Training

Session One explores the impact that fostering has on family operations, relationships within the family, and relationships outside the family. A five-step process for managing the impact of placement on family operations is presented and participants learn ways to maintain and strengthen marital, parent-child, and sibling relationships. The last part of this session is structured to assist foster families with maintaining and building connections to the “community.”

Session Two pertains to one of the most difficult situations that may occur in fostering —managing the impact of abuse and/or neglect allegations. ‘The focus of this session is 10t on whether abuse did or did not happen or whether families are "guilty" or “innocent.” Rather, emphasis is placed on the importance of being prepared, informed, and active in working toward managing the experience of abuse allegations. Also, the premise of this training is that these reports cannot be totally prevented

Participants learn about the importance of advance preparation and examine the ten steps for dealing with abuse/neglect allegations. A special feature of this session is the inclusion of two “expert presentations.” The first presentation, delivered by an expert on child protection policy and its application to foster family allegations, details how the investigation is conducted, timelines, circumstances under which children are removed, and how and when families are notified of the outcome. The second presentation, conducted by an expert on support services to foster families, outlines the agency philosophy regarding supports, provides an overview of available supports, explains how to access support services, and provides information to help foster families access appropriate resources.