Foster Care Training

This training will teach about various evidence-based approaches for managing anxiety around the holidays for caregivers and youth in care. We will explore strategies for coping with expectations and creating structure for children during holiday breaks. Participants will identify the social-emotional concerns of children in care during the holidays, including grief and loss, emotional overload, disruption of routines, social connections and building healthy relationships. Participants will enjoy an overview of practical arts-based activities that promote emotional well-being and build connections for caregivers and children in care. Please register at: Register Here

“This training will focus on the importance of professional self-care for those who work in the child welfare system. Through didactic, collaborative and interactive learning, participants will explore what self-care is and why it is an essential practice for those supporting youth who have been traumatized, grieving or distressed. Participants will explore the various stages of a crisis, define compassion fatigue and the obstacles to practicing self-care, and identify the six domains of professional self-care. Participants will learn how creative arts-based tools can teach self-compassion, develop greater insight and connection with ourselves, and improve our physical and emotional well-being. Please register at: Register Here

Given the prevalence of learning disabilities of system-involved youth, it’s crucial for to understand how to best support youth. This training will provide an overview of what learning disabilities are and different types of learning disabilities. It’s important for social service providers to recognize learning disabilities to advocate for system-involved youth to be assessed for learning disabilities when necessary and to advocate for adequate support in learning environments. Please register at: Register Here

Many system-involved youth and young adults struggle with mood disruptions so it’s crucial for providers to know how to support them. This training will build off “Strategies to support system-involved youth with mood disruptions” where providers learn the different types of mood disruptions and some engagement strategies. This training will provide you with additional strategies to support with mood disruptions, how and when to involve parents/caregivers, and how parents/caregivers can support their youth with a mood disruption. This training will also include discussions around common co-occurring disruptions youth and young adults may struggle with and learning-related challenges. Please register at: Register Here

System-involved youth can engage in risky behaviors such as running away, using substances, involvement in the commercial sex industry, etc. and not be ready to stop engaging in those behaviors. If social service providers try to pressure youth into changing their behaviors before they’re ready, we can experience a lot of resistance. The Stages of Change Model and Motivational Interviewing help social service providers better assess where one is at in their change process and how to support them on identifying goals and steps to achieve those goals. Please register at: Register Here

The role of nutrition in one’s wellness has been getting increased attention in recent years. The foods we eat impact not only our physical health but also our emotional health. This training will provide an overview of how food impacts one’s complete health, so providers are more equipped to have conversations with system-involved youth about their nutrition Register Here

While the holiday season can be a joyous time for many, it can also be difficult time. It is a time of year that many experience depression, loneliness and increased stressors. For many system-involved youth this can be exacerbated as they are not with their families. This training will discuss risk factors and contributing factors for holiday depression and stressors. You will also learn strategies to support system-involved youth who may be struggling during this time of year. Please register at: Register Here

Implicit bias is present in society as well as in social services, learning environments, health and many other institutions. It’s important that social service providers understand implicit bias, ways it shows up and how it impacts recommendations, supportive servicer and one’s ability to build relationship with system-involved youth and young adults. This training will provide an overview of ways implicit bias is present in social services, learning environments and healthcare and how it impacts system-involved youth and young adults and what we can do to address implicit bias when it shows up. Please register at: Register Here

Relapse prevention planning is helpful with youth struggling with a variety of issues from substance use, self-harm, engagement in the commercial sex industry, etc. This training will provide an overview of relapse prevention planning to help you teach youth about relapse prevention and create a relapse prevention plan. Please register at: x Register Here

“Many system-involved struggle with anxiety and mood disruptions so it’s crucial for social service and behavioral health providers to understand the different types of anxiety and mood disruptions and know how to effectively support youth and young adults. This training will provide an overview of different types of anxiety and mood disruptions as well as practical strategies providers can use to support youth and young adults struggling with them. Please register at: Register Here“

“While male sexual abuse is fairly common, the predominant dialogue is about the sexual abuse of women and girls. This training will equip social service providers of needed knowledge about male sexual abuse. The training will provide information about the prevalence of childhood male sexual abuse, myths of sexual abuse, impact of male sexual abuse and strategies to support males who have experienced sexual abuse as minors. Please register at: Register Here “

Given the prevalence of trauma, it’s important for parents and caregivers to learn about trauma and how to best support their youth. Youth may turn to maladaptive coping skills such as self-harm or substance abuse. They may struggle with learning and behaviorally. They may withdraw or exhibit many other behaviors. It can be hard to make sense of their emotions and behaviors in the wake of trauma. This training will better equip you to talk with parents and caregivers about their child’s trauma and how best to support them. Please register at: Register Here

Trauma impacts many aspects of one’s life. One of those areas is a student’s learning path. It’s crucial to understand how trauma impacts a student’s emotional and behavioral health and learning performance in the settings for learning. The better we understand how trauma presents, the better we can support service providers implementing trauma-informed learning environments. Please register at: Register Here

This training is designed to assist providers in screening mental health needs and behaviors over time, which will assist in placement, services, and supportive decisions. Specifically, this training will focus on identifying factors related to experience of developmental trauma and attachment disruption common in foster care youth. This two-hour workshop will review a case example to arrive at a person-centered understanding of the child/adolescent . Major categories for screening will be reviewed and applied to a case. Implications and recommendations for services and case plans will be discussed. Specific attention will be paid to identifying risk factors and protective factors related to developmental trauma and attachment disruption, reviewing not only […]

With a growing awareness of the numerous forms of trauma, it’s essential for social service providers to have a basic understanding of trauma as well as understand principles of trauma-informed care. Join us to learn how to provide trauma-informed care to youth and families on your care plans. Please register at: Register Here

This seminar will address the systemic and service contexts for both the youth and providers that influence the predetermined endings of youth. We will examine our own and our youth’s tendencies and common dynamics in relationships that come up around endings; whether it be to ignore and deny, or the anxiety of wanting to end everything perfectly. We will consider the context of youth, some of whom are in foster care or adopted, who have many losses over their lifetime; and how to support them in a possible reparative experience through use of self. In order to enrich and put in to practice the concepts we’ll go over, the trainer […]

This training is intended to facilitate understanding of typical issues that can come up in diabetes management for foster youth in the Alameda County Assessment Center. Staff will learn how to support youth and families in blood glucose monitoring, insulin types, and in following insulin plans. In addition, staff will learn about the importance of caregivers carefully supervising diabetes management and insulin injections. At the end of this course, staff will understand how to work with caregivers/providers to calculate carbohydrates by reading nutrition labels and calculate insulin based on the clients individual plan.

“In this country, talking about race is not easy, but can be especially challenging cross-culturally between caregivers and youth. But we can help caregivers and adoptive parents get more comfortable with practice. Beth Hall has written extensively about how to talk with your children about race and racism; there are steps professionals can take that will help parents and children feel better prepared to have these difficult conversations—and to have them frequently. Because that’s what BIPOC children need and what the state of our society demands. When working with youth populations, professionals must educate caregivers along with children, in order to support healthy, race-identity affirming parenting approaches that support white […]

With a growing awareness of trauma, more providers are becoming trauma-informed. However, it’s not enough for organizations to be trauma-informed. Join us as we talk about what a trauma responsive organization is and strategies to implement to better serve youth and families exposed to trauma. Please register at: Register Here

With a growing awareness of trauma and its prevalence, it’s crucial for instructors and providers working in collaboration with educators to understand trauma. Without this knowledge, educators and administers can misidentify a learner’s behavior when they’re dysregulated, experiencing a trauma stress response or triggered. In this training, we’ll talk about how to apply trauma-informed care practices within learning systems. This knowledge is essential for educators working in learning environments, parents, care providers and foster parents who are advocating for their youth and service providers who partner with local systems. Please register at: Register Here

Training will focus on attachment and self-concept indicators that contribute to client-centered understanding of mental health needs and impairments, and systemic service needs. Case examples will be used to show to how to notice attachment and self-concept indicators in foster youth.

Collaborative care planning ensures that plans effectively describe the intended outcome of services with the specific objectives towards reaching goals, service approaches, and appropriate timeframes with the needs of youth and families as critical focus points. This training reviews practices in collaborative care planning and how the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) can be used to facilitate understanding of the goals of treatment for youth, families, and providers. Through participation in this training, youth and families are able to differentiate between plans that include their concerns and goals in language that is their own from plans that do not effectively involve them in plan development and providers are […]

“While there has been a growing awareness of trauma amongst foster youth, there hasn’t been as much awareness about the trauma experienced by youth in the juvenile justice system. This training will provide an overview of the types and prevalence of trauma experienced by youth in the juvenile justice system. Participants will learn how to apply trauma-informed principles within the justice system. Please register at: Register Here “

Individuals who are trafficked may have a substance use addiction which leads to trafficking and for others they may develop a substance use addiction while being trafficked. Therefore, it’s crucial for substance use providers and social service providers to learn about the connection between substance use and trafficking. This training will provide a discussion about the relationship between the two and strategies to support individuals who are addicted to substances while being trafficked or after trafficking and how to support individuals in care. Please register at: Register Here