Foster Care Training Calendar and Timeline

SESSION 1: ORIENTATION TO YOUR LCPA (Licensed Child Placing Agency)

Pre-service training is provided for resource, foster, treatment foster, and adoptive family home providers. This training is consistent with the licensee's program statement and description required by 22VAC40-131-170 A and includes, as applicable, the following topics.  This session will introduce you to Extra Special Parents as a  strength-based, trauma-focused agency. This session will also serve as an introduction to the foster care system. As such, we will discuss factors that contribute to neglect, emotional maltreatment, physical abuse, and sexual abuse, and the effects thereof; You will learn of conditions and experiences that may cause developmental delays and affect attachment; the concept of permanence for children and selection of the permanency goal. One of the goals of this training is understanding reunification as the primary child welfare goal, and the process and experience of reunification. We will discuss the importance of visits and other contacts in strengthening relationships between the child and the birth family, including siblings. Information will also be shared on the legal and social processes, as well as the implications of adoption. A video will demonstrate the need to support older youth's transition to independent living. A potential foster parent will also understand the professional team's role in supporting the transition to permanency and preventing unplanned placement disruptions; the relationship between child welfare laws, the local department's mandates, how the local department carries out its mandates; the purpose of service planning; the negative impact of multiple placements on a child's development.

SESSION 2: GRIEF & LOSS

The pre-service curriculum for this session will focus on the grief and loss that children in foster care experience. Even if there is not a significant history of trauma, those feelings will occur whenever a youth is placed in foster care due to the separation from their family of origin.  The course will provide the tools to foster parents that can help a child process their grief and loss, as well as how those feelings might influence behaviors. You will gain knowledge of the types of losses that youth in foster care experience, as well as the factors that influence their experience of separation and loss. You will learn about the cultural, spiritual, social, and economic similarities and differences between a child's primary family and foster or adoptive family. Potential foster parents will learn about preparing a child for family visits and helping them manage feelings in response to family contacts.  The training will also stress the importance of cultivating a child's sense of identity, history, culture, and values.  Foster families should respect a child's connection to his birth family, previous foster families, fictive kin, and all those who have played significant roles in their lives. Potential foster parents must be nonjudgmental in caring for the child, working with the family of origin, and collaborating with other members of the team. Foster parents will learn their roles, rights, and responsibilities that come with being a foster parent and/or adoptive parent. 

SESSION 3: YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AND BEHAVIOR INTERVENTIONS:

The ultimate goal of this class is to teach foster parents about the stages of child development and educate them on behavior intervention by emphasizing the skills necessary to address unwanted behaviors. To effectively meet the challenges in working with children in treatment foster care (TFC), it is necessary to have a structured and intentional approach to parenting that takes into account their developmental level. There are many factors associated with positive outcomes for youth in TFC, including the development of a positive and caring parent/child relationship between the treatment parents and youth in their care. We emphasize the foster parent's role in helping a child develop critical life skills and enhance those that they already possess. We will teach positive behavior management strategies, stages of normal human growth and development; and developmentally appropriate, effective, and nonphysical disciplinary techniques;  Methods of less intrusive behavior support, and crisis management techniques are highlighted to avoid the use of physical touch as a disciplinary measure as there can be no corporal punishment as a form of discipline. During this training, we discuss that resilience is the key to assisting children who have experienced trauma that can help them overcome barriers in their lives. Families learn that resilience can be built by having children engage in social activities, helping activities, and developing caring relationships. 

SESSION 4: REGULATORY STANDARDS

This session will introduce you to the Commonwealth of Virginia’s licensing standards and the regulation of agencies like Extra Special Parents. This session aims to provide potential foster parents the knowledge to comply with federal, state, and standards for treatment foster care agencies. The potential foster parent will understand how to maintain a home and community environment that promotes safety and wellbeing. A foster parent will learn that, as a condition of initial approval and the following renewals of their license, the licensee will require each home provider to complete all required training. Training shall be relevant to the needs of children and families and may be structured to include multiple types of training modalities. The receipt of training shall be documented in the home provider's file which is maintained in an electronic health record known as Extended Reach. Each home provider shall receive additional training throughout their licensure, as well as at other times if determined to be necessary by the licensee. This training will also explain confidentiality requirements to potential foster parents and they will understand that it is required that home providers keep all information regarding the child, their family, and the circumstances that resulted in the child coming into care confidential.  The concept of confidentiality and social media activity is also addressed in this session.

SESSION 5: UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA AND YOUTH IN FOSTER CARE:

This session will focus on understanding, identifying, and reporting child abuse of all types. It will assist foster parents to understand what to expect behaviorally when providing care for youth in foster care, especially if they have a history of abuse/neglect.  It will address how a child who is placed in foster care may have a very different worldview than our families based on their past experiences, and how this could impact the development of their values.  We want foster parents to reframe their view of a child's behavior and assist them in their development of self-regulation.  This can occur through the use of active listening skills, patience, persistence, and consistency. These tools are at the heart of trauma-informed parenting, and the need to practice this daily is reinforced.  An overview of attachment theory is provided, which includes a discussion of inhibited/disinhibited attachment styles, as well as healthy/problematic attachment cycles. The importance of cultivating an environment of trust through a focus on connection is stressed as a restorative practice. Common mental health diagnoses for youth in foster care are also reviewed, as well as applicable service interventions.  In closing, the need for self-care for parents who provide care to youth with treatment needs is addressed as a construct that all parents need to practice consistently.