Foster Care Training

“”Anti-racism is a journey not a destination”” – Ibram X. Kendi Do you know youth and families trying to navigate transracial foster and adoptive placements/homes? Many of the issues they are facing are fairly typical of foster and adoptive homes. At the same time, we know that youth placed in homes with caregivers of a different racial/cultural group often experience distinct challenges in family, school and community life. If foster and adoptive parents are not considering racial identity development as a critical part of a youth’s needs while in care, then accidental harm can be done. Concrete scripts for supporting youth and caregivers in these conspicuous families will be explored. This training is designed to examine the strengths and challenges involved in transracial foster and adoptive placements, and to provide concrete support strategies for those working with youth and families in transracial placements. – Ibram X. Kendi Exploring anti-racism as a process and practice is a journey through understanding our personal experiences throughout our lives and the institutions we work within. By starting with ourselves as individuals, we can take intentional steps to identify experiences and systems that impact our role in dismantling racism. By examining white supremacy as the root of racist structures and practices, we can push this discourse even further to challenge the way we have been socialized and professionalized to maintain the status quo. For some practitioners, talking about race is a regular part of daily life and family discussions growing up. As a matter of survival, it’s never been an option not to. For others, it can be challenging to talk about it, or to know how to, and thus is often avoided or considered taboo, particularly in professional spaces. Wherever you are on this journey, this workshop will allow space for learning, personal sharing, processing and making practical applications directly to your personal and professional lives. This 4-part workshop series provides participants with an opportunity to share challenging conversations or social experiences as practitioners committed to racial equity. There will be opportunities to start from a culturally humble place of self-reflection and understanding of one’s own social location and how to talk about it, instead of avoiding it. Providers will gain practical approaches about how to engage with colleagues and institutions they work within, how to engage more openly about the topic of race and racism and how it impacts the families and communities they serve. Through the use of multi-media focused on recent events in the Bay Area surrounding racial inequity, participants will be able to relate content to their daily lives in the world. *Please plan to attend full series. Training dates: 7/16, 7/23, 7/30, and 8/6.*