Foster Parent Class Description
The following is a brief description of the Orientation (Foundations) training for Foster and Adoptive classes:
Session One
An orientation to what foster care and adoptive care is and what will be expected of someone wishing to be an adoptive or foster parent. This session will cover what the Department of Human Services, Child Welfare’s goals and directions in helping these children are.
Session Two
Covers the types of issues that bring a child into care and what effects they will have on the attachment of the child. You will understand what attachment is and how it is formed in a child. We will also cover the importance of working with the biological family and the benefits and difficulties that can occur when doing so. This class will challenge you and hopefully open your mind and eyes to a new way of looking at the parents of children in care.
Session Three
Is a challenging class designed to help you understand and identify physical, emotional, social and intellectual characteristics of children from birth to eighteen years of age and the effects abuse has on the normal development of these children. You will be introduced to what is normal and what is not for each of these age groups.
Session Four
Is designed to give you a brief overview of what effects sex abuse can have on a child. We will be showing a video called “Scared Silent” that gives an excellent picture of what sex abuse in a family can look like and how it can affect the life of a child. This is a class that deals candidly with sex abuse and there is open discussion of what can be done when a child who has been sexually abused comes into your home and how you can integrate this child successfully.
Session Five
Deals with "Behavior Management" and what can be done when a child is acting out and more importantly what causes the child to act out. We will be looking at the motivation that lies underneath the behaviors. Information will be given to help reduce your stress and theirs as they express themselves with behaviors that tend to send you over the edge, "screaming never again to being a foster parent."
Session Six
Addresses the issues of cultural differences. We will discover together how you process cultural differences and what you can do to help children who have practiced different cultural experiences. We will also expose you to the culture of poverty model and how this drives behaviors in many of our children that are placed in your home. This is a class that will help you discover some of your values and how that plays into culture.
Session Seven
Will help you understand what the effects of PTSD, Fetal Alcohol Effect, ADD, ADHD, and Reactive Attachment Disorder are and how you can begin to understand some of the effects they have on a child’s life.
Session Eight
Is about preparing you for what providing foster care will do to your ability to function in your home and community effectively. Fostering children can turn your life upside down and put many demands on your time and schedule. Learn how you can make fostering a child a positive experience and still keep some of your sanity.
Foster Parent 101
Is designed to answer questions like “why does my caseworker do the things they do” or who does what in our agency? This class is designed to answer those questions and more. We will talk about the court process, hearings, and you will be given the updated foster parent manual that holds the answers to questions you will have as a foster parent.