Foster Care Training

This training is designed to educate service providers and caregivers on how while physical injuries may or may not be immediately visible, abuse and neglect can have consequences for children, families, and society that last lifetimes, if not generations (long term effects). Individual outcomes vary widely and are affected by a combination of factors, including: (1) the child’s age and developmental level when the abuse or neglect occurred, (2) the type of maltreatment (physical, neglect, sexual abuse, etc.), (3) the frequency, duration, and severity of the maltreatment, (4) the relationship between the child and the perpetrator. Discussion will take place as to: caregivers experiencing secondary trauma by hearing the youth’s trauma stories over and over. Discussion of why, given similar conditions, some children experience long-term consequences of abuse and neglect while others emerge relatively unscathed. The ability to cope, and even thrive, following a negative experience is often referred to as “resilience.” It is important to note that resilience is not an inherent trait in children but results from a mixture of both risk and protective factors that cause a child’s positive or negative reaction to adverse experiences. A number of protective and promotive factors—individually, within a family, or within a community—may contribute to an abused or neglected child’s resilience. These include positive attachment, self-esteem, intelligence, emotion regulation, humor, and independence.