NEW TRAINING FACILITY
New Office of Children and Family Services building celebrates grand opening
EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. » The month of April marks Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month. Fittingly, the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) opened its new state- ofthe- art 97,000- squarefoot training facility for human services professionals at the old Kmart in East Greenbush.
“It’s a great day in the Town of East Greenbush,” said East Greenbush Town Supervisor Jack Conway. “The biggest challenge we faced is what do we do to revitalize Columbia Turnpike? It was devastating when Kmart left.
“When I took office in 2016, the biggest problem we had was this site was vacant. We were hoping to get a tenant. We were hoping for anyone. To happen upon this project, this agency, this group of people, is such a gift to the people of East Greenbush. Everyone’s excited about this; this part of the turnpike needed a catalyst and here we are, here you are!”
“The work that you do is remarkable — is critical — and we are so proud to be able to host a training facility like this,” Conway added.
Only the second of its kind in the nation, the technology and training will help prepare said professionals, including social services workers and those who work in protective services, to work in their field.
It’s anticipated that more than 20,000 people will receive training there this year.
“This training center is only the second of its kind in the country, and it’s by far the most technologically integrated model. I am so proud of the OCFS team who envisioned this, planned it, convinced the right people that it was the best way to go, and executed those plans flaw
“I am so proud of the OCFS team who envisioned this, planned it, convinced the right people that it was the best way to go, and executed those plans flawlessly.” — Acting OCFS Commissioner Sheila Pooley
lessly,” Acting OCFS Commissioner Sheila Poole remarked on the facility.
The Training Center encompasses classroom training, computer labs, distance learning, plus five state- of-the-art simulation rooms, including a courtroom.
The simulation rooms and the courtroom is located along “Main Street” or “Sim Alley,” with the five rooms allowing up to 25 trainees to observe the training from behind oneway glass.
In addition, the rooms emulate an apartment, child care center, homebased child care program, juvenile justice facility, and the courtroom.
The courtroom also includes three cameras used to record and observe trainees
hild welfare workers will be able to learn to expect when testifying in Family Court. In the apartment setting, child welfare workers will be challenged to identify warning signs of a potentially unsafe home.
The child care center and group family child care program will enable a setting for child care licensors to inspect and identify regulatory violations and help the child care program comply with state regulations.
In the juvenile justice facility, staff will learn how to build relationships and interact positively with youth while establishing and maintaining a safe environment.
Along with the training rooms, the Human Services Training Center is host to more than 80 OCFS Bureau of Training and Development staff who serve tens of thousands of professionals who will receive training at the facility each year.