Foster Care Training

This training provides an introduction to core skills of trauma-informed arts-based strategies which can be utilized in a variety of settings to support improved outcomes for system-involved youth. This experiential course will introduce attendees to a variety of multi-modal arts-based strategies that can be used in individual and group settings to enhance sensory integration, organize narrative responses, and enhance expression as a healing response to trauma. This experiential training will introduce attendees to a variety of art-based tools that can be used use with foster youth and/or system-involved youth who have acute, long-term, developmental, or attachment-related traumatic histories.

This training will focus on managing social anxiety and loneliness through the use of one of the five social and emotional competency domains: Self-Management. This training will explore activities that support enhanced self-compassion as well as activities that encourage building healthy connections with others. Participants will enjoy an overview of practical techniques that increase self-understanding and compassion; Gain an understanding of how the quality of our social interactions improves when we are able to develop the skills necessary to be our own best friend. Register Here

System involved youth can often feel their authenticity and self-expression is restrained by school systems, mainstream culture, peers, and family culture. Mindfulness based expressive arts offers system involved youth a place to find full expression, play, and healing. Join this workshop to engage in expressive arts activities to support system involved youth in finding their creative voice while navigating their anxiety mindfully. This workshop will lead participants through experiential art practices and activities to support system involved youth to develop self-acceptance, compassion and empathy.

Young people are naturally curious, especially about nature. Unfortunately, many settings do not allow for system involved youth to experience the power of the natural world. This training teaches engaging and innovative ways to integrate nature-based practices and connect system involved youth with our greatest mindfulness teacher – the natural world. It will provide skills and tools for system-involved youth to cultivate practices and self-regulation skills they can develop and practice from home and in the outdoor space in proximity to where they live. These practices will support system involved youth and their families in managing stressors using nature in an urban setting to help foster a sense of belonging […]

“Through the analysis of culturally-sensitive play strategies, this workshop aims to expand the therapist’s multicultural understanding of migrant and refugee to minimize cultural misunderstandings, guide an accurate assessment process, and establish a strong rapport that lays a solid foundation for the therapeutic work ahead. The presenter will define immigration-related terminology as well as address the handling of socio-political and historical factors, acculturation, cultural traditions and values, language barriers, code-switching abilities, and ethnic identity as holding the potential to enhance or hinder the therapeutic relationship in each of the play components (i.e., intake, pre-treatment assessment, introduction session, tentative acceptance, and negative reaction, as well during the growing/working and termination phases). Participants […]

One of the most significant challenges for those supporting system involved youth is to effectively engage system involved youth and help them build constructive, transformational behaviors that are sustainable and lead to healthy community engagement and improved outcomes. In this training, we will explore how to enhance our capacity to support system involved youth by examining Simple Mindfulness Practices (which are especially designed for supporting disengaged transition age youth) can prepare us to foster alliance and promote young people’s emotional development and wellbeing as well as strengthen their resilience and ability to heal and lead a meaningful life. Practicing and sharing the methods outlined by this workshop will allow us […]

This training series will support participants to expand their understanding of somatic strategies within a social and political context. Participants will experience somatic exploration and increase access to the fullness of their humanity while examining the ways that systems of harm have led to our collective disembodiment. Through this exploration, participants will identify all that is available to us when we move towards embodying our anti-racist and liberatory values. By using embodied activities, journal reflections, discussion, and art, participants will deepen their understanding of the ways that somatic practice, vulnerability, and collective care, contribute to our healing as service providers while also impacting our work with young people.

This training series will support participants to expand their understanding of somatic strategies within a social and political context. Participants will experience somatic exploration and increase access to the fullness of their humanity while examining the ways that systems of harm have led to our collective disembodiment. Through this exploration, participants will identify all that is available to us when we move towards embodying our anti-racist and liberatory values. By using embodied activities, journal reflections, discussion, and art, participants will deepen their understanding of the ways that somatic practice, vulnerability, and collective care, contribute to our healing as service providers while also impacting our work with young people.

This training series will support participants to expand their understanding of somatic strategies within a social and political context. Participants will experience somatic exploration and increase access to the fullness of their humanity while examining the ways that systems of harm have led to our collective disembodiment. Through this exploration, participants will identify all that is available to us when we move towards embodying our anti-racist and liberatory values. By using embodied activities, journal reflections, discussion, and art, participants will deepen their understanding of the ways that somatic practice, vulnerability, and collective care, contribute to our healing as service providers while also impacting our work with young people.

This is a live in person two-part training, 2/13/23-2/27/23. This workshop is intended for therapists who are new to working with children. It covers the basic principles of non-directive play therapy and offers valuable techniques for building rapport, assessing level of function, expanding emotional vocabulary, managing impulses and more! Register Here

This is a live in person two-part training (2/8/23-2/22/23). This workshop is intended for therapists who are new to working with children. It covers the basic principles of non-directive play therapy and offers valuable techniques for building rapport, assessing level of function, expanding emotional vocabulary, managing impulses and more! Register Here

This training is an introduction to implementing behavioral support strategies with children who present with a variety of challenging behaviors. It includes a discussion of basic principles of behavior modification, behavioral assessment, functional assessment and support methods. The discussion addresses the advantages, risks and limitations of these approaches in various settings including group care settings, classrooms and families.

One of the most significant challenges for those supporting system involved youth is to effectively engage system involved youth and help them build constructive, transformational behaviors that are sustainable and lead to healthy community engagement and improved outcomes. In this training, we will explore how to enhance our capacity to support system involved youth by exploring how Co-constructing a Vision Plan with System Involved Youth Based on Their Strengths & Passions (which are especially designed for supporting disengaged transition age youth) can prepare us to foster alliance and promote young people’s emotional development and wellbeing as well as strengthen their ability to heal from traumatic events and lead a meaningful […]

Many system-involved youth struggle with aggression, low frustration tolerance, etc. All this can make conflict much more difficult. This training will teach you conflict resolution skills you can teach and practice with system-involved youth and young adults. Register Here

This two-hour course is designed to support STRTP administrators and staff in developing a foundation of focused counseling strategies, techniques and principles, to build strong, helpful, and mutually respectful connections. The techniques and principals, termed C.O.R.E. Counseling (Connection Oriented, Relationship Establishing) will be consistent with trauma Informed practices and will support staff in building healthy, beneficial, supportive relationships.

The training is derived from an evidence-based model called Pro-ACT (Professional Assault Crisis Training), a principle-based safety enhancement program, designed to teach professionals to prevent or respond to potential client assaults in a successful way.    Register Here

Engaging with systems is challenging for youth and families of color. They often find themselves having to meet the demands of these systems in order to get the support they need or exit systems they don’t want to be a part of. Traditional Case Management creates a lot of barriers to engagement and does not always connect with the participant’s lived experience and assets. In this training, we will explore strategies and theories that can be used to engage participants in support that promotes change, empowerment, and liberation. We will explore empowerment-based theories and practices that meet participants where they are while engaging in practices of unlearning.

Many system-involved youth and transitional age youth struggle to make sense of their emotions and regulate them in an adaptive manner. Without this knowledge, it can hinder goals and aspirations youth have. This training will equip you with the knowledge and skills to effectively support youth in increasing their emotional regulation skills. Register Here

This all day training is for therapists, counselors, social workers, and others who are interested in learning how to apply directive and nondirective play therapy techniques and work with youth and families in the child welfare or probation systems. This training provides play therapy basics, such as materials needed in order to get started, cultural considerations, and contraindications. This training also consists of 2 parts, one on nondirective play therapy techniques and another on directive play therapy techniques. Both parts include videos, case studies, and experiential activities. The aim for this training is to provide participants with as much introductory information as possible in order to provide effective play based […]

Sandtray: Inviting Emotional Expression and Regulation Activities to Use During the Sandtray Experience

This training explores the purpose of actively working with youth in care to help them meet preferred behaviors. The training highlights four things to think about in any given situation before choosing how to support youth: your personal state, the desired outcome, the situation and environment, and which approach to use. Didactic presentation, group discussion, art and visualization exercises are utilized.

Participants will discuss several different categories of behavior support strategies to use with youth including individual and group support strategies as well as crisis communication techniques. Participants will learn how to prepare youth to support themselves and work toward their goals when they are no longer in care. Didactic presentation, group discussion, art and visualization exercises are utilized.

“Training Summary: Many foster care and juvenile justice system-involved youth run away which can place them in extreme danger. Unfortunately telling youth not to run away doesn’t work. In this training, we will apply harm reduction strategies to youth who run away to help increase their safety. Participants will be able to: -Identify 3 risk factors of youth running-away. -Increase their understanding of applying harm reduction principles with foster care and juvenile justice involved youth. -Identify 3 harm reduction strategies for working with foster care and juvenile justice involved youth who run away. . Register Here

Whether a childs communication is effective or ineffective, it can leave a parent feeling like they are constantly trying to put out fires. Learn how to Interpret your child’s needs,Provide opportunities to make choices, Teach appropriate pro-social behaviors. Register Here

Is a counseling method that takes into account how difficult it is to make lasting change. Using tools such as open ended questions, affirmations, reflections, summaries, and the importance ruler, this training teaches how to lead someone through the stages of change to lasting positive change in their life. Register Here

Is a counseling method that takes into account how difficult it is to make lasting change. Using tools such as open ended questions, affirmations, reflections, summaries, and the importance ruler, this training teaches how to lead someone through the stages of change to lasting positive change in their life. Register Here

By attending this course, attendees will develop new strategies to build client-centered relationships by utilizing Motivational Interviewing (MI). Participants will gain practical skills to collaborate with youth, families, and the community. This training supports participants with developing a plan to implement MI skills with multi-system involved youth and families. Attendees will learn how to engage youth and family’s current motivation to change a particular behavior. This course provides as general overview of MI open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries (OARS) along with the skills and concepts to understand the spirit of MI, the four processes of MI, value work, assessing the client communication (sustain talk, change talk, discord), goal setting/focusing, […]

Trainee’s will gain skills on how to appropriately intervene when a youth or a youth’s family member is having suicidal ideation or attempts, using the QPR skills of: Question a person about suicide, Persuade someone to get help, and Refer someone to the appropriate resource. Trainees will be able to recognize the warning signs and clues and use suicidal communication to instill hope and resiliency in youth and families. Trainees will gain skills to act vigorously to prevent possible tragedy for youth or their families.  Register Here

Training Summary: This course is designed to provide counselors with practical tips and solutions to assist parents or caregivers in dealing with and resolving conflict with their children. We will do this through evaluating what conflict is and some of the possible causes of conflict. We will then work through to identify de-escalation techniques and build ways to prevent or minimize conflict in the future. We will also take steps to achieve reconciliation and understanding with the children we work with or care for. Participants will be able to: -Identify possible causes of conflict -Specify how to prevent or minimize conflict -Explain how to respond appropriately to conflict -Plan de-escalation […]

The majority of system-involved youth have experienced numerous traumas and experienced numerous adversities. Given the chronic exposure to trauma, stress and adversity, it’s imperative that those who support system involved youth including, social service providers, foster parents and natural supports, understand how stress is stored in our bodies, not just in our minds. It is essential to address how trauma impacts the body. The training will provide an overview of somatic strategies and ways providers can utilize them with system-involved youth and transitional age youth when they struggle with depression, anxiety and PTSD.

This training builds and increases skills used in identifying and implementing tactile intervention activities that support and model appropriate behaviors. The training provides self-regulation and strategies to use when identifying negative behaviors in children who have experienced trauma and learning methods in problem solving and building rapport with children and youth.  Register Here

One of the most significant challenges for those supporting system involved youth is to effectively engage system involved youth and help them build constructive, transformational behaviors that are sustainable and lead to healthy community engagement and improved outcomes. In this training, we will explore how to enhance our capacity to support system involved youth by examining how to Teach Assertive Communication Techniques for Improved Relationship Outcomes (which are especially designed for supporting disengaged transition age youth) to prepare us to foster alliance and promote young people’s emotional development and wellbeing as well as strengthen their ability to heal from traumatic events and lead a meaningful life. Practicing and sharing the […]

One of the most significant challenges for those supporting system involved youth is to effectively engage system involved youth and help them build constructive, transformational behaviors that are sustainable and lead to healthy community engagement and improved outcomes. In this training, we will explore how to enhance our capacity to support system involved youth by examining how Teaching Inner Energy Management Practices so They Can Thrive can prepare us to foster alliance and promote young people’s emotional development and wellbeing as well as strengthen their resilience and ability to heal from traumatic events and lead a meaningful life. Practicing and sharing the methods outlined by this workshop will allow us […]

This training will provide an overview of the Autism Spectrum Disorder, discuss the increase in the prevalence in ASD, identify symptoms that youth with ASD present with and basic strategies that are effective in supporting youth. In addition, this training will discuss proactive strategies such as environmental modifications and ways to teach various skill/strategies to support youth on the spectrum.

This training will provide an overview of the Autism Spectrum Disorder, discuss the increase in the prevalence in ASD, identify symptoms that youth with ASD present with and basic strategies that are effective in supporting youth. In addition, this training will discuss proactive strategies such as environmental modifications and ways to teach various skill/strategies to support youth on the spectrum.

This training will explore the effects of trauma and stress and strategies for regulation. As helping professionals we see how dysregulation can impact a youth’s ability to learn, have healthy relationships and be their best selves. This training will review the neuroscience behind the stress/trauma response including explanations of hyper arousal, hypo arousal and the window of tolerance. The trainer will provide tools to explore the importance of developing emotional vocabulary and sensory awareness with youth in order to identify the regulation tools that will be effective for them. Multiple strategies for increasing regulation will be shared. Strategies will be shared that can be used with youth and families to […]

Vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue are very common for those that support system involved youth. It is important for support providers to engage in regular and intentional self-care in order to maintain physical, mental and emotional wellness. This training will introduce preventative strategies and routines that those who support system involved youth can incorporate to increase overall wellness and improve outcomes for system involved youth and families.

Working closely with the school is key to getting the best help for kids with learning and thinking differences. But if you’re a foster parent, that can be difficult with limited educational rights. This training will review how learning disabilities may impact the youth in their foster home including behaviors, learning challenges and relationships. This training will also review best ways to advocate for foster youth’s educational needs.

Foster and/or System Involved Youth who live in and out of home care not only bear the burden of their difficult family circumstances, but they also experience the weight of being subjected to biases that existed long before they entered this world. This interactive training is for professionals and caregivers of youth in the foster care system and/or justice system. Participants will learn the importance of recognizing how their life experiences and position of power can influence how they communicate with the young people on the autism spectrum that they serve/support. 

We will follow a detailed case presentation to show how psychoanalytic play therapy can help children in foster care with histories of early loss, deprivation, abuse and other developmental strains and traumas. Play and other forms of reconstruction can offer ways to re-process the past emotional pain so as to gain new flexibility and integration. We will discuss developing plans to incorporate play therapy into work with system-involved youth clients to help them heal from trauma and develop healthy attachment.

This support group will offer a space for prospective and current foster and adoptive parents to talk about their experiences as such. This space will offer support from other fost/adopt parents who have been through similar experiences as they learn to process the legal, social and emotional expectations on their families. The group will cover such topics as: behavioral issues, separation and attachment (theoretical frameworks and practical application(s), IEPs/educational needs, legal expectations, and other critical topics of concern for our families. Fost/Adopt parents will learn that their experience is uniquely similar to others who are struggling with the joys and pains of the process of fostering and adoption.

This two-hour course will allow participants to review, understand and practice, the principals around the Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard. Administrators and staff will build a foundation of shared understanding around decision making, considering youths’ developmental and age appropriateness for activities, outings, etc. The principals will be based on safety, cultural competence and trauma informed practices that highlight accessibility and appropriateness for youth participation. 

This training will educate those who support system involved yotuh about five gender identity frameworks, three considered traditional (Kohlberg’s Cognitive Developmental Theory of Gender Identity Development, Bem’s Gender Schema Theory, & Bandura’s Social Learning Theory of Gender), and two newer iterations (Veale’s Identity Defense Model of Gender Variant Development & Diamond’s Biased-Interaction Theory of Psychosexual Development.) Participants will explore the socioemotional & intersectional contexts in which gender identity development occurs for all children, compare & contrast these six models, and apply them to a video case study. Participants will identify best practices to engage introspection about gender based on developmental & chronological age for cisgender, transgender, gender nonconforming, & gender […]

This training is focused on how biases of providers around the idea of hip hop and hip hop culture can adversely affect their work with youth in care and how to instead take a strength-based approach when considering hip hop and what it provides. Trainer will help trainees explore their own personal biases towards hip hop while demonstrating how hip hop is just a reflection of what these youth populations are going through and experiencing in their own lives. Trainer will guide trainees through several activities aimed towards investigating these biases while also asking them to put themselves in the perspective of their youth clients and how they may see […]

Racial microaggressions have been shown in research to cause very harmful consequences to those experiencing them. In this 2-hour training, the presentation will include definitions, research on microaggressions, what to do as a bystander and how to prevent harm to others in an effort to improve outcomes for system involved youth who are disproportionately youth of color and all too often negatively affected by racial microaggressions. Participants will be guided through a sequence of learning activities to explore and understand the negative impact of racial microaggressions and to gain increased self-awareness in order to reduce harm in the future through disruption and self-examination of their own behavior. Learning activities will […]

This workshop is designed to help provide the participants space to explore the different aspects of providing culturally inclusive therapy to communities of color in a more advanced and nuanced way than the previous trainings. Specifically, we will dive deeper into the ways in which our own cultural identities influence and impact treatment. In addition, we will explore ways to culturally adapt traditional theoretical orientations to better meet the needs of this community. This workshop will be highly interactive. Participants will be encouraged to share and dialogue around their experiences working with diverse populations.

While foster care providers must address the challenges of improving child safety, well-being, and stability, they also must meet the needs of an increasingly culturally and ethnically diverse child welfare population. This series of trainings will review how important it is to consider culture when working with youth in out of home care, how to improve communication across diverse cultures and to support foster parents provide culturally relevant caregiving.

Participants will have an opportunity to reflect on ways that Clinical Supervision can be used as an anti-oppressive practice. This training will include tools to assess and grow as a supervisor as well as tools to use in supervision to facilitate conversations and interventions described in Dr. Ken Hardy’s book, “Promoting Cultural Sensitivity in Supervision.” Participants will have an opportunity to practice these skills through a series of vignettes and discussions and will gain working knowledge of concrete tools to implement in individual and group supervisions after completing this training. 

This training is designed to provide participants with an overview of the impact helping organizations have on diverse ethnic and racial groups, cultures, social classes and groups with minority status in the US. The values and attitudes of diverse ethno cultural groups in cross-cultural environments will be discussed. The application of a multicultural lens and anti-racist stance when engaging a diversity of cultures will be addressed. The training includes lecture, small group exercises, discussions and videos/films. Please register with: minjonlenoir@lincolnfamilies.org

In striving to provide culturally inclusive services, it is crucial that service providers be willing to examine the cultural lenses through which they view the world. The goal of this workshop is to provide participants with an experiential and safe environment in which to develop the foundation needed to provide culturally inclusive services to the diverse clients that they serve. This will be done through introducing participants to a culturally inclusive model designed to visually expand the way that one views themselves, others, and the systems in which they work. Multiple modalities will be used to teach this workshop including lecture, experiential exercises, and small group work.

This training will offer advanced practical information to help participants better provide culturally inclusive, diversity informed work to youth and their families. Its focus is particularly on how to engage in the kind of rich breadth of culturally open, courageously curious dialogues necessary to go deeper in the therapeutic process. All stages of therapeutic work will be covered from conceptualization to termination. This will be an interactive training. Participants should expect to leave with tools for integrating diversity-informed practice into the flow of their everyday work with the youth that they serve

This training outlines the various aspects of a Fathers role in the social and emotional development of their children. Using the experiences of the participants in the room, this training offers critical lenses on the successes & failures of emotional parenting for dads. Participants will review and discuss key aspects of socio emotional parenting. Participants will finish by examining and profiling the contextual and supportive elements of a vignette, practicing how to identify and modify parent triggers and responses to social emotional needs of children. This training covers a variety of social emotional issues that are important for progressive, supportive parenting. How to engage in active listening is practiced. Communication/conflict […]

This training will educate providers about the concept of “coming out” for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, & queer (LGBTQ) communities, with a focus on youth identity development. Participants will situate “coming out” sociohistorically, examining the assumption that a young person will or must share their sexual orientation and/or gender identity from an intersectional lens. Participants will compare & contrast two models of sexuality development and three models of gender identity development, and Identify three best practices for how to respond when a youth expresses their authentic sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

This three part healing circle for BIPOC identified Program Directors that addresses racism, internalized oppression and provides structured antiracist empowerment tools based on Ibram X Kendi PhD’s book How to Be An Antiracist. Each meeting will allow participants to learn, define concepts, discuss the impact on multiple levels and to be solution focused regarding impact to self and thus being able to better facilitate these inherent challenges within the work leadership environment. Leaders in any organization, while they bear the brunt of addressing organizational challenges, are first and foremost individuals who at their core desire to do what’s right and are challenged by a reduced number of available peers for […]

This three part healing circle for BIPOC identified Program Directors that addresses racism, internalized oppression and provides structured antiracist empowerment tools based on Ibram X Kendi PhD’s book How to Be An Antiracist. Each meeting will allow participants to learn, define concepts, discuss the impact on multiple levels and to be solution focused regarding impact to self and thus being able to better facilitate these inherent challenges within the work leadership environment. Leaders in any organization, while they bear the brunt of addressing organizational challenges, are first and foremost individuals who at their core desire to do what’s right and are challenged by a reduced number of available peers for […]

This three part healing circle for BIPOC identified Program Directors that addresses racism, internalized oppression and provides structured antiracist empowerment tools based on Ibram X Kendi PhD’s book How to Be An Antiracist. Each meeting will allow participants to learn, define concepts, discuss the impact on multiple levels and to be solution focused regarding impact to self and thus being able to better facilitate these inherent challenges within the work leadership environment. Leaders in any organization, while they bear the brunt of addressing organizational challenges, are first and foremost individuals who at their core desire to do what’s right and are challenged by a reduced number of available peers for […]

Trauma informed care is critical and positive development in systems of care, understanding how poverty and racism impact individual children. While this lens moves us in the right direction, it is inadequate. This training introduces a concept of Healing Centered Engagement. By unpacking the missing elements in trauma informed lens, this training outlines and discusses 3 other critical elements to take into consideration when addressing trauma. Understanding trauma typically lead to efforts to eliminate the negative impacts of trauma, but true healing incorporates a lens that supports children and the adults who support them to imagine, envision, and act toward a life of flourishing.

This training is for all service providers who work with system involved youth and families. The facilitator will guide discussions of how to communicate with awareness around cultural difference and somatic impact. Information will be provided about: the elements of successful conversations about race, the importance of tracking somatic responses and how to discuss differences with children. The facilitator will create a safe space for providers to assess cultural identity, how racism affects conversation and how it may intersect with experiences youth and families. There will be a place for providers to share how these conversations affect them personally in the work.

The focus of this training series is to build the capacity of white supervisors to name, explore, and navigate power when supervising youth service providers. Participants will examine their role and responsibility to understand the political and historical context of white supremacy, interrupt and repair harm as it comes up in their work, advocate for equitable policies, and interrogate how they act out characteristics of white supremacy culture. Through journal reflection, discussion, community building, accountability groups, and somatic practices, supervisors will develop multiple frameworks and strategies to interrupt and disrupt the ways we perpetuate white body supremacy  in our work with youth, youth service provider staff, and teams.

The focus of this training series is to build the capacity of white supervisors to name, explore, and navigate power when supervising youth service providers. Participants will examine their role and responsibility to understand the political and historical context of white supremacy, interrupt and repair harm as it comes up in their work, advocate for equitable policies, and interrogate how they act out characteristics of white supremacy culture. Through journal reflection, discussion, community building, accountability groups, and somatic practices, supervisors will develop multiple frameworks and strategies to interrupt and disrupt the ways we perpetuate white body supremacy  in our work with youth, youth service provider staff, and teams.

Everyone is impacted by the system of racism, and therefore has to tenaciously walk against that system. Individuals are impacted by structural racism, though the costs and consequences are significantly different, and our awareness of the system usually also differs greatly. Working for racial equity at the individual level often involves understanding the concepts, building the confidence and skills to work toward racial justice, and being accountable. Accountability is a keystone of racial equity work. Accountability refers to creating processes and systems that are designed to help individuals and groups to be held in check for their decisions and actions and for whether the work being done reflects and embodies […]

Everyone is impacted by the system of racism, and therefore has to tenaciously walk against that system. Individuals are impacted by structural racism, though the costs and consequences are significantly different, and our awareness of the system usually also differs greatly. Working for racial equity at the individual level often involves understanding the concepts, building the confidence and skills to work toward racial justice, and being accountable. Accountability is a keystone of racial equity work. Accountability refers to creating processes and systems that are designed to help individuals and groups to be held in check for their decisions and actions and for whether the work being done reflects and embodies […]

In all our relationships (work, social life, family) we consciously or unconsciously set personal and professional boundaries. In the work setting, it is important to be conscious and thoughtful about the boundaries we set to maximize the impact of our interactions with system involved youth and their families. In this training we will discuss how to set culturally appropriate boundaries with system involved youth and their families in different situations including use of technology, physical contact, dual relationships and accepting gifts. We will also explore particularly challenging situations in work with system involved youth and their families and have time to think through boundary issues in current system involved youth […]

This training is for all service provider who work with Black and Brown system involved youth and families. The facilitator will guide a discussion of how communities of color are affected at different levels by the current political climate regarding race. Information will be provided about: the elements of successful conversations about race, the importance of tracking somatic responses and creating clear intentions. The facilitator will create a safe space for providers to assess how racism is affecting them daily and how it may intersect with experiences of Black and Brown youth and families. There will be a place for Black and Brown providers to share how these conversations affect […]

Training Summary: Many system-involved youth self-injure themselves and providers can struggle to know how to effectively support them. This training will provide you with a better understanding of non-suicidal self-injury. You will be able to identify the reasons for the behavior as well as strategies to support youth hurt themselves. Participants will be able to: -Identify one risk factor for self-harm -Identify one reason youth self-harm -Identify one strategy to support youth who self-harm Register Here

When a hard of hearing or deaf, system involved child joins a new family or environment, there are many communication, education, philosophical and cultural barriers to overcome. Meeting these challenges with openness and curiosity are the best tools for the job at hand. In this workshop we will discuss resources, ASL, and other visually based skills and cultural communication strategies to make the life of the foster child and the family blend in a coherent way.

Training Summary: Given the disproportionate number of people of color in the prison system, it is important to understand mass incarceration and how it impacts system-involved youth. In this training we will talk about the historical context of mass incarceration, why mass incarceration exists, how it impacts youth, and strategies to support youth who have an incarcerated parent. This understanding is crucial for social service and behavioral health providers, caregivers and other natural support people to compassionately support youth impacted by incarceration. Participants will be able to: -Define mass incarceration -Describe two factors contributing to mass incarceration -Describe the impact of mass incarceration on system-involved youth -Identify at least 2 strategies […]

This training will explore structural racism and oppression. Participants will learn how structural racism exists within the child welfare system, the juvenile justice system, the healthcare system, and the educational system. Participants will also learn about implicit biases and how these and structural racism can impact system involved youth. The training will end with strategies to address these issues together in order to improve outcomes for system involved youth and families.

This training focuses the ways children are misunderstood in the foster care system, and the ways that trauma and cultural context are taken into account in a responsible way when providing care. This training also focuses on building skills in looking at a complex history and picture and accurately understanding the needs of the youth and their families. Material in this presentation asks participants to continue to expand their understanding and thinking about ways that trauma as well as cultural factors impact the ways children and adolescents are seen in the foster care system.

This training is relevant for all service providers working with youth and families. Participants will learn to utilizing a trauma informed and culturally inclusive lens. This training is designed to teach the participants practical tips to use when engaging family in the therapeutic work that happens in a school setting.

The landscape of affirming care for transgender and non-binary youth is continually shifting, and is moving towards one that uplifts and supports transgender and non-binary people in moving past survival into thriving. This course is designed to assist professionals in integrating models and strategies that focus on resilience, cultural humility, and equity for transgender and non-binary clients. In this 5 hour session, participants will engage in break out groups and utilize practice vignettes to explore application methods intended to implement a higher standard of ethical care to transgender and non-binary youth in our care. We will explore the use of the Transgender Intervention Model (TRIM), the Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI), […]

What sort of framework and technologies would be necessary to overcome the systemic barriers that block the ability for children and adolescents living in out-of-home care to maintain or reestablish contact and relationships with those that love them?  This training will provide examples of extraordinary frameworks that could improve safety, well-being, and permanency outcomes for children in out-of-home care and how they can be used to find families of children who have no families and help permanently connect children with their kin.

This training will review the impact of trauma on children, youth and families particularly families who have had contact with DHS or have experienced any family separations and/or foster placement. The training will also review the impact of trauma on communities and systems and will encourage participants to consolidate and put these concepts into practice using case based scenarios. This training will highlight the benefits of utilizing strategies that are trauma based as well as restorative practices within a social justice frame.

Shame is perhaps the most excruciating emotion youth experience, sometimes embedded deeply into their experiences of emotional abuse. It is also a signal that can assist in protecting and maintaining social bonds. Because of its aversive nature, there is a natural inclination to avoid shame either by denying, avoiding, ignoring, or rising above it. However, failure to tend to youth experiences of shame can lead to other negative consequences. Avoidance may foreclose rich and crucial channels to understanding and deepening human relationships, particularly within foster families. In this class, participants will look at the topic of shame: how a relationship to shame can inhibit and/or facilitate work with foster youth. […]

This training is focused on how simple acts of appreciations, compassion and Community Building helps with symptoms of Vicarious Trauma felt by providers and families working with foster youth and youth at risk in the system. Participants will gain experience through discussion and activities of strategies underlying appreciations and gratitude practices. Through exercises encouraging reflection on compassion and building of relationships and community, participants will gain an experiential understanding of how to strengthen families and natural supports surrounding youth.

This training will discuss the implications of fathers of children in the system being deprived parental rights and involvement through the child welfare, juvenile justice and education systems.  Paternal figures have been historically disenfranchised by systems of care. This trend has lasting impacts on youth development and eventual outcomes.  Fathers of youth of color tend to be particularly impacted. This training will address the barriers that lead to this issue and what organizations and communities can do to positively impact the youth that they work with.

This training will equip attendees with foundational knowledge about how to best understand and support children with ADHD, autism & other learning differences. Register Here

This training will provide attendees with information about Awareness and Prevention on the topic of Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) in the US and local communities. Attendees will be provided with valuable tools and resources that empowers them to make a difference in the effort to eradicate exploitation of children.  Register Here

This training will provide attendees with information about Awareness and Prevention on the topic of Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) in the US and local communities. Attendees will be provided with valuable tools and resources that empowers them to make a difference in the effort to eradicate exploitation of children.  Register Here

Effective Telecommunication training is an overview of basic telecommunication skills to use when working with children and families.Trainees will learn the importance of monitoring their voice tone and language used when providing services to vulnerable clients Register Here

This training is designed to introduce prospective Resource Families to the Child Welfare System and the role of a resource parent. Participants will receive an overview of the steps to becoming a resource parent with Alternative Family Services.

This training is designed to introduce prospective Resource Families to the Child Welfare System and the role of a resource parent. Participants will receive an overview of the steps to becoming a resource parent with Alternative Family Services.

This training is designed to introduce prospective Resource Families to the Child Welfare System and the role of a resource parent. Participants will receive an overview of the steps to becoming a resource parent with Alternative Family Services.

If you have every thought of fostering now is your chance to learn what it’s all about from the comfort of your home. Please join us a a short presentation to learn about the fostering options to help the children and youth in our communities. Register Here

If you have every thought of fostering now is your chance to learn what it’s all about from the comfort of your home. Please join us a a short presentation to learn about the fostering options to help the children and youth in our communities. Register Here

If you have every thought of fostering now is your chance to learn what it’s all about from the comfort of your home. Please join us a a short presentation to learn about the fostering options to help the children and youth in our communities. Register Here

This training will review the history of how and when youth’s personal rights were enacted, clarify the differences between youth and non-minor dependent’s,  what their personal rights are and the caregivers role and responsibilities to ensure the youth’s rights are protected.  Register Here

This training will review the history of how and when youth’s personal rights were enacted, clarify the differences between youth and non-minor dependent’s,  what their personal rights are and the caregivers role and responsibilities to ensure the youth’s rights are protected.  Register Here

Attendees will understand Sexual and Reproductive Wellness Rights for youth in foster care. These rights ensure young people in foster care age 10 and older, including non-minor dependents, have access to education, information, and services about their sexual and reproductive health. Attendees will understand the sexual and reproductive health rights of youth in foster care and the duties and responsibilities as a caregiver as well as those of the case worker, how to engage with youth about sexual and reproductive wellness. Register Here

Attendees will understand Sexual and Reproductive Wellness Rights for youth in foster care. These rights ensure young people in foster care age 10 and older, including non-minor dependents, have access to education, information, and services about their sexual and reproductive health. Attendees will understand the sexual and reproductive health rights of youth in foster care and the duties and responsibilities as a caregiver as well as those of the case worker, how to engage with youth about sexual and reproductive wellness. Register Here

Participants will learn the lingo and process for initiating, reviewing, and participating in the process of an IEP.Participants will learn timelines, requirements, and laws governing the administration of an IEP. Register Here

This is part 1 of a 5 part series. The WPW RP Approach is a culturally inclusive parent-child coaching model for resource, adoptive, and biological parents who are raising children with trauma-exposed, childhood experiences that result in emotional and behavioral disturbances. The WPW RP Approach teaches parents that the LifeSpace children are born into provides the training ground for the child’s developmental journey in which the brain itself is learning and encoding “what we do, how we do it, and why we do it.” The WPW RP Approach first illuminates the relational intersection between the traumatized child’s developing brain/body and the parent’s challenging job to identify and heal the “stuck” […]

This is part 1 of a 5 part series. The WPW RP Approach is a culturally inclusive parent-child coaching model for resource, adoptive, and biological parents who are raising children with trauma-exposed, childhood experiences that result in emotional and behavioral disturbances. The WPW RP Approach teaches parents that the LifeSpace children are born into provides the training ground for the child’s developmental journey in which the brain itself is learning and encoding “what we do, how we do it, and why we do it.” The WPW RP Approach first illuminates the relational intersection between the traumatized child’s developing brain/body and the parent’s challenging job to identify and heal the “stuck” […]

Information and worksheets are reviewed to assist Resource Parents in understanding the importance of medication management and documentation when working with youth in the foster care system; per Community Care Licensing. Discussion regarding foster parents and youth recognizing when medication evaluations are necessary, weighing options for medication use, asking questions about their diagnosis and treatment, taking medication safely and documentation and compliance. This information pertains to any medication prescribed or recommended for youth in out of home care. This information can be used directly by youth or serve as a discussion tool for treatment team, foster parents, mentors, and others working with youth in foster care.

Information and worksheets are reviewed to assist Resource Parents in understanding the importance of medication management and documentation when working with youth in the foster care system; per Community Care Licensing. Discussion regarding foster parents and youth recognizing when medication evaluations are necessary, weighing options for medication use, asking questions about their diagnosis and treatment, taking medication safely and documentation and compliance. This information pertains to any medication prescribed or recommended for youth in out of home care. This information can be used directly by youth or serve as a discussion tool for treatment team, foster parents, mentors, and others working with youth in foster care.

Information and worksheets are reviewed in SPANISH to assist Resource Parents in understanding the importance of medication management and documentation when working with youth in the foster care system; per Community Care Licensing. Discussion regarding foster parents and youth recognizing when medication evaluations are necessary, weighing options for medication use, asking questions about their diagnosis and treatment, taking medication safely and documentation and compliance. This information pertains to any medication prescribed or recommended for youth in out of home care. This information can be used directly by youth or serve as a discussion tool for treatment team, foster parents, mentors, and others working with youth in foster care.

This support group will offer a space for prospective and current foster and adoptive parents to talk about their experiences as such. This space will offer support from other fost/adopt parents who have been through similar experiences as they learn to process the legal, social and emotional expectations on their families. The group will cover such topics as: behavioral issues, separation and attachment (theoretical frameworks and practical application(s), IEPs/educational needs, legal expectations, and other critical topics of concern for our families. Fost/Adopt parents will learn that their experience is uniquely similar to others who are struggling with the joys and pains of the process of fostering and adoption.

Pre-service Training for Prospective Foster and Adoptive Families: This pre-service training utilizes the PRIDE Curriculum and is a 27 hour competency based curriculum to develop knowledge and skills in five essential competency categories Protecting and Nurturing Children Meeting Children’s Developmental Needs and Addressing Developmental Delays Supporting Relationships between Children and their Families Connecting Children to Safe, Nurturing Relationships intended to last a lifetime; and Working as a Member of a Professional Team

Pre-service Training for Prospective Foster and Adoptive Families: This pre-service training utilizes the PRIDE Curriculum and is a 27 hour competency based curriculum to develop knowledge and skills in five essential competency categories Protecting and Nurturing Children Meeting Children’s Developmental Needs and Addressing Developmental Delays Supporting Relationships between Children and their Families Connecting Children to Safe, Nurturing Relationships intended to last a lifetime; and Working as a Member of a Professional Team

This training is designed to prepare resource families to work with youth in the foster care system. Participants will receive a better understanding of the foster care system structure and explore how to provide a well-planned, safe, and secure environment designed to meet children’s individual and unique needs, and how to create an environment that promotes children’s social emotional, cognitive, and physical development. Participants will continue to review; Interim Licensing Standard, Child Growth and Development, Medication Guidelines, Discipline, Working with Biological Families and understanding the Effects of Trauma.

This training is designed to prepare resource families to work with youth in the foster care system. Participants will receive a better understanding of the foster care system structure and explore how to provide a well-planned, safe, and secure environment designed to meet children’s individual and unique needs, and how to create an environment that promotes children’s social emotional, cognitive, and physical development. Participants will continue to review; Interim Licensing Standard, Child Growth and Development, Medication Guidelines, Discipline, Working with Biological Families and understanding the Effects of Trauma.

If you’ve decided to become a foster, kin, and/or adoptive parent (all under the title “Resource Parent”) and have some basic understanding of what that means, then this two part training is a next step for you. The Resource Family Pre-Approval Training will help participants understand many aspects of supporting a “youth in care”, or in the foster care system, and it will furnish you with vital information about the youths who come into the foster care system. This class boosts your knowledge and confidence to meet the challenge of taking youth into your home and to be sure you are ready to follow through on the commitment.

The Resource Family Pre-Approval Training helps you to understand the many aspects of supporting a youth “in care” in the foster care system, and it will furnish yoou with vital information about the youths who come into the foster care system. This class boosts your knowledge and confidence to meet the challenge of taking youth into your home and to be sure you are ready to follow through on the commitment.

This training will explain the purpose of the Child Welfare system and the Resource Family Approval application process. We will define what a Resource Parent is and go over the responsibilities that come with the role, where the Resource Parent is in the larger team of supports for foster youth, as well as the five competency categories guiding a Resource Parent. The Aldea Staff will introduce Aldea’s history, its programs, and support services provided to Resource Families. She will explain the steps in the process to become an approved Resource Parent: the required documentation, pre-service trainings, submission of background checks, how to prepare your home for RFA approval, and review […]

This training will discuss challenges, statistics, and tips to affirm one’s gender identity, as well as review the importance of using proper pronouns and respecting a person’s gender identity. Join us as we work together to develop empathy and understanding for LGBTQ2IA+ community members. Register Here

The Alameda County Assessment Center is a place for children and youth to stay while they await placement within the foster care system. Youth coming to the Assessment Center are often removed from their homes due to reasons of abuse and/or neglect or are changing placements within the foster care system. When youth are removed, it is possible there will be an escalation of suicidality, because of the intensity of their experience and the nature of trauma from removal. This training aims to review safety protocol and emergency procedures, while youth await placement at the Alameda County Assessment Center. In this training, providers will have the opportunity to identify ways […]

Unfortunately teen dating violence is common so it’s imperative that social service providers, school educators and parents/caregivers are aware of the issue. This training will provide an overview of teen dating violence including risk factors, warning signs, and strategies to prevent and address team violence in order to improve outcomes for system involved youth. The training will include large and small group discussion, lecture and video clips.

Professional mental health services ethics codes, case law and regulations are ever changing. With the busy schedules most school-based MHPs have, it can be difficult to keep up with these changes, particularly as they relate to children in the foster care system. As a result, licensing boards require regular updates for practicing professionals (e.g., the Board of Psychology and the BBS), and malpractice insurers are encouraging their insured members to regularly engage in continuing education on the topic. The purpose of this course is to meet and exceed the requirements of regulatory organizations, assist school-based mental health professionals in maintaining competence in this vital area, and in better managing the […]

The purpose of this training is to create a renewed and heightened awareness of boundary issues in work with foster youth.  Having boundaries is not just a matter of being professional. Appropriate boundaries are a key ingredient in providing the children in our care with the highest quality of care, which often times requires us to build trusting and healing relationships with them.  Frequently the relationships we build with clients can have ambiguous boundaries, making it important to develop an awareness of possible danger signs for boundary issues that might result in poor practice or which might be red flags for potential exploitation of clients.

The purpose of this training is to create a renewed and heightened awareness of boundary issues in work with foster youth.  Having boundaries is not just a matter of being professional. Appropriate boundaries are a key ingredient in providing the children in our care with the highest quality of care, which often times requires us to build trusting and healing relationships with them.  Frequently the relationships we build with clients can have ambiguous boundaries, making it important to develop an awareness of possible danger signs for boundary issues that might result in poor practice or which might be red flags for potential exploitation of clients.

In this training, participants will explore strategies for emotion regulation and stress management both in the moment and in their on-going work with youth. Through didactic, small group and large group discussion, participants will reflect about their current life/work stressors, identify warning signs of emotion dysregulation and distress, and learn Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) skills to regulate emotions and cope with stress effectively. These activities will strengthen participants’ emotional resilience and mental wellness so they can continue to provide responsive and thoughtful care to youth as well as being able to teach these skills to the youth they serve.

This training gives a detailed overview of the Foster Youth Sexual Health Education Act (Senate Bill 89). A review of sexual and reproductive health rights of youth in foster care will be addressed. The duties and responsibilities as a caregiver, as well as those of the caseworker will be detailed. Further, how to engage with youth about sexual and reproductive wellness and current contraceptive methods are highlighted. This discussion will give guidance on how to have these conversations in a manner that is medically accurate, developmentally and age-appropriate, trauma informed, and strengths-based. Participants will be given age-appropriate resources to share with youth.

This training will cover who are Mandated Reporters and their responsibilities to report child abuse, types of child abuse and neglect, accidental vs purposeful abuse and what, when and where to report abuse. Protection for reporters and penalties for failure to report. This training is intended for those that work with children and youth within the child welfare system or are at-risk of entering. This includes child welfare workers, resource parents, youth sports coaches, youth mentors, teachers and volunteers/staff working with this population. Register Here

In the Module 4 segment of this training, the group will focus on interactions with first responders while caring for youth or families. Participants will explore reasons key situations such as psychiatric emergencies, interactions with law enforcement, and medical emergencies, including why a provider might initiate those services and how to navigate and collaborate with first responders. Participants will also discuss best practices in following up after contact with a first responder, including communication, adjusting case plans, or updating safety plans as appropriate for youth and family needs. There will be a discussion of how bias can impact judgements about safety, responses to safety, and personal comfort levels of safety. Participants will […]

The role of nutrition in system-involved youth’s wellness.” 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 mental health. This training will provide an overview of how food impacts one’s mental health so providers are more equipped to have conversations with system-involved youth about their nutrition. Register Here

The training will focus on Seeking Safety and Harm Reduction. It will address the client perspective in relation to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorder treatment (SUDT), as well as the provider perspective. Register Here

The training will focus on Seeking Safety and Harm Reduction. It will address the client perspective in relation to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorder treatment (SUDT), as well as the provider perspective. Register Here

Mind-body and spiritual integration places emphasis on the whole person (holistic care) and teaches foster children how each component impacts their health and wellbeing. This training will discuss integrating mind, body, and spiritual health strategies to improve /enhance wellness for youth in care. The training also provides knowledge about the impact of stress, trauma and illness on the body, mind and spirit. The training is in lecture format including PowerPoint presentations, case studies/reviews, pre-post evaluations and Q&A.

The events of the past few years have opened the opportunity for organizations to realize the need for collective healing for their staff. Supervisors become that support for their staff, requiring of them the need to engage in reflective practices to help them navigate the challenges that may arise. Reflective practice is the first step to enhance communication and teamwork by allowing voices to be heard without bias and supported with understanding. The Reflective Practice training is interactive where participants will not only learn strategies, but also have opportunity to practice in the session.

What role does collective care and self-fullness have in the liberation of the system? How do providers maintain longevity in an industry that is emotionally, cognitively, and at time physically demanding? These questions will explore how provider working in direct service roles can reflect on their wellness practice. The course will blend, short lecture and videos to define what radical self-care means, then allows space for participants to define for themselves what that might look like for them.  Additionally, a tool from Lama Rod Owens (self-described Buddhist Minister, Author, Activist, Yoga Instructor, Authorized Lama, Queen) will be explain and activity facilitation to demonstrated. 

This 3.5 hour training will educate providers about federal and California state laws that protect LGBTQ youth in care, as well as alert them to procedures for reporting anti-LGBTQ discrimination in educational, therapeutic, and child welfare contexts. Participants will review legal protections for youth in regards to placement, medical care, gender-affirming medical care and therapy, and access to sex-segregated spaces. Participants will learn procedures for how to support a client’s name and/or gender change, whether minor or adult, and how to do so when clients have a legal guardian other than a parent, or one or more parents still listed as guardians. Participants will also discuss how to make strategic […]

“This training will focus on suicide and homicide risk factors, protective factors, assessment of risk severity, and safety planning. Attendees will familiarize themselves with general suicide and homicide risk and protective factors, also exploring factors that are specific to youth. Attendees will use this information to create a meaningful, dynamic safety plan that includes warning signs, formal and informal supports/contacts, supportive environments, and coping strategies. The training will include large group discussion, breakout groups, and the use of vignettes.”

Its important social service providers have ongoing dialogue with foster care and juvenile justice involved youth about dating, boundaries and sex. Without these conversations, youth are left to navigate these topics on their own or with their peers. This training will equip service providers to have these crucial conversations. Register Here

“The Internet has opened the door to many harms for youth, so its crucial providers are continually engaging in dialogue with youth about technology. The training will focus on the dangers of social media, cyber bullying, sexting, pornography and online gaming. The trainer will also discuss safety strategies for each of these categories and conversation starters with youth.”

“Unfortunately teen dating violence is common so it’s imperative that providers, school educators and parents are aware of the issue. This training will provide an overview of teen dating violence including risk factors, warning signs, preventative strategies and intervention strategies.”

This training is designed to meet the licensing requirements for 6 hours of training on managing suicide/high risk behavior and will help providers who support system involved youth have the best, research-informed skills for assessment, strategies, and prevention for suicide. We will review epidemiological data on suicide and related behaviors and review the literature on predictors of suicidal behaviors that informs evidence-based risk assessment. An overview of evidence-based risk assessment and best practice procedures will be provided, followed by opportunities to practice applying components of safety planning to enhance the skills of those who support system involved youth. Video vignettes and role plays will be used throughout to enhance learning […]

Many system involved youth are affected by addiction on some level of their lives. It is important to gain an understanding of how addiction develops and what some of the contributing factors are that affect system involved youth in order to most effectively support them toward improved outcomes. This course will take a look at how addiction develops, the effects of insecure attachment, and how a substitute relationship can be formed. We will also examine a new whole process model for preventing or reducing addiction and/or its negative impacts on system involved youth.

Professionals who work directly with at-risk children and system involved youth are mandated reporters of child abuse and neglect. It is critical that mandated reporters and caregivers of system involved youth are trained to recognize the signs of different types of abuse or neglect. Additionally, a mandated reporter must fully understand how and where to report suspected abuse in accordance with their legal obligation.

This is a two day training (2/27/23-2/28/23)designed to educate, equip and empower youth, and provide them with tools and opportunities for discussion to prevent them from unknowingly becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation. The curriculum provides an overview of CSEC which includes what it is, examples of CSEC, the CSEC business model and the objectification and Sexualization of women and girls in the entertainment industry. The curriculum also discusses risk factors for involvement in CSEC, the dangers of the Internet and social media, the differences between a relationship with a boyfriend/girlfriend and an exploiter, and healthy relationships. The curriculum discusses the different types of exploiters and recruiters, their tactics, and […]

The Alameda County Assessment Center is a place for children and youth to stay while they await placement within the foster care system. Youth coming to the Assessment Center are often removed from their homes due to reasons of abuse and/or neglect or are changing placements within the foster care system. When youth are removed, it is possible there will be an escalation of suicidality, because of the intensity of their experience and the nature of trauma from removal. This training aims to review safety protocol and emergency procedures, while youth await placement at the Alameda County Assessment Center. In this training, providers will have the opportunity to identify ways […]

The training will take a developmental approach, focusing on the various emotional and physical boundaries that inevitably arise with working with system involved youth and children in foster care. This training will also utilize case vignettes and small group sharing to dig deep into the various counter-transference experiences we may face when working with system involved youth and children in foster care and how counter-transference may impact our information gathering efforts and strategies to support them.

This training highlights the importance of clinical case management as an integral aspect of mental health treatment. By exploring a framework of clinical case management, the training aims to apply those concepts to providing services in the field of mental health and more specifically in conjunction with therapy services. Special attention is given to the unique evolution of clinical case management at WCC, a mental health agency, historically offering primarily therapy services. Identification of the roles and responsibilities of clinical case managers and other professionals also highlights efforts to integrate a client-centered, team based care approach. Some logistics and step-by-step instruction is highlighted at the end of the training. This […]

Many system-involved youth and young adults struggle with aggression, low frustration tolerance, etc. All this can make conflict much more difficult, which is troublesome given that conflict can arise within families, within relationships with friends and romantic partners, at school, at work, etc. This training will provide an overview of why conflict arises, how to understand conflict through a cultural lens, what happens when conflict isn’t resolved, and conflict resolution skills with system-involved youth in relationships, at school and at work.

Managers (both new and experienced) often find themselves supervising staff from instinct. This method often falls short of meeting the needs of supervisees and ultimately impacting the youth that these supervisees serve. This training is designed to help participants gain managerial skills that supplement their instincts so that they can better support successful foster youth outcomes. This combination should result in managers facilitating the development of their supervisees on an ongoing basis. Participants will explore practical strategies for successful supervision of staff from the beginning of the relationship. Setting performance goals, giving feedback and effective documentation will be covered.

This training is going to review the materials from the Equilibrium curriculum as it relates to chapter one Why are you here. Through didactic, collaborative, and individual reflective learning, the group will explore the values that brought them to work in the child welfare system, how to maintain connection to those during difficult times with thoughtful personal resilience plans, and the professional responsibilities related to expressing those values such as cultural humility. These activities will support staff to provide thoughtful, responsible services for youth in their care.

After the Crisis (Ch. 8 “After the Crisis”): Highlights the importance of properly following up after a crisis incident in order to better support youth safety and ongoing care. Discussion of nurturing the client as well as injured staff after a crisis. Covers important guidelines for accurate documentation of each incident. Explains our process of debriefing situations afterward in order to learn from them.

The pandemic has had significant impact on the ways that we maintain safe contact with one another and our clientele.  This workshop will help youth wellness professionals and advocates have increased understanding of appropriate boundaries, ethical considerations, and other implications to consider when using telehealth and social media in the context of client contact or other aspects of our work.

We can’t know how to develop plans to support system involved youth if we don’t understand fully the youth’s context including family relationships, historical trauma, and intergenerational influences. Learn how the history of the biological families of our system involved youth impacts their current functioning and how a family’s life cycle developmental challenges are intricately related to a youth’s own developmental challenges and attachment issues. We will review the importance of creating family trees and timelines withfamilies in order to learn about their culture/stressors/life experiences and other important values. This information guides our case planning and service provision of all kinds. Without context, we cannot possibly understand what the behaviors […]

The training will focus on the effects of social media on adolescent development. The training will discuss and explore how adolescents’ emotional and mental wellbeing may be impacted by social media use. Training will also explore ways that social media can be used to engage and support youth. 

Meeting ethical and legal standards is foundational in the provision of competent mental health and recovery service. Many dimensions of these standards are clear and have remained constant over the years. Yet others continue to evolve, and social workers and mental health professionals (MHPs) routinely confront complex and ambiguous ethical and legal situations. The purpose of this course is to give MHPs an opportunity to renew and sharpen their ability to engage in knowledgeable and effective ethical decision-making, and to understand and apply ethical and legal standards to challenges inherent in clinical work. The course also has the goal of assisting participants in better managing the risks of clinical practice. […]

Training will address the following guiding questions for participants: How do we connect with ourselves? With system involved youth and families? With others who support system involved youth and families? Training will provide best practices and processes for leading social skills groups with youth who are at high risk for system involvement, as well as youth who are already part of child welfare or juvenile justice systems. And finally, what are key strategies and ideas for doing this all online?

Continuation From Part 1: In this training, participants will gain a generalized concept of MI. Participants will be introduced to the spirit of MI, Righting Reflex, and OARS (open-ended, affirmations, reflections, and summary). Participants will have the opportunity to work in small groups, engage in various activities, and receive tangible examples to use during their work with clients. The material will be delivered by PowerPoint presentation, short video clips, group discussion, breakout (small group) discussions and participant workbook (handout).

Youth in foster care are often part of large teams in which complex issues may arise and team-based decisions may need to be made. There is a challenge that often surfaces in large teams around collaboration and coordination of care. This is a multi-part series that will focus on the multisystemic intricacies of working with foster care youth. This series will address best practices of interdisciplinary collaboration in order to improve the collaborative care for foster care youth.

Timely management of paperwork and meeting productivity requirements, while making positive connections and impact with clients – that’s being a true SUPERHERO. Learn strategies for sustainable “superheroing” so you can provide super care and interventions to your system involved clients and their families. We will cover strategies to address challenges with paperwork and productivity, and will develop a sustainable superhero plan to address the barriers to successfully meeting your client’s needs while staying calm and focused.

This training teaches how to understand family dynamics from a relational perspective that will allow us to develop case plans for our system-involved youth using a strength-based lens with the Pain in the Heart Healing (PITH) Questions. We will explore the link between past trauma, current feelings about the past trauma, and the fear of what might happen in the future. Since our kids are acting out these traumas in their behavioral symptoms, it is important to be able to understand these from their perspective so that we can more easily respond to the healing necessary to increase positive outcomes using evidence-informed principles. This training is for anyone who is […]

Youth in foster care are in complex systems, where multiple disciplines of providers and systems of care are working to cross barriers in collaboration in order to share relevant information about youth and families with each other. This training for service providers will provide an overview of automated systems for child welfare and the process of information sharing across systems of care. Service providers will be exposed to systems such as welligent and avatar and develop an understanding of how these are strategies for navigating and sharing information across complex systems.

Privacy of system involved children, youth, and families is held to many local, state, and federal expectations. For youth in care, their privacy rights are protected via the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Other service-specific privacy practices including confidentiality, and mandated reporting requirements may apply, and have the potential to impact engagement and partnership with foster youth. This training will provide a comprehensive overview of HIPAA, protected health information (PHI), confidentiality, and mandated reporting requirements for service providers, and delve into a discussion of how these privacy practices are relevant to youth in foster care. Due to the ever changing nature of how we communicate with children, families, […]

Working within larger systems of care with separate sets of goals creates challenges around collaboration. This training will explore the common dynamics and challenges that can surface when working within large service teams. It will also review ways to mitigate compassion fatigue when encountering difficult dynamics within various systems that serve foster youth.

Recent studies indicate that professionals rarely receive any formal education, training or supervision on how to best engage, assess, support and treat members of the foster care/adoption triad – foster/adopted people, foster/adoptive parents and first/birth parents. This two-hour introductory course will provide professionals with tools and best practices to use when providing services to all members of the foster/adoption triad, across their lifespan. At each stage of child development, new understandings will become possible for both foster/adopted children and their parents. Participants will learn about some of the common presenting themes in therapy, as well as strategies and interventions that support parents in meeting the evolving needs of their foster/adopted […]

While foster care providers must address the challenges of improving child safety, well-being, and stability, they also must meet the needs of an increasingly culturally and ethnically diverse child welfare population. This series of trainings will review how important it is to consider culture when working with youth in out of home care, how to improve communication across diverse cultures and to support foster parents provide culturally relevant caregiving.

This seminar draws on Liberation Psychology, Queer and Critical Race theories and frameworks to address ways that community, culture and how relationships help to create opportunities or challenges for healing and liberation for foster youth with histories of trauma. In working with diverse foster youth, it is important for Participants to explore their understanding of intersectional identities as well as power/privilege dynamics. This training will help participants understand best practices for working across difference, increasing self-reflective capacity, and deconstructing colonial concepts.

Trainees will be taught the common signs and symptoms of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue and learn how to recognize it in themselves and others. Having this knowledge will bring awareness and ability to identify and interrupt the progression of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue to allow successful client-staff relationships and increase staff retention in the helping profession.   Register Here

Trainees will be taught the common signs and symptoms of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue and learn how to recognize it in themselves and others. Having this knowledge will bring awareness and ability to identify and interrupt the progression of vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue to allow successful client-staff relationships and increase staff retention in the helping profession.   Register Here

This workshop series will examine complex trauma from a relationship-based perspective. This series will review the social-emotional impact of complex trauma and the implications for the therapeutic relationship. Strategies for clinical assessment and intervention will be discussed using the theoretical foundations of early childhood mental health. Participants will be offered didactic learning and reflective discussion. This is a voluntary workshop series for interested trainees, staff, and community partners.

This training will provide behavioral health providers with online tools and strategies that specifically meet the needs of assessing, engaging and providing services to foster youth and youth at risk of future involvement in the foster care system. Providers will gain the tools needed to assess their own capacity for delivering these services and acquire strategies for addressing obstacles and challenges that arise when utilizing telehealth tools.

This training is intended to Learning Normative factors associated with positive early child development, The Diagnosis of Reactive Attachment DisorderThe effects of child abuse and neglect on development. Register Here

This training series takes a look at different ways to address anxiety, stress, and trauma. This four-part series will give you a deep dive into energy medicine/energy psychology and how it can be used to not only address nervous system dysregulation but also how to use specific techniques to support those with complex trauma. This training will have a lot of hands-on practicing and interactivity. Many system involved youth and their families are survivors of interpersonal violence and other traumatic experiences which impact their ability to regulate their nervous systems. Those who work with them often find themselves becoming dysregulated in the process of learning about their client’s experiences. Learn techniques […]

This training series takes a look at different ways to address anxiety, stress, and trauma. This four-part series will give you a deep dive into energy medicine/energy psychology and how it can be used to not only address nervous system dysregulation but also how to use specific techniques to support those with complex trauma. This training will have a lot of hands-on practicing and interactivity. Many system involved youth and their families are survivors of interpersonal violence and other traumatic experiences which impact their ability to regulate their nervous systems. Those who work with them often find themselves becoming dysregulated in the process of learning about their client’s experiences. Learn techniques […]

This training provided by former foster youth in the WCC Youth Advocate Program (YAP) will provide a unique lens from the perspective of the experience of the foster care system. Providers, social workers, and resource families attending this training will understand the importance of engaging foster youth to increase permanency, develop positive relationships, and ensure positive outcomes. Content themes presented throughout this training will include the importance of strategies of engaging youth in foster care, and promoting resilience for youth in and out of home care through involvement in services.

This presentation will help participants understand the benefits of enhancing skills and resources for those that work with foster youth. Participants will learn strategies for navigating complex feelings often associated with child welfare professionals: isolation, lack of support, lack of efficacy, time and work-life balance. They will have tools for increasing professional impact, prioritizing never-ending workloads, and making progress on youth goals that sometimes feel unattainable.

This training will review the impact of trauma on children, youth and families particularly families who have had contact with DHS or have experienced any family separations and/or foster placement. The training will also review the impact of trauma on communities and systems and will encourage participants to consolidate and put these concepts into practice using case based scenarios. This training will highlight the benefits of utilizing strategies that are trauma based as well as restorative practices within a social justice frame.

“Common issues for grieving children will be explored, including factors affecting grief and the grief response, how grief is expressed at various ages and stages of development, needs of grieving children, and considerations for varied religious and cultural backgrounds. A variety of creative & expressive art techniques will be presented that social workers can utilize throughout the stages of bereavement. Participants will have the opportunity to explore some of activities experientially, utilizing hands-on materials and creative techniques appropriate for use with children ages 6-17. The workshop will also provide participants with strategies for assisting parents/caregivers in talking to children about death, and resources for caregivers and social workers to assist […]

Considered by scholars to be the oldest practiced healing science, this training will provide a holistic approach to health that can be applied to helping foster youth improve their wellbeing through the use of different modalities. These practices emphasize the uniqueness of an individual and offers approaches based on foster youth’s individual needs. In this workshop, participants will learn the basics of this approach. They will gain insight into how a youth’s unique individual needs can surface. They will also learn how to incorporate these to help youth use their 5 senses to achieve wellbeing and resiliency.

Many foster children/youth have experienced trauma and/or are living through ongoing trauma. The training will highlight the use of playful engagement approaches to help children/youth heal through traumatic experiences such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and others. Case examples involving children/youth in foster care will also be used. This training will highlight the use of play based approaches as one of the choices in the continuum of care when working with children and families who have experienced trauma. This includes a sequence of play-based components that: (1) follows the tri-phasic model of trauma recovery (Herman, 1992); (2) underscores the neurobiology of trauma; and (3) complements current evidence-based approaches in […]

In the aftermath of trauma, one may experience high degrees of guilt and shame. They may even blame themselves for their abuse, for the disruption it’s caused in the family, etc.. This training will focus on an important aspect of one’s healing journey – self-forgiveness. Providers will learn why self-forgiveness is important for youth who have experienced trauma and how to support a client with forgiving themselves. Register Here

Shame is perhaps the most excruciating emotion youth experience, sometimes embedded deeply into their experiences of emotional abuse. It is also a signal that can assist in protecting and maintaining social bonds. Because of its aversive nature, there is a natural inclination to avoid shame either by denying, avoiding, ignoring, or rising above it. However, failure to tend to youth experiences of shame can lead to other negative consequences. Avoidance may foreclose rich and crucial channels to understanding and deepening human relationships, particularly within foster families. In this class, participants will look at the topic of shame: how a relationship to shame can inhibit and/or facilitate work with foster youth. […]

This training is focused on how simple acts of appreciations, compassion and Community Building helps with symptoms of Vicarious Trauma felt by providers and families working with foster youth and youth at risk in the system. Participants will gain experience through discussion and activities of strategies underlying appreciations and gratitude practices. Through exercises encouraging reflection on compassion and building of relationships and community, participants will gain an experiential understanding of how to strengthen families and natural supports surrounding youth.

Trauma informed care is critical and positive development in systems of care, understanding how poverty and racism impact individual children. While this lens moves us in the right direction, it is inadequate. This training introduces a concept of Healing Centered Engagement. By unpacking the missing elements in trauma informed lens, this training outlines and discusses 3 other critical elements to take into consideration when addressing trauma. Understanding trauma typically lead to efforts to eliminate the negative impacts of trauma, but true healing incorporates a lens that supports children and the adults who support them to imagine, envision, and act toward a life of flourishing.

Trauma informed care is critical and positive development in systems of care, understanding how poverty and racism impact individual children. While this lens moves us in the right direction, it is inadequate. This training introduces a concept of Healing Centered Engagement. By unpacking the missing elements in trauma informed lens, this training outlines and discusses 3 other critical elements to take into consideration when addressing trauma. Understanding trauma typically lead to efforts to eliminate the negative impacts of trauma, but true healing incorporates a lens that supports children and the adults who support them to imagine, envision, and act toward a life of flourishing.

Communities are continually impacted and challenged in addressing complex trauma in their settings. Children may display a range of symptoms and behaviors that are difficult to organize and understand. Teachers, providers and caregivers need frameworks for interpreting behaviors and expanding practices that build a more attuned and responsive environment. This course will offer providers a framework of understanding traumatic impact in terms of arousal and attachment behaviors that can guide response and support improved functioning in the community, participation in tasks required for daily functioning. Facilitated discussion, didactic material, and experiential exercises will be used to discuss the themes and address class objectives

Communities are continually impacted and challenged in addressing complex trauma in their settings. Children may display a range of symptoms and behaviors that are difficult to organize and understand. Teachers, providers and caregivers need frameworks for interpreting behaviors and expanding practices that build a more attuned and responsive environment. This course will offer providers a framework of understanding traumatic impact in terms of arousal and attachment behaviors that can guide response and support improved functioning in the community, participation in tasks required for daily functioning. Facilitated discussion, didactic material, and experiential exercises will be used to discuss the themes and address class objectives.

Communities are continually impacted and challenged in addressing complex trauma in their settings. Children may display a range of symptoms and behaviors that are difficult to organize and understand. Teachers, providers and caregivers need frameworks for interpreting behaviors and expanding practices that build a more attuned and responsive environment. This course will offer providers a framework of understanding traumatic impact in terms of arousal and attachment behaviors that can guide response and support improved functioning in the community, participation in tasks required for daily functioning. Facilitated discussion, didactic material, and experiential exercises will be used to discuss the themes and address class objectives

Communities are continually impacted and challenged in addressing complex trauma in their settings. Children may display a range of symptoms and behaviors that are difficult to organize and understand. Teachers, providers and caregivers need frameworks for interpreting behaviors and expanding practices that build a more attuned and responsive environment. This course will offer providers a framework of understanding traumatic impact in terms of arousal and attachment behaviors that can guide response and support improved functioning in the community, participation in tasks required for daily functioning. Facilitated discussion, didactic material, and experiential exercises will be used to discuss the themes and address class objectives

Change for foster youth requires effective ways of quantifying and measuring the changes that are most meaningful for youth and families. This training allows participants to practice identifying meaningful change outcomes for foster youth and exploring how to apply data-driven decision-making practices in overseeing work with foster youth.

The training will take a neurodevelopmental approach and highlight the impact of trauma on brain development and cognitive functioning at different stages of infancy, childhood, and adolescence. This course provides an overview of Adverse Childhood experiences (ACES), early brain development, and how complex trauma can affect the development of system involved youth. Attendees will learn about the impact of such trauma, as well as gain a deeper understanding on how it may show up in relationships and behaviors of system involved youth.

Foster youth rely on many providers and resources, and it is imperative that these providers understand how to work together to most effectively assist and engage youth in care. This seminar reflects on principles of effective teaming for providers working with youth, and engages providers in practicing and employing best strategies for teaming in their roles going forward.

Everyone is impacted by the system of racism, and therefore has to tenaciously walk against that system. Individuals are impacted by structural racism, though the costs and consequences are significantly different, and our awareness of the system usually also differs greatly. Working for racial equity at the individual level often involves understanding the concepts, building the confidence and skills to work toward racial justice, and being accountable. Accountability is a keystone of racial equity work. Accountability refers to creating processes and systems that are designed to help individuals and groups to be held in check for their decisions and actions and for whether the work being done reflects and embodies […]

Everyone is impacted by the system of racism, and therefore has to tenaciously walk against that system. Individuals are impacted by structural racism, though the costs and consequences are significantly different, and our awareness of the system usually also differs greatly. Working for racial equity at the individual level often involves understanding the concepts, building the confidence and skills to work toward racial justice, and being accountable. Accountability is a keystone of racial equity work. Accountability refers to creating processes and systems that are designed to help individuals and groups to be held in check for their decisions and actions and for whether the work being done reflects and embodies […]

The youth and families we serve often have experienced various traumas including through systemic oppression, familial trauma and more. This training will shed light on the relationship between colonization, white supremacy culture, and trauma, including intergenerational, community/collective, and individual traumatic experiences. We identify the impact of trauma through a neuropsychological, biological, emotional, and behavioral lens, as it pertains to Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) from a liberation psychology perspective, while highlighting the historical and current impact of these experiences on BIPOC identity and wellbeing. These various lenses can give us a better understanding of the youth and families we serve, allowing us to create more effective strategies to support […]

This training will explore race and culture and their impact on the dynamics of the assessment relationship. Race-related transference and countertransference will be discussed from theoretical, humanistic, and trauma-informed perspectives. Through reflection and analysis of a case example, this training will integrate race-related transferences as data points in order to create treatment recommendations that may address complex relational trauma. This training is designed to support training clinicians with facilitating therapeutic-collaborative assessment for youth in foster care.

There are many challenges that providers will face when engaging foster youth in the early stages of service. For providers who have never worked in homes or communities, this may present challenges for knowing ways to provide a structure and supportive framework for care and services. Attention is paid to helping providers develop strategies for engaging youth in services and with systems of care. Participants learn strategies to learn how to overcome dilemmas and barriers to accessing or engaging youth in treatment.

This training will provide strategies for direct service providers in reducing the impact of secondary trauma. These strategies include meditation, the role of nutrition, mindfulness, essential oils, body work and movement such as stretching and yoga. These strategies can be implemented by providers on an ongoing basis, and can also be shared with clients and caregivers as strategies to cope with trauma symptoms.

The training, focused on the incorporation and integration of multiple sources of data to inform evidence-based conclusions, prioritizes a strong empirical basis for conclusions for those involved in the foster care system. Diagnoses, clinical and parental decisions, and recommendations must stem from an evidence-based approach to integrating data from multiple sources and often reconciling contradictory data, and this training provides the framework for such work.

Youth in foster care who have experienced multiple placement disruptions, may struggle with developing lasting relationships, have an under-resourced natural support system, and have difficulty maintaining resiliency and resourcefulness. This training helps attendees better understand attachment difficulties with youth in care. Participants will also learn strategies for strengthening relationships to stabilize placement and build resiliency. The focus of discussion will be around incorporating trauma-informed and social-emotional development principles into best practices for supporting youth in care.

As participants develop rapport and assessing for the youth’s presenting needs, more nuanced relational dynamics begin to emerge. Foster youth are often reserved in their openness to communicate vulnerabilities and needs. However, as trauma content begins to surface between youth and providers or caregivers, those supporting youth may find themselves struggling to navigate their own emotional reactions. This training provides strategies for managing secondary and vicarious trauma in work with foster youth.

A sense of community, belonging, and relational connections have been found to be key factors in mitigating the impact of secondary trauma and can be especially impactful for caregivers, providers, and social workers to integrate into their sustainability practices. This training highlights the healing power of community and connection will then also be applied to supporting youth in care, as this is a primary obstacle for many of our foster youth as they are often removed from their communities of origin and connections and have this experience again and again as they move through placement. Secondary trauma exposure often leads to isolation, withdrawing from family and social connections, and a […]

Domestic violence is one of the top health concerns in our country today; many youth and adults involved in the mental health, child welfare, and juvenile justice systems have been exposed to it. Domestic Violence (DV) can have a devastating impact on children, families, and our communities. Learn how to best recognize symptoms and behaviors related to Domestic Violence and how to best work with children, families, and adults (though the training will primarily focus on work with children and families) affected by DV.

Domestic violence is one of the top health concerns in our country today; many youth and adults involved in the mental health, child welfare, and juvenile justice systems have been exposed to it. Domestic Violence (DV) can have a devastating impact on children, families, and our communities. Learn how to best recognize symptoms and behaviors related to Domestic Violence and how to best work with children, families, and adults (though the training will primarily focus on work with children and families) affected by DV.

Training Summary: The training will provide an overview of domestic violence that includes forms of violence and the impact of violence on communities that have disproportionately high violence. The training will also discuss cultural considerations when we’re working with youth and families impacted by domestic violence. Lastly, the training will equip providers with strategies to support youth exposed to domestic violence in their homes. Participants will be able to: -Identify at least one way youth are impacted by domestic violence -Identify one group that is disproportionately impacted by domestic violence -Identify at least one strategy to support youth impacted by domestic violence  Register Here

Objectification and sexualization impact girls and women of all ages, including system-involved girls and young women. So, it’s crucial to learn how it impacts one’s mental health, self-esteem, interactions with other girls and women, etc. This training will provide an overview of objectification and sexualization as well as strategies to support system-involved girls and young women.

Given the disproportion number of people of color in the prison population, it is important to understanding mass incarceration and how it impacts youth. In this training we will talk about the historical context of mass incarceration, why mass incarceration exists, how it impacts youth, and strategies to support youth who have an incarcerated parent. Register Here

When system-involved youth experience trauma it can impact not only their emotional, relational and physical health but it can also impact their spiritual health. Youth may find themselves turning away from religion or turning towards it. Given that religion and spirituality are important aspects of many lives, it’s important for social service providers to learn how trauma impacts one’s relationship with God, spiritual practices, and engagement in their spiritual communities. Register Here

This training is meant for everyone teaching and supporting students who have experienced trauma. It will cover what trauma is, the effects of trauma on the student, how to support students in the classroom i.e. traditional, virtual and home school classrooms, how to provide a successful learning environment for the student and care for yourself and the student while in the learning environment. Register Here

From the time they enter the state’s care and likely long before, foster youth experience trauma that can severely alter their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. The impact of trauma on foster youth can mean that this vulnerable population faces numerous additional challenges as they grow and develop into adulthood. Foster youth experience trauma in many ways, often starting at home. Youth will enter the foster care system because they have experienced physical or sexual abuse, neglect, a loss of a parent, or abandonment, forcing the state to step in. Other family stress factors such as poverty, substance abuse, mental illness, and incarceration can lead to a child’s removal from […]

This training focuses the ways children are misunderstood in the foster care system, and the ways that trauma and cultural context are taken into account in a responsible way when providing care. This training also focuses on building skills in looking at a complex history and picture and accurately understanding the needs of the youth and their families. Material in this presentation asks participants to continue to expand their understanding and thinking about ways that trauma as well as cultural factors impact the ways children and adolescents are seen in the foster care system.

Trauma Informed Care is intended to educate those in the helping professions about the prevalence of trauma, how to recognize the signs of trauma, and how to help someone with trauma.  Register Here

“Parenting In OZ!” is an experiential, memorable, trauma-informed, parenting curriculum designed to help parents and staff understand and respond therapeutically to the acting-out behaviors often exhibited by children who have experienced the trauma of neglect, abuse, and loss. Utilizing the vivid imagery from “The Wizard of OZ” and the emergency room, this unique training is an entertaining, multi-sensory approach to working with trauma that both professionals and parents cannot help but remember and integrate into their work. Trauma informed parenting is a paradigm shift for many parents who have often been trained to utilize tools designed to bring external controls to address or remediate problematic behaviors within a particular environment.

“Parenting In OZ!” is an experiential, memorable, trauma-informed, parenting curriculum designed to help parents and staff understand and respond therapeutically to the acting-out behaviors often exhibited by children who have experienced the trauma of neglect, abuse, and loss. Utilizing the vivid imagery from “The Wizard of OZ” and the emergency room, this unique training is an entertaining, multi-sensory approach to working with trauma that both professionals and parents cannot help but remember and integrate into their work. Trauma informed parenting is a paradigm shift for many parents who have often been trained to utilize tools designed to bring external controls to address or remediate problematic behaviors within a particular environment.

This training is designed to support staff working with youth in care in understanding Compassion Fatigue, Vicarious Trauma and Burnout in order to allow them to better support youth who have experienced trauma. Participants will have opportunities to discuss their personal experiences, learn from each other, and review current literature on Compassion Fatigue and self-care in order to help them identify when it is happening in themselves and others. Participants will discuss strategies on how to alleviate Compassion Fatigue in order to stay in relationship with youth and provide the best quality care.

These trainings provide an overview of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in foster care with an emphasis on the impact of trauma. Common challenges experienced by those that work with CSEC will be reviewed along with suggestions for an effective engagement and service approach. Information related to appropriately advocating for CSEC within the various systems will be discussed. The trainings are designed to be sequential and build upon each other. Facilitated discussion, didactic material, and experiential exercises will be used to discuss the themes and address class objectives.

These trainings provide an overview of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in foster care with an emphasis on the impact of trauma. Common challenges experienced by those that work with CSEC will be reviewed along with suggestions for an effective engagement and service approach. Information related to appropriately advocating for CSEC within the various systems will be discussed. The trainings are designed to be sequential and build upon each other. Facilitated discussion, didactic material, and experiential exercises will be used to discuss the themes and address class objectives.

These trainings provide an overview of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in foster care with an emphasis on the impact of trauma. Common challenges experienced by those that work with CSEC will be reviewed along with suggestions for an effective engagement and service approach. Information related to appropriately advocating for CSEC within the various systems will be discussed. The trainings are designed to be sequential and build upon each other. Facilitated discussion, didactic material, and experiential exercises will be used to discuss the themes and address class objectives.

This training will focus on providing information and understanding related to the neurobiological and psychological systems which are activated when address trauma-embedded memories in foster youth populations seeking mental health services. Additionally, this training will also review information related to dissociation and traumatic memory avoidance and how these symptoms can be supported by attending to biological and physical manifestations of traumatic memory. Recent evidence-based research will be reviewed and a group discussion will be utilized to support the integration of information into the clinical practice.

When providers establish positive relationships with youth, and value their diverse cultures and languages, youth feel safe and secure. This process affects how youth experience the world, express themselves, manage their emotions, and establish positive relationships with others. As adults in positions to support foster youth, it is important to understand the different ways youth may engage or express themselves with providers. This training will review the different ways to engage foster youth to develop a deeper understanding of their inner worlds including strategies like play.

From the time they enter the state’s care and likely long before, foster youth experience trauma that can severely alter their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. The impact of trauma on foster youth can mean that this vulnerable population faces numerous additional challenges as they grow and develop into adulthood. Foster youth experience trauma in many ways, often starting at home. Youth will enter the foster care system because they have experienced physical or sexual abuse, neglect, a loss of a parent, or abandonment, forcing the state to step in. Other family stress factors such as poverty, substance abuse, mental illness, and incarceration can lead to a child’s removal from […]

From the time they enter the state’s care and likely long before, foster youth experience trauma that can severely alter their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. The impact of trauma on foster youth can mean that this vulnerable population faces numerous additional challenges as they grow and develop into adulthood. Foster youth experience trauma in many ways, often starting at home. Youth will enter the foster care system because they have experienced physical or sexual abuse, neglect, a loss of a parent, or abandonment, forcing the state to step in. Other family stress factors such as poverty, substance abuse, mental illness, and incarceration can lead to a child’s removal from […]

From the time they enter the state’s care and likely long before, foster youth experience trauma that can severely alter their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. The impact of trauma on foster youth can mean that this vulnerable population faces numerous additional challenges as they grow and develop into adulthood. Foster youth experience trauma in many ways, often starting at home. Youth will enter the foster care system because they have experienced physical or sexual abuse, neglect, a loss of a parent, or abandonment, forcing the state to step in. Other family stress factors such as poverty, substance abuse, mental illness, and incarceration can lead to a child’s removal from […]

From the time they enter the state’s care and likely long before, foster youth experience trauma that can severely alter their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. The impact of trauma on foster youth can mean that this vulnerable population faces numerous additional challenges as they grow and develop into adulthood. Foster youth experience trauma in many ways, often starting at home. Youth will enter the foster care system because they have experienced physical or sexual abuse, neglect, a loss of a parent, or abandonment, forcing the state to step in. Other family stress factors such as poverty, substance abuse, mental illness, and incarceration can lead to a child’s removal from […]

From the time they enter the state’s care and likely long before, foster youth experience trauma that can severely alter their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. The impact of trauma on foster youth can mean that this vulnerable population faces numerous additional challenges as they grow and develop into adulthood. Foster youth experience trauma in many ways, often starting at home. Youth will enter the foster care system because they have experienced physical or sexual abuse, neglect, a loss of a parent, or abandonment, forcing the state to step in. Other family stress factors such as poverty, substance abuse, mental illness, and incarceration can lead to a child’s removal from […]

From the time they enter the state’s care and likely long before, foster youth experience trauma that can severely alter their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. The impact of trauma on foster youth can mean that this vulnerable population faces numerous additional challenges as they grow and develop into adulthood. Foster youth experience trauma in many ways, often starting at home. Youth will enter the foster care system because they have experienced physical or sexual abuse, neglect, a loss of a parent, or abandonment, forcing the state to step in. Other family stress factors such as poverty, substance abuse, mental illness, and incarceration can lead to a child’s removal from […]

From the time they enter the state’s care and likely long before, foster youth experience trauma that can severely alter their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. The impact of trauma on foster youth can mean that this vulnerable population faces numerous additional challenges as they grow and develop into adulthood. Foster youth experience trauma in many ways, often starting at home. Youth will enter the foster care system because they have experienced physical or sexual abuse, neglect, a loss of a parent, or abandonment, forcing the state to step in. Other family stress factors such as poverty, substance abuse, mental illness, and incarceration can lead to a child’s removal from […]

This introductory training will provide trainees an overview of domestic violence. The training will provide a general overview for trainees to understand the trauma caused by domestic violence and how it impacts system involved youth outcomes. The training covers the cycles of violence and how to describe this to system involved youth and families. During this training, participants will discuss and share resources for domestic violence related issues such as, survivor, perpetrator, and children. The training will discuss how the cycle of violence has negative risk factors for children and how to hold these discussions when working with system-involved youth and families. Trainees will be able to develop a trauma-informed […]

Youth in foster care may at times be exposed to multiple instances of interpersonal trauma, both in their homes of origin, as well as in their placements. An introduction to complex trauma, the impact of complex trauma on the development of the brain in adolescents and how trauma creates vulnerabilities for youth at risk for exploitation is provided in this training. Special focus will be placed on the relationship between youth in foster care at risk for exploitation and the impact of complex trauma.

This training provides an introduction to complex trauma, the impact of complex trauma on the development of the brain in adolescents, and how trauma creates vulnerabilities for youth at risk for exploitation is provided. Youth with experience of exploitation at times may have difficulty identifying that they have been exploited. Providers working with these youth face special challenges around supporting youth’s safety and healing process. Special focus will be placed on the relationship between youth in foster care at risk for exploitation and the impact of complex trauma.

This training provides a presentation on what it means to be in support of adoptive families. In order for children to thrive, they need adults who are prepared and ready to support them throughout the ages and stages of their development. Adoptive families need support from caring professionals to bolster their understanding of adoption, trauma, race, connection and loss so that they are ready and willing to center their children’s needs and experiences.

Collaboration is an essential component when working with youth in care, yet often there are challenges that can arise where communication between team members can negatively impact work with foster care. This training will facilitate a conversation with providers on how to exercise professionalism when difficult situations present themselves in the work. The training will help providers understand how biases may impact work with foster youth. Finally this training will review how to navigate difficult conversations with related providers on behalf of youth in care.

Do we realize the attachment trauma that family separation has on our kids of all ages? This includes kids being separated from their families in foster care, juvenile justice, immigrating to the U.S., etc. What does this breaking up of families do to our kids? This training will look at the deep attachment ruptures that are occurring for system-involved youth and other ruptures that are happening in their lives and which are contributing to the behaviors for which they are exhibiting. These ruptures are interfering with positive outcomes of system involved youth and we need to understand that.