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LEARNING ABOUT THE LAMM
What is the Leadership Academy for Middle Managers (LAMM)? The LAMM is a national leadership development program for middle managers in public, tribal and privatized child welfare systems. Its goal is to build the capacity of middle managers to apply leadership skills for implementation of sustainable systems change to improve outcomes for children, youth and families. The academy includes a 6-day residential training where participants focus on a Change Initiative (CI) that he/she is responsible for implementing. Participants receive coaching before, during and after, as well as peer networking and distance learning opportunities.
What makes the LAMM Unique? The LAMM provides an environment with both challenging content and nurturing support. The combination of readiness coaching, an intense and productive week full of thought and activity, and the follow up of coaching and peer networking, creates a unique opportunity for relationship building and learning. Ongoing coaching has furthered the transfer of learning, and allowed alumni to bring their colleagues and staff into the process. Capacity-building at its best!
Who has participated in the LAMM? To date, 468 child welfare managers have participated, including 61 who are working in tribal child welfare agencies.
What has the LAMM evaluation found?
- High Levels of Satisfaction: This was true of participants across all cohorts - total training satisfaction scores ranged from 4.37 to 4.8 (out of 5). Learn about two highly rated LAMM activities>>
- Significant Competency Gains: All participants reported significant competency gains from pre- to post-training. Because competency levels tend to decrease over time, we offer regular follow-up webinars to boost recall and skills development. Learn more about our alumni by reading some of their stories>>
- Substantial Progress Implementing CIs: This was true across all follow-up time points. Not surprisingly given the challenging, "white water environment" of child welfare, sustaining ongoing agency focus and support for participants' CIs can be difficult. This is why we were thrilled to see a shift by state leadership to send implementation teams to further increase the likelihood of initiative success. View a complete list of LAMM CIs by state>>
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Alumni Want Coaching: 40% of respondents indicated that they needed follow-up coaching and support to assist them in moving their CIs forward. Responding to this early feedback, we initiated post-coaching in the spring of 2011. We provided 50 sessions in 2011, 142 in 2012 and have already provided 75 in 2013. These are available free of charge to LAMM alumni. Look for two new products - the LAMM Coaching Manual and the Tribal Coaching Facilitator's Guide - to be available in the fall of 2013.
- Peer Support Ranked High in Importance: This feedback was consistent and appears to be a crucial mitigating factor for transfer of learning and implemenation of CIs. To boost informal networking, we distributed an alumni contact list with multiple ways to connect (email, LinkedIn, Facebook & Wiki), and sent out alumni contact information to those in the same state and those working on similar CI themes. In the fall of
 2011, we increased communication efforts and found greater participation in peer networking (right); use of quarterly newsletters (higher than standard industry open rates and click rates; and greater webinar participation by alumni. To learn about our peer networking, Like us on Facebook>>
When will the curriculum be made available? The finalized curriculum, including trainer guides and PowerPoints, will be made available to the field in fall 2013. If you have any questions, please contact Deborah Reed at 503-725-8098 or [email protected].
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