This training focuses on why foster youth hoard food as a result of not getting their basic needs met. Nontraditional interventions that have been successful with pre-adolescent foster youth. This training is not designed to address issues of hoarding food related to bulimic and anorexic disorders.

The content of this training includes the history and understanding of trauma, symptoms of trauma response, how repeated exposure to traumatized youth can create secondary trauma in foster parents and what can be done about secondary trauma. A case history of an actual family who experienced secondary trauma will be discussed.

Foster youth often react to foster mothers and fathers differently. Foster mothers can especially become targets of the foster youth’s anger and misbehavior. Many times foster fathers do not experience the same level of anger directed toward them, which can create differences in how the foster couple views and responds to the foster youth. The training will trace the probable beginnings of “Mother Rage” to the youth’s disruptive attachments. Very specific interventions on how to respond to the dynamics of “Mother Rage” will be discussed.

A very difficult issue in foster care is home visitation and how visitations impact the foster youth, foster parents and the child’s own family. This training will focus on why home visits are conducted, the connection between home visits and successful reunifications and foster parent concerns and feelings about the visitation process. We will discuss specific interventions on how to support the foster child in the visitation process, before and after visits.

This training is a series of stories from foster youth who are now adults explaining what the purpose and function of their behavior was while they were in foster care. As an example, one former foster child’s story will explain how she would cause foster care placements to disrupt if she felt threatened and unsafe with the foster fathers. Additionally, non-traditional interventions for foster youth’s behavioral/ emotional challenges are discussed. All of the interventions discussed are presented through actual case histories.

Providing foster care affects all family members. Unfortunately, the needs of the children of foster parents can sometimes be overlooked. This training identifies many of the needs and challenges of biological children of foster parents and how the foster parents can support their own children as part of the foster care experience. The training specifically identifies needs and challenges in pre-placement, placement and post-placement. Information for the training was drawn from literature research, interviews with former foster youth, interviews with children of foster parents and professional experiences. This training has been selected by the Child Welfare League of America as a component of their newly developed PRIDE training, which is being used throughout the United States & Canada.

This training will identify national trends in kinship care. The dynamics of improved outcomes for children in kinship care will be identified. Grief and loss as an embedded dynamic of kinship care will be discussed as it impacts the kinship caregiver, the child in kinship care and the parents of the child. Intergenerational impacts will be discussed as a part of the training.

This training examines the issues of grief and loss experienced by foster parents, foster youth, social workers and the child’s own family during the foster-care process. Special emphasis will be placed on the stages of grief and loss as they apply to each entity. Specific ways to support and respond to the challenges presented by foster care grief and loss will be discussed. The dynamics of child-removal trauma and being placed with “strangers” in foster care are also covered in a grief and loss capacity.

This training examines the reasons why foster youth might display wetting behavior. In responding to wetting behavior, the first intervention should always be a thorough medical evaluation. The training will focus on assessment considerations to determine influences in wetting once medical conditions have been ruled out. Four working hypotheses for wetting, applied to youth who have experienced abuse and neglect, will be identified. These include: protective-anxious wetting; wetting as a means to expend anger and control; wetting that is reminiscent of other environments and wetting as a symptom of neglect. Specific interventions and actual case examples will be included.

Children served in child welfare often present with numerous and complex behavioral and emotional challenges. To the professionals and substitute parents serving children in child welfare, the challenges often seem severe and nonsensical. However, if the challenges are viewed within the context of the child’s life experiences, these behaviors are often purposeful and brilliant survival strategies. The presentation will focus on designing interventions that respond to the child’s context in a respectful and thoughtful manner. Numerous9 case examples will be presented.

This training focuses on the unfortunate impacts of child abuse and neglect in the moral development of a child. Too often, these impacts negatively influence relationships and values. This training will identify how these dynamics contribute to behavior challenges such as lying. Specific parental interventions tailored to specific types of lying will be presented in the session.

Too often, we miss the signs indicating that parents might need mental-health help after having a baby. Know the signs. Know how to be supportive and save lives!

In this educational and enlightening class, we will cover the most common diagnoses being used today while describing how they impact the client in daily functioning.

If a child in your household came from a background of trauma, you probably realize they need extra reassurance and care. We’ll cover specific hands-on techniques and education to reduce effects of the trauma on children so they can begin healing and return to optimal functioning.

As skilled and well-intentioned as foster parents and CPS workers might be, the fact is that foster children removed from their homes, no matter how abusive or traumatic, will view placement with a new family as another trauma. We’ll summarize the common stages of grief and loss experienced by foster children in a new placement, so you feel better equipped to walk with your foster child or client on the journey to wholeness.

It doesn’t matter how “objective,” prepared or healthy you consider yourself to be, our work can expose us to frightening, upsetting or downright traumatic events. Every practitioner needs to be prepared in how to manage that, as we can best help others if we are healthy and centered ourselves.

A lot of people hesitate to do foster care because they are worried about how it will impact their birth children, yet this experience can help your own kids become better people. The key is fit. We’ll talk about the importance of protecting your natural-born children and working so that the placement is an asset to all involved.

What do you do if either your child or the birth parents want to stay in contact? Maybe you don’t want to expose your child to people who once harmed them, yet you still need to respect that original connection – and be aware that if you don’t allow supervised contact, a child may secretly find a way to reconnect anyway. We’ll cover the pros and cons of parent contact after their parental rights are terminated.

As skilled and well-intentioned as foster parents and CPS workers might be, the fact is that foster children removed from their homes, no matter how abusive or traumatic, will view placement with a new family as another trauma. We’ll summarize the common stages of grief and loss experienced by foster children in a new placement, so you feel better equipped to walk with your foster child or client on the journey to wholeness.

It makes sense that children respond better to “fun therapy” and creative art practices than traditional therapy sessions. Interactive, fun, hands-on art and therapies meet children and youth where they’re at, allowing communication and self-expression in a way that is most comfortable to them. And we know the these “out of the box” approaches help children bond with their therapists, open up more and heal from the sensory experiences alone.

It’s natural for a child to wonder where they came from, especially as they get older and start exploring social media. Although our first job is to protect them, we also need to acknowledge that everyone deserves to know their story – and if we don’t teach them how to ethically research their past, they may try riskier ways to track down their roots.

Sometimes, in our well-intentioned quest to protect a child with a traumatic past, we can be hypervigilant. We may confuse a child’s developing interest in their own body with signs of sexual abuse. During this informative class, a counselor will outline the typical sexual development stages for children and youth, differentiate between “normal” and concerning behaviors and show caregivers how to handle it in a way that isn’t shaming or traumatizing.

We as adults may struggle to understand why the people we love most will do anything for us – except stop drinking or using. Now imagine how hard that is for a child to comprehend. This class will help you talk to children about a loved one’s addiction in a way that’s appropriate for their developmental stage and how it can affect families and caregivers.

It doesn’t matter how “objective,” prepared or healthy you consider yourself to be, our work can expose us to frightening, upsetting or downright traumatic events. Every practitioner needs to be prepared in how to manage that, as we can best help others if we are healthy and centered ourselves.

This presentation will provide an overview of how to define and understand maternal mental health and why it matters. We will look at barriers to diagnosis and treatment, as well as explore the most common diagnoses and treatment resources.

Just as CPR helps you assist an individual having a heart attack, Mental Health First Aid helps you assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis. In the Mental Health First Aid course, you learn risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, strategies for how to help someone in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and where to turn for help.

Mental Health First Aid teaches about recovery and resiliency – the belief that individuals experiencing these challenges can and do get better, and use their strengths to stay well.

(Description from the National Council for Mental Well-Being)

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