Date: December 4, 2014

Overview: On December 4, 2014 the Global Social Service Workforce Alliance and CapacityPlus hosted their eighteenth webinar in partnership with the Philippines-based Child Protection Network. The webinar explored the role of para professionals in the social service workforce and presented recent work from the Alliance Interest Group on Para Professionals. The webinar was featured during Ako Para sa Bata, the International Conference in Manila, organized by the Child Protection Network with the theme of “The Child without Borders: Cultural Beliefs and Practices Affecting Child Protection.” More than 60 people attended the webinar as a session at that conference and the webinar was simultaneously open to online participants. During the webinar, two members of the Alliance Steering Committee and co-chairs of the Alliance Interest Group on Para Professionals offered a presentation on:

• Guiding Principles for the Development of Para Professional Social Service Workers
• Examples of Para Professional Functions and Competencies
• Applying the Functions and Competencies to Specific Groups
• Sharing Promising Practices, Overcoming Challenges, and the Way Forward