Office of Workforce and Community Initiatives Portal | Missouri Department of Social Services

Meet the OWCI Training Team

John Melzer

OWCI - Program Coordinator/
Training Manager

Pam Petree

OWCI - Staff Development Training Specialist

Steven Gentry

OWCI - Staff Development Training Specialist

Barbara Hoehne

OWCI - Staff Development Training Specialist

Sondra Huey

OWCI - Staff Development Training Specialist

The Training team’s desire is to create and teach high quality, easy to understand trainings that provide professional and personal development. We bring our skills, knowledge, and diverse backgrounds to support the training needs of the citizens of Missouri, providers, and the Department of Social Services staff. These practical and easy to understand trainings are built with our own families in mind. We want to make sure anyone can follow along and learn from the trainings we develop here at OWCI and are able to access the help the Department of Social Services has for all Missourians.

SkillUP and MWA Training Information

Need to schedule your staff for a training? Use this Training Registration Form, MoJobs Access Request Form, Please read the MoJobs Confidentiality & Information Security Plan, then sign the MoJobs Confidentiality Attestation and return all the completed and signed forms to FSD.WIT.CIU.Training@dss.mo.gov. One of our training staff will get back to you with further details as the classes approach. All SkillUP & MWA classes will be virtual unless other arrangements are made through email to FSD.WIT.CIU.Training@dss.mo.gov. Any questions, special requests, refresher trainings, or special accommodation trainings can be requested at FSD.WIT.CIU.Training@dss.mo.gov.

Our current selection of New Staff Training dates can be found below:

SkillUP Training Dates

Jun 17 & 18, 2025 times from 9am to 4pm
Jul 15 & 16, 2025 times from 9am to 4pm
Aug 19 & 20, 2025 times from 9am to 4pm
Sep 16 & 17, 2025 times from 9am to 4pm
Oct 21 & 22, 2025 times from 9am to 4pm
Nov 18 & 19, 2025 times from 9am to 4pm
Dec 16 & 17, 2025 times from 9am to 4pm

MWA Training Dates

To Be Announced

➣ SkillUP Class Information

➣ MWA Class Information

Bridges Out of Poverty

This workshop is a comprehensive approach to understanding poverty. Participants will receive specific strategies for improving outcomes, but the focus of the workshop is to provide a broad overview of concepts.: More

Bridges Out of Poverty uses the lens of economic class and provides concrete tools and strategies for a community to understand, address, and alleviate poverty. This training assists community organizations, social service agencies, employers, and individuals in gaining insight and strategies to ultimately create stability for all.

Participants of this workshop will:

Examine the resources by which you create stability.
Discover the causes of poverty.
Create and analyze mental models of economic environments.
Discover the hidden rules of economic classes.
Understand how economic environments impact language and story structures.
Discuss stability within family and support system.
Importance of building social capital.
Learn new tools and strategies for improving relationships and outcomes.

To request Bridges Out of Poverty or Workforce Stability Workshop complete this Registration Request Form. Please be sure to fill the form out completely. Then send them to FSD.WIT.CIU.Training@dss.mo.gov. One of our training staff will get back to you with further details.