What is Cal-METRO?

Cal-METRO is one of the largest Motivational Interviewing training projects in corrections in the country. UCSD CCARTA was contracted to train all employees of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Juvenile Division, in Motivational Interviewing (Miller & Rollnick, 2002) over the next three years as part of the Department’s efforts to focus on rehabilitative, evidence-based methods in their work in juvenile correctional facilities and parole services.

Implementation Plan

Currently a pool of MINT (Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers) trainers recruited by CCARTA from across the country provides the trainings, which are mainly held in the correctional facilities.
The training implementation plan consists of:

1. One day-long training of all DJJ administrators and managers in Motivational Interviewing (MI) and the training project.
2. One three-day training for DJJ staff in MI, with the focus of introducing MI concepts and skills and placing them in the context of juvenile corrections work.
3. A one-day coaching training for DJJ Program Specialists who assist with the trainings and who also circulate through the correctional facilities.
4. One two-day follow-up training for all DJJ staff, to address additional MI skills, practice skills, and demonstrate their competency in the use of MI in a “Skill-Out” assessment. The Skill-Out is a role-play based individual assessment of MI skills conducted by the DJJ Program Specialists.
5. A three-day training, followed up by a two-day training, for DJJ trainers, who are comprised of Program Specialists and other staff, to become MI trainers.
6. Once trained, the DJJ trainers will co-train with the MINT trainers on the three-day and two-day trainings.
7. On-going coaching occurs in the institutional and parole settings by the Program Specialists.