVITYCONNECTIONTRANSITION
RECOGNIZE THE NEED. DEFINE THE PRACTICE.
Dependable shift handoffs
Rehearse clear communication, identify owners for unresolved tasks, and reinforce follow-through.
Support for demanding work
Connect staff resilience with supervisor action, workload conversations, and organizational support.
Placement-stability practice
Examine relational, environmental, and team factors affecting stability and prepare intentional transitions.
OUR FLAGSHIP PROGRAM
R.E.A.C.T. STRTP
Workforce Development Academy™
A workforce-development and implementation system designed for California Short-Term Residential Therapeutic Programs.
FROM TRAINING TO DAILY PRACTICEBuild the skill.
Build the skill.
Practice it.
Reinforce it.
The Academy brings assessment, customized learning, case practice, supervisor support, and implementation review into one connected pathway.
27curriculum modules
for residential practice
Explore the curriculum →for residential practice
Understand your workforce
Review strengths, practice gaps, existing training, and leadership priorities. Translate the findings into a scoped learning plan.
Teach and demonstrate
Facilitated courses, learner workbooks, realistic cases, knowledge checks, and scored application connect learning with practice.
Support implementation
Supervisor meetings and agreed practice commitments help teams reinforce skills in daily routines and shift handoffs.
Document and improve
Attendance, completion records, action tracking, quarterly reviews, and year-end reporting make follow-through visible.
THE IMPLEMENTATION CYCLE
A pathway built around your team.
- 01Assess
- 02Plan
- 03Customize
- 04Train
- 05Apply
- 06Measure
- 07Document
- 08Review
- 09Improve
A FOCUSED FIRST PARTNERSHIP
Your first 90 days.
A clear plan for follow-through.
Start with one site, one executive sponsor, and two practice priorities. The proposed pilot serves one cohort of up to 30 staff; dates and delivery arrangements are confirmed in the proposal.
Establish the starting point
Confirm priorities, staff schedule, facility procedures, a limited baseline sample, and the measures leadership will review.
Output: agreed priorities & baseline planLearn, practice, reinforce
Deliver four two-hour courses, a one-hour REACT orientation, and two one-hour supervisor meetings. Track agreed practice actions.
Output: learning records & action registerReview the evidence
Present completion, practice observations, sample sizes, unresolved barriers, and recommendations for the next phase.
Output: implementation report & next stepsWHAT THE PARTNERSHIP ADDS
Instruction connected to your program.
Your existing courses and required specialized training can remain in the plan. RWI adds facility-specific examples, practice feedback, supervisor reinforcement, and a documented review of implementation.
Clear commitments on both sides.
RWI: prepares and facilitates the agreed courses, supplies learner materials, documents completion, supports supervisors, and reports on the agreed measures.
Your facility: names a sponsor and implementation lead, confirms current policies and contacts, arranges coverage and access, and reinforces practice between sessions.
Staff time, shifts, and scheduling +
Pilot learners: nine scheduled hours across four courses and orientation. Supervisor coaching totals two hours and is tracked separately.
Annual learners: 24 scheduled course hours across twelve selected courses. Twelve one-hour supervisor meetings and leadership reviews are separate commitments.
Shift coverage: base training scope covers one delivery to one cohort. Repeat cohorts, makeups, additional sites, and extra coaching are explicitly scheduled and quoted.
Delivery and capacity: location, virtual or onsite arrangements, dates, accessibility, and the number of engagements RWI can accept are confirmed during scoping. An inquiry does not reserve a start date.
THE CURRICULUM
Built for the realities
of residential care.
The annual pathway draws from a 27-module bank and is customized to the population served, workforce needs, facility procedures, and implementation priorities.
27 modules
Loading course catalog…
Modules 1 and 11 are scheduled for 90 minutes; the other modules are scheduled for 120 minutes. The full catalog totals 53 scheduled hours. Scheduled time does not establish professional CE credit, administrator CE approval, or an employee’s completed training hours.
PARTNERSHIP PATHWAYS
Start with a priority.
Build a practical pathway.
Choose an assessment, a focused pilot, or an ongoing partnership. Base fees below cover the defined scope for one site. Final dates, delivery arrangements, expenses, and any additions are agreed in writing after discovery.
Assessment & Planning
$5,500base partnership fee · one site
A focused diagnostic for one facility to identify priorities and recommend a practical workforce pathway.
- Leadership interviews and staff needs survey
- Limited authorized, deidentified record sample
- Prioritized findings and leadership readout
90-Day Implementation Pilot
$12,500base partnership fee · one site
One site and one cohort of up to 30 staff, focused on four connected practice priorities.
- Placement stability and documentation
- Workforce resilience and reliable handoffs
- Four two-hour courses + REACT orientation
- Two supervisor meetings and final report
Annual Academy Partnership
$30,000base partnership fee · one site
A structured year of instruction, supervisor follow-through, and implementation review.
- Twelve selected two-hour courses
- Twelve supervisor implementation meetings
- Quarterly reviews and a year-end report
- One site and cohort of up to 30 learners
Compare your starting options
| Option | Base fee | Planning duration | Participation | Leadership deliverables |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment & Planning | $5,500 | 2–3 weeks | Up to five leadership interviews, staff survey, and a limited authorized record sample | Prioritized findings and a 60-minute leadership readout |
| 90-Day Pilot | $12,500 | 90 days | One cohort of up to 30; four courses, orientation, and two supervisor meetings | Baseline review, completion records, action register, and final report |
| Annual Partnership | $30,000 | 12 delivery months; onboarding beforehand | One cohort of up to 30; twelve selected courses and twelve supervisor meetings | Training plan, quarterly reviews, and a year-end report |
Base fees include the listed instruction, learner materials, supervisor support, and reporting. Travel, extra sites or cohorts, translation, specialized experts, and any professional CE administration are quoted separately when needed; expenses require advance written approval. The 27-module bank is the available catalog; an annual partnership selects twelve courses. The pilot selects four courses. Additional cohorts and sites require a written scope.
Need a different scope?
Discuss selected modules, additional sites or cohorts, or a comprehensive partnership with applied practice labs. Lab content, readiness, staffing, and deliverables are confirmed in the written scope before delivery.
SEE THE WORK
Practical tools.
Visible deliverables.
Explore limited excerpts from the Academy’s learning and implementation system. These are illustrative samples, not client records or evidence of achieved outcomes.
01 / PLAN
Training pathway
See how courses connect with workforce priorities and supervisor follow-up.
Preview the calendar →02 / PRACTICELearner activity
Review a fictional documentation exercise with space for observation and a next action.
Preview the worksheet →03 / DOCUMENTCompletion & follow-up
Inspect the fields used to distinguish attendance, application, and workplace reinforcement.
Preview the records →04 / REVIEWLeadership report
See an unpopulated report structure for completion, practice measures, barriers, and decisions.
Preview the report →A concise overview for your leadership team.
Share the scope, deliverables, and first partnership decision.
LEARNING THAT LEADS TO FOLLOW-THROUGH
What happens
after the workshop?
Agree on a small set of practice measures before starting. Review what staff learned, what they demonstrated, and what supervisors observed on the job.
Read the Academy overview ↗01
Learning
Knowledge checks and case demonstrations, recorded separately from satisfaction.
02
Application
Agreed indicators such as objective notes, complete handoffs, and supervisor follow-up.
03
Improvement
Actions completed, barriers still present, and recommendations for the next phase.
Measures support local improvement. Specific reductions in turnover, incidents, or placement disruption are not promised.
THE INSTITUTE
Better-supported professionals.
Stronger care.
R.E.A.C.T. Workforce Institute is a nonprofit workforce-development organization dedicated to strengthening child welfare and behavioral health teams.
We equip organizations and the professionals who serve children, youth, and families with the knowledge, skills, and support needed to build stronger teams, improve quality of care, and create healthier, more sustainable service environments.
Our mission
To strengthen the child welfare and behavioral health workforce through education, resilience, professional development, and evidence-informed practice.
WHO WE WORK WITH
STRTP administrators & teams
Child welfare & behavioral health organizations
Counties, foundations & community partners
A SHARED PRACTICE LANGUAGE
Five values.
One connected approach.
The R.E.A.C.T. framework provides a conceptual foundation for reflection, everyday practice, and organizational follow-through.
Developed through doctoral scholarship and professional experience. The framework guides practice; it is not presented as a validated intervention or a guarantee of outcomes.
01 / CORE VALUE
Resilience
We strengthen the capacity of individuals, teams, and organizations to adapt, recover, grow, and continue serving effectively through challenge and change.
FOUNDER & CURRICULUM DEVELOPER
Dr. Jonathean Reese
Educator. Practitioner.
Workforce-development trainer.
RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE
Developed from scholarship.
Grounded in experience.
Dr. Jonathean Reese, DSW, is the founder and curriculum developer of R.E.A.C.T. Workforce Institute, bringing 20 years of child welfare experience, including 10 years in STRTP and group home settings.
His residential experience spans line staff, lead staff, Residential Supervisor, Associate Clinician, and Duty Officer roles. That range informs his understanding of direct-care responsibilities, shift operations, supervision, interdisciplinary coordination, and staff development.
He also works for Children and Family Services, which works directly with STRTPs, bringing a child welfare system perspective to workforce preparation and organizational collaboration.
Dr. Reese serves as Director of Technical Assistance and Consulting for Behavioral Health Training & Policy Institute (BHTPI). In that role, he supports behavioral health reform and workforce-development efforts, including Workforce Education and Training (WET) priorities related to staff development and retention.
His doctoral project developed and evaluated the R.E.A.C.T. Education Seminar in an STRTP setting. That staff-education work informs the Academy’s emphasis on readiness, practical application, and organizational follow-through.
The Institute’s broader workforce-development system extends that foundation. It does not imply that every Academy course or subsequent application has been empirically validated.
Academic preparation +
- Doctor of Social Work · California Baptist University, 2026
- M.S., General Psychology · Grand Canyon University, 2024
- M.S., Marriage & Family Therapy · California Baptist University, 2017
- B.S., Psychology · University of Phoenix, 2013
The doctoral foundation and what it establishes +
Doctoral project: “Innovating Through Staff Readiness: Development and Evaluation of the R.E.A.C.T. Education Seminar for Foster Care Organizations,” conducted at Olive Crest STRTP.
Focus: development and evaluation of staff education, including staff knowledge, confidence, applicability, and organizational readiness.
Academy extension: a broader curriculum and implementation system informed by that work. The seminar’s evaluation does not establish outcomes for the full Academy. No sample sizes, effect estimates, or Academy client results are asserted here.
CALIFORNIA WORKFORCE CONTEXT
Prepare your staff.
Document your development work.
Workforce education and retention priorities
California’s BHSA Workforce Education and Training framework supports workforce development, training, and retention. RWI’s emphasis on staff learning, supervisor support, and implementation review is designed to align with those priorities.
The BHSA county policy manual permits counties to fund WET activities. It does not establish a blanket WET participation mandate for every California provider. Applicability and funding depend on the relevant program and county arrangements.
Evidence for leadership review
Within the agreed scope, RWI can organize course participation, demonstrated application, supervisor follow-up, and implementation actions into a report for leadership. Those records do not independently establish regulatory compliance, funding eligibility, or staff retention outcomes.
Program alignment is distinct from government endorsement, course approval, and professional CE eligibility.
Official planning resources +
- HCAI: BHSA Workforce Education and Training Plan ↗
- DHCS: BHSA County Policy Manual, Chapter 7, Workforce Education and Training ↗
- CDSS: STRTP Interim Licensing Standards ↗
Resource links reviewed October 4, 2026. A facility-specific training crosswalk is scoped and checked against the applicable current requirements before use.
FUNDING & COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
Invest in the people
who make care possible.
We welcome conversations with foundations, public agencies, and community partners interested in workforce preparation, resilience, and sustainable service environments.
The proposed three-STRTP pilot is a 12-month, multi-site model combining workforce assessment, customized Academy delivery, quarterly review, evaluation, and sustainability planning. Participating sites, funding, eligibility, and final scope are established through partnership development.
Explore a funding partnership →RWI is established as a nonprofit organization. Federal 501(c)(3) recognition has not yet been obtained; tax-deductible donations are not represented as available.
CLEAR EXPECTATIONS
Questions before
we begin.
Workforce development works best when scope, responsibilities, and expectations are clear.
Who is the Academy designed for?+
California STRTP direct-care staff, supervisors, and multidisciplinary teams. The Institute also welcomes workforce-development conversations with child welfare and behavioral health organizations, counties, and partners.
Does the Academy cover every training requirement?+
The Academy supports selected workforce-training and implementation needs. Each facility verifies current requirements, its training plan, employee-specific completion, instructor qualifications, and any specialized instruction. The Academy does not guarantee regulatory compliance or replace CPR, first aid, specialized emergency-intervention, or other separately required training.
Are professional continuing education credits available?+
Professional CE availability, eligible licenses, provider details, and credit hours must be confirmed for each offering before registration. No professional CE or CDSS administrator CE approval is advertised here. Academy workforce completion records are separate from those approval pathways.
Does RWI need CDSS administrator-training vendor approval?+
RWI offers staff development through direct contracts with STRTPs. CDSS administrator-training vendor and course approvals are a separate pathway for initial administrator certification and renewal credit; RWI does not currently offer that approved credit. A facility must verify trainer qualifications, course content, training-plan fit, and completion records before counting a module toward required staff training. Specialized training requirements and client contracting processes still apply.
CDSS STRTP standards, Section 87065.1 · Administrator-training approval information
How are delivery and fees arranged?+
After discovery, a written proposal defines the sites, cohorts, courses, delivery format, schedule, expenses, fees, and responsibilities. Additional shifts or cohorts are scoped explicitly. The base fees are $5,500 for Assessment & Planning, $12,500 for the 90-day pilot, and $30,000 for the annual partnership. Customized and comprehensive engagements are quoted after scoping. Payment milestones and expenses are defined in the signed agreement.
How is participant information handled?+
Routine training uses fictional or deidentified cases. Please do not send youth identifiers, protected records, or sensitive personnel details through an inquiry. Record access and handling arrangements for an engagement are established before any authorized review.
What is the relationship between RWI and RPI?+
R.E.A.C.T. Workforce Institute focuses on workforce education and organizational implementation. R.E.A.C.T. Performance Institute is the separate coaching and athletic-team workshop service. This website describes RWI’s workforce programs.
FROM INTEREST TO ENGAGEMENT
A clear process
for your leadership team.
Confirm the fit
Identify one site, an executive sponsor, two practice priorities, staff coverage needs, and possible meeting dates. RWI reviews capacity before offering a start date.
Agree on the engagement
Review the exact courses, deliverables, fees, expenses, delivery format, responsibilities, and payment milestones. STRTPs can contract directly with RWI for staff development. Confirm scope, trainer qualifications, training-plan fit, and organization-specific contracting requirements before delivery.
Prepare for implementation
Confirm the signed scope, facility policies, trainer review, participation arrangements, and records process before delivery begins.
How pilot evaluation works +
Agree on a small set of measures at kickoff, collect an authorized baseline sample, track participation and learning, record supervisor follow-up, and review comparable observations at closing. Report sample sizes, missing data, barriers, and limits.
Participant feedback, knowledge, demonstrated application, and organizational context remain distinct. Any external case study requires written permission and an evidence review before publication.
Delivery and payment arrangements +
Dr. Jonathean Reese, Founder, is the sole trainer. RWI serves STRTPs across California. Delivery is onsite and/or via Zoom; preparation hours, service locations, dates, and availability are agreed for each contract. Dates are reserved after written scope and readiness confirmation.
Assessment: $2,750 at scheduling and $2,750 at report delivery. Pilot: $5,000 at scheduling, $3,750 at day 30, and $3,750 at report delivery. Annual: $7,500 quarterly in advance. Invoices are due within 15 days. There is no automatic renewal.
One client rescheduling request with at least 10 business days’ notice carries no rescheduling fee; preapproved unrecoverable travel remains payable. Additional work and expenses require written approval. Final arrangements are recorded in the signed agreement.
Agreement review and signing +
Your organization reviews the service agreement and site-specific scope before signing. The scope identifies the contracting parties, authorized signers, selected courses, cohort, dates, service hours, deliverables, payment milestones, and responsibilities. Dr. Jonathean Reese is RWI’s Founder and authorized signer.
Both parties receive the completed agreement. RWI retains the final signed version and any signing audit trail in the client’s internal records. Changes require a written amendment approved by both parties; an inquiry does not execute a contract.
The agreement provides a 10-business-day opportunity to cure a material breach, 30 calendar days’ notice for termination, and return of unearned fees within 30 days. Allocation for partially completed work is defined in the scope. California law applies; disputes begin with discussion between authorized representatives for up to 20 business days, with mediation available by mutual agreement. Final terms are subject to both parties’ review and signed agreement.
Client records and confidentiality +
RWI maintains a separate internal file for each client’s agreements, attendance and completion records, reports, and invoices. Internal business records are separate from materials provided to clients. Any client exchange is limited to designated recipients and the agreed materials.
Before collecting engagement records, the scope confirms what is needed, authorized access, the exchange method, retention, and disposal. Routine practice uses fictional or deidentified examples. Identifiable youth and clinical records are not requested through this website.
The proposed records schedule retains agreements, completion records, and final reports for seven years; inquiries for two years; and temporary feedback or practice samples for 90 days after acceptance. Applicable client requirements, legal obligations, and preservation holds may require longer retention. The engagement’s reviewed agreement controls.
Curriculum ownership and use +
Dr. Jonathean Reese owns the curriculum and authorizes its delivery through RWI. Clients may use the supplied materials internally for the agreed engagement. Redistribution, resale, recording, or reuse beyond the agreed scope requires written permission.
RWI is an independent business. Dr. Reese’s employment and BHTPI role provide professional context; BHTPI has not contributed to or acquired ownership of the RWI materials.
LET’S START WITH YOUR TEAM
What would stronger
practice look like?
Choose one site, name an executive sponsor, and identify two practice priorities. Request a 30-minute discovery conversation to discuss an assessment, pilot, or annual staff-development partnership. We welcome STRTPs across California.
jonathean@reactworkforceinstitute.org ↗Business mailing address
8605 Santa Monica Blvd PMB 889840
West Hollywood, California 90069-4109 US
Onsite training locations are agreed separately.
Please share general organizational needs only. Keep identifying client, youth, and sensitive personnel information out of this inquiry.