Training
Training Requirements
State regulations require that applicants for regular foster parenting complete a 27 hour pre-service education course. Applicants for treatment foster care parenting must complete the basic 27 hour course plus an 8 hour pre-service training. Attendance is mandatory.Goals
- To give foster parents the information needed to handle routine matters such as medical and psychological care, clothing needs, education, and visitation with the birth family.
- To provide foster parents with the skills needed to handle problems as they arise.
- To develop problem-solving and teamwork skills.
- To teach foster parents the required ethical and legal standards for compliance.
- To assist foster parents in anticipating the negative, critical or suspicious attitudes that foster children often exhibit.
- To identify for foster parents those elements of the foster child’s behavior that can be attributed to the experience of being a foster child.
- To share with prospective foster parents the experiences of veteran foster parents with particular emphasis on building positive relationships with birth families and social services’ staff.