Online: Adverse Experience

Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACEs, affect many in the child welfare system. This training equips foster parents to recognize and support children with trauma histories. Participants learn how childhood adversity impacts brain development, behavior, and long-term health. The course provides strategies to foster healing for kids and to insulate against secondary trauma for caregivers.

Youth are a tremendous and often overlooked resource in independent and transitional living programs. This workshop explores how agencies can enhance their services by involving youth meaningfully. Participants will examine strategies for empowering youth through leadership roles, decision-making opportunities, and direct program involvement. The workshop will highlight the mutual benefits of youth engagement—both for agency effectiveness and youth development—while also addressing common barriers and cultural considerations. 

Participants will learn an awareness of normal/healthy development and problematic development/behaviors.  They will also learn about sexuality, romantic/platonic relationships, abstinence, contraception, reproduction, rights, and responsibilities. 

This introductory training provides foster parents with a foundational understanding of Autism including ASD and why it is called, “spectrum” and how Autism presents differently from one child to another. This session also serves as an introduction to the ASD and Autism Toolkit series, a comprehensive learning and growing journey designed to support foster parents with practical strategies, tools and resources to confidently support children with ASD at home, school and within their communities.

Join us for our upcoming Town Hall, where we’ll come together to share updates, celebrate successes, and discuss important initiatives impacting our team and the families we serve. This is a great opportunity to ask questions, offer feedback, and stay informed about what’s ahead. Your voice matters, and we look forward to hearing from you!

Discover the meteoric impact of fractured or absent attachments on a child’s ability to form connections and chart a course toward healing by identifying strategies that forge healthy attachment bonds. Learn to build trust and nurture a child’s sense of connectedness and belonging, creating a constellation of support. Develop the skill of attunement, become finely tuned to a child’s emotional signals, and honor the powerful gravitational force of their primary family bonds. 

This introductory training provides foster parents with a foundational understanding of Autism including ASD and why it is called, “spectrum” and how Autism presents differently from one child to another. This session also serves as an introduction to the ASD and Autism Toolkit series, a comprehensive learning and growing journey designed to support foster parents with practical strategies, tools and resources to confidently support children with ASD at home, school and within their communities.

This is for class families considering adoption of a foster child already placed in their home. Participants will explore the transition from foster care to adoption, gain insight into the adoption process, and learn strategies to support a child’s emotional and relational needs during this important journey. 

This engaging workshop introduces caregivers to the concept of normalcy and provides a comprehensive understanding of the Reasonable & Prudent Parent Standard (RPPS). Participants will learn how to apply RPPS to create a supportive and nurturing environment for youth, ensuring their well-being and development. 

When a family opens its heart and home to foster care or adoption, every family member is affected—including biological and permanent children. This workshop explores the 10 most common concerns these children experience, including changes in family dynamics, divided attention, feelings of loss, and challenges with belonging. We will also examine the unique perspectives and lasting experiences of adult children who grew up in fostering or adoptive families. Participants will gain practical strategies for recognizing concerns, strengthening family relationships, and ensuring every child feels heard, valued, and supported.

In this foundational workshop, parents will gain a comprehensive understanding of brain development, and the profound impact trauma can have on a child’s developing brain. Based on Bruce Perry’s curriculum, this course will equip caregivers with essential knowledge and practical strategies to support and nurture children who have experienced trauma. Participants will learn how to create a trauma-informed environment that fosters healing and resilience. 

Participants will define culturally responsive care and explore how their own upbringing, experiences, and parenting values influence their caregiving approach. They will learn to identify cultural factors that shape family perspectives and child development, while applying practical tools such as curiosity, self-reflection, and everyday cultural support to build stronger relationships with children and families. Through discussion and practice, participants will develop culturally responsive responses to real-life situations and leave with at least one actionable strategy they can implement in their daily work. 

Equip caregivers with practical strategies to help youth develop essential life skills, including financial literacy, decision-making, emotional regulation, communication, healthy relationships, employment readiness, time management, housing, health management, and accessing community resources.

Youth are a tremendous and often overlooked resource in independent and transitional living programs. This workshop explores how agencies can enhance their services by involving youth meaningfully. Participants will examine strategies for empowering youth through leadership roles, decision-making opportunities, and direct program involvement. The workshop will highlight the mutual benefits of youth engagement—both for agency effectiveness and youth development—while also addressing common barriers and cultural considerations 

This course outlines the caregiver’s role on the child protection team, covering responsibilities such as advocacy, mandated reporting, supporting the Family Case Plan, partnering with families, and meeting the child’s needs. It also addresses medication management, the five “rights” of medication administration, and relevant medication-related rules 

When parenting children who have experienced trauma, a caregiver’s most powerful tool isn’t a discipline strategy, it is knowing their own emotional regulation needs. Instead of focusing solely on the child’s behaviors, this session shifts the lens inward. Participants will explore how their own history using (their personal ACEs score) and unique emotional triggers intersect with a foster child’s responses.  

To Introduce foster families and partners to the basics of ASD (autism spectrum disorder), to set the foundation for the continuing series 

To foster greater awareness of autism and encourage inclusive practices that recognize and value the unique strengths and experiences of autistic individuals. 

Foster parents will be able to recognize the importance of a child’s cultural identity and implement strategies that support belonging, inclusion, and positive connections within their family, school, and community while honoring the child’s cultural heritage