Foster Care Training

Small, thoughtful acts can spark profound healing and create opportunities for connection, especially for system-involved youth navigating complex emotions and transitions. This course explores how child welfare professionals can use intentional, small gestures as a tool to foster resilience, promote trust, and create moments of meaning and joy for youth in their care. Participants will learn the significance of kindness as a meaning-making practice, exploring how seemingly minor actions—like leaving a note of encouragement, sharing a symbolic object, or offering a small celebratory gesture—can have lasting emotional impacts. The training emphasizes the developmental and cultural contexts of kindness, offering insights into how these practices can be personalized to resonate with […]

System-involved youth often navigate complex emotional landscapes influenced by diverse cultural, spiritual, and personal experiences. This course equips child welfare professionals with intersectionally informed spiritual assessment strategies to create personalized emotional roadmaps that honor each youth’s unique identity and journey.

This two-hour course reviews the concept of the Escalation Curve when working with youth in care and provides opportunities for participants to discuss and practice support strategies to maintain safety as well as means of deescalating situations verbally.

Groups play a crucial role in the treatment and wellness of many individuals. Groups provide opportunities for youth to learn new skills, get support from peers, etc. Many social service providers provide workshops and groups for at-risk youth and many have not been formally taught how to facilitate groups. This training will provide an overview of best practices of group facilitation. Participants will also learn how to navigate challenging situations in groups such as redirecting a youth, a youth monopolizing the conversation, etc.

This specialized training is designed for professionals who provide care and support to individuals whom exhibit challenging or potentially assaultive behavior. Participants will gain essential skills and strategies for effectively managing high-stress situations and preventing violent behavior. The course covers recognizing early signs of escalation, employing de-escalation techniques, and maintaining control through clear, assertive communication. Emphasis is placed on creating a safe environment for both the system involved youth and the caregiver while fostering mutual respect. Through interactive exercises, role-playing, and real-world case studies, participants will develop practical skills to safely navigate difficult situations, reducing the risk of conflict and ensuring the well-being of all involved. Participants will leave this […]

This specialized training is designed for professionals who provide care and support to individuals whom exhibit challenging or potentially assaultive behavior. Participants will gain essential skills and strategies for effectively managing high-stress situations and preventing violent behavior. The course covers recognizing early signs of escalation, employing de-escalation techniques, and maintaining control through clear, assertive communication. Emphasis is placed on creating a safe environment for both the system involved youth and the caregiver while fostering mutual respect. Through interactive exercises, role-playing, and real-world case studies, participants will develop practical skills to safely navigate difficult situations, reducing the risk of conflict and ensuring the well-being of all involved. Participants will leave this […]

This training will cover the implementation of the problem-solving framework as an assessment tool through identifying dangerous behaviors, responding to simple assault with crisis communication, documenting the phases of the assault cycle, using evasion to minimize physical contact, and debriefing an assault crisis to model healthy problem solving.

This training provides a grounding in the foundations of Play Therapy as well as its applications for children with trauma, children and youth in crisis setting, and applying play based practices across the life span of developing youth. Play therapy continues to be one of the primary interventions recommended by the American Psychological Association for therapeutic intervention treating children with trauma and mental health symptoms.

This training provides a grounding in the foundations of Play Therapy as well as its applications for children with trauma, children and youth in crisis setting, and applying play based practices across the life span of developing youth. Play therapy continues to be one of the primary interventions recommended by the American Psychological Association for therapeutic intervention treating children with trauma and mental health symptoms.

This second workshop of a 2-part series provides a deeper look at trauma in adolescents in foster care, examining factors within their community and environment that connect to their experiences of trauma in their homes. Participants will learn strategies for working with adolescents’ distress related to trauma wounds.

This course supports providers in deepening their understanding of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and provides them with tools to help these youth regulate and interact in socially appropriate ways. Providers will define important terms related to ability, neurodiversity, & see how ADHD fits into these frameworks, as well as embody helpful tools to use with youth. We will explore self-regulation, mindfulness, focusing, & destigmatizing tools to support youth with ADHD in each provider’s individual context.

This introductory training is designed to foster a deep understanding of neurodiversity and equip participants who work with System Involved Youth with practical strategies for promoting inclusivity and advocating for the rights of neurodiverse individuals.

This course will focus on effectively engaging caregivers in the suicide safety planning process. Attendees will review current U.S. youth suicide risk statistics, discuss research concerning caregiver experience when presented with the child in their care’s suicide risk acuity, and identify ways to support the caregiver in collaborating with the child in the safety planning process. Attendees will practice the use of Motivational Interviewing open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries to elicit caregiver understanding of the child’s suicidality, increase provider understanding of client’s risks and resiliency factors, and consolidate motivation to safety plan. The course will include strategies for speaking with caregivers about means safety.

Working with foster youth can pose numerous challenges and can often lead to providers experiencing secondary trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout. This training reviews ways to foster resilience and continue building positive relationships with foster youth. Providers attending this training are reminded of the positive impacts they can have when working with foster youth. Providers are given the opportunity to share successful practices and strategies when working with foster youth that have led to prosocial behaviors.

Increase and improve providers with varying responsibilities to identify skills and/or strategies to engage with youth who AWOL having challenges in placement and/or comprehending the benefits of prosocial behaviors. Encourage and empower providers to identify existing and/or create strategies that work with difficult to engage youth. Identify what are the oppositions that youth have while in care. Identify what are implicit and explicit biases that accompany work between providers and youth.

This training reviews related literature and research on trauma as well as highlights the impact of trauma on learning. The implications for supporting foster youth in learning will also be discussed. Further, we will explore how learning disabilities are defined as well as review how different learning disabilities impact foster youth in real-life.

This training provides a grounding in the foundations of Play Therapy as well as its applications for children with trauma, children and youth in crisis setting, and applying play based practices across the life span of developing youth. Play therapy continues to be one of the primary interventions recommended by the American Psychological Association for therapeutic intervention treating children with trauma and mental health symptoms.

This training provides a grounding in the foundations of Play Therapy as well as its applications for children with trauma, children and youth in crisis setting, and applying play based practices across the life span of developing youth. Play therapy continues to be one of the primary interventions recommended by the American Psychological Association for therapeutic intervention treating children with trauma and mental health symptoms.

This training will provide participants with strategies that will help them to better understand the emotional and affective needs of foster youth with developmental delays (sense of belonging, invisibility, loneliness). This training is to help participants develop empathy for the foster youth they work with, their families, and empower providers with tools to support each youth/family’s individual needs.

Youth involved in multiple systems may have needs that need to be coordinated across the systems of which they are part. This training for providers, child welfare professionals, and caregivers reviews youth needs that may exist within the sphere of the education system. Participants will learn what resources and referrals might be needed for youth with specific needs. Additionally, participants will learn about the role of child welfare around the education needs of youth.

Cultural competency training was the focus of many providers who were serving increasingly more diverse population, with the idea that if they could become more culturally sensitive or competent, that they could provide better care for their patients. While the intention was a good one, the dynamic it often set up was that they were still the expert, the client was “the other,” and ultimately that the providers knew better than the clients and what the clients’ experience was and needs were. Through a process of self-reflection, identifying our different locations of identity, which parts have been historically excluded and which parts of our identity have been historically included, participants […]

Youth in foster care with diverse orientations and identities often encounter challenges in accessing stable, supportive environments. While all youth in care navigate placement instability and systemic hurdles, those whose identities do not align with prevailing expectations may experience additional barriers to connection, continuity, and well-being. Policies, caregiver approaches, and institutional practices sometimes fail to account for their needs, contributing to disruptions in care and disconnection from essential support systems. This session will explore how structural and relational factors impact youth whose orientations and identities are less recognized in care settings. Participants will examine the challenges that shape these experiences and develop strategies to ensure placements and services foster stability, […]

When caring for and supporting foster youth you can often face challenges of crises, placement instability, or system pressures. These can lead to quick decisions or unintended consequences for youth and families, especially when the needs and strengths of youth are not maintained as a guiding force. This training focuses on the importance of self-reflection, humility and self-care as a means of building capacity to deliver care for foster youth who experience trauma.

In this training session, the trainer will present information on self-care and its importance in managing the effects of secondary trauma on caregivers and support personnel working with foster youth, using a combination of lecture and PowerPoint presentation. The trainer will explore the personal and professional impacts of compassion fatigue on helping professionals. The training materials will also outline ethical self-care principles, along with a statement of responsibility for self-care within the team of professionals supporting foster youth. Included in the materials will be assessment tools for identifying vulnerability to stress and quality of life scales. The session will also address how many caregivers may use denial as a coping […]

In this training session, the trainer will present information on self-care and its importance in managing the effects of secondary trauma on caregivers and support personnel working with foster youth, using a combination of lecture and PowerPoint presentation. The trainer will explore the personal and professional impacts of compassion fatigue on helping professionals. The training materials will also outline ethical self-care principles, along with a statement of responsibility for self-care within the team of professionals supporting foster youth. Included in the materials will be assessment tools for identifying vulnerability to stress and quality of life scales. The session will also address how many caregivers may use denial as a coping […]

In this training session, the trainer will present information on self-care and its importance in managing the effects of secondary trauma on caregivers and support personnel working with foster youth, using a combination of lecture and PowerPoint presentation. The trainer will explore the personal and professional impacts of compassion fatigue on helping professionals. The training materials will also outline ethical self-care principles, along with a statement of responsibility for self-care within the team of professionals supporting foster youth. Included in the materials will be assessment tools for identifying vulnerability to stress and quality of life scales. The session will also address how many caregivers may use denial as a coping […]

Part 1 of Crisis Prevention Interventions focuses on early intervention and non-physical methods for managing disruptive and aggressive behaviors. Trainers will explore effective communication techniques and the physiological responses that occur during moments of aggression, along with the core philosophy of Care, Welfare, Safety, and Security, which underpins the training. Human service professionals worldwide have participated in CPI programs to learn proven strategies for safely managing situations involving anxious, hostile, or violent behavior, all while preserving therapeutic relationships with those under their care.

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.

Child sexual exploitation is a major child protection issue for communities across the country. Hidden from view and often unnoticed, vulnerable young girls and boys are recruited, groomed and then abused, leaving them traumatized and without support. Issues specific to sexual exploitation of youth, including the difficulty in identifying youth at risk, can make the provision of appropriate services a challenge for systems that serve the youth. This training is a framework for engaging with sexually exploited youth and will offer suggestions for talking with youth.

Child sexual exploitation is a major child protection issue for communities across the country. Hidden from view and often unnoticed, vulnerable young girls and boys are recruited, groomed and then abused, leaving them traumatized and without support. Issues specific to sexual exploitation of youth, including the difficulty in identifying youth at risk, can make the provision of appropriate services a challenge for systems that serve the youth. This training is a framework for engaging with sexually exploited youth and will offer suggestions for talking with youth.

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.

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.

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 provides an introductory overview of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) including: basic definitions, significant laws and legislation, and a discussion on risk factors that contribute to a child’s vulnerability to be recruited or groomed into exploitation. This training also describes how complex trauma can create vulnerabilities for youth at risk for exploitation, providing trainees the opportunity to learn about trauma informed care practices.

This training provides an introductory overview of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) including: basic definitions, significant laws and legislation, and a discussion on risk factors that contribute to a child’s vulnerability to be recruited or groomed into exploitation. This training also describes how complex trauma can create vulnerabilities for youth at risk for exploitation, providing trainees the opportunity to learn about trauma informed care practices.

Clients who have Substance Use Disorders are in every part of our system in work with foster youth. This 2-day 15-hour in-depth pre-licensure class will review assessment of substance-related disorders and strategies to support caregivers with Substance Use Disorder. It is also appropriate for anyone else in the behavioral health field who wants simply to learn more about this important issue to improve the outcomes for foster youth.

Clients who have Substance Use Disorders are in every part of our system in work with foster youth. This 2-day 15-hour in-depth pre-licensure class will review assessment of substance-related disorders and strategies to support caregivers with Substance Use Disorder. It is also appropriate for anyone else in the behavioral health field who wants simply to learn more about this important issue to improve the outcomes for foster youth.

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 intention of this training will be for service providers and caregivers to learn and engage in resiliency building and healing activities that will help them to increase mindfulness and reduce trauma. Participants will be invited into restorative practices that nourish the nervous system, to increase their sense of well-being while also adding to their toolbox of renewal and reset strategies that can be used with their work with system impacted youth and families. Please anticipate an intentionally un-urgent day outdoors that includes therapeutic art strategies, gentle body movement, active rest, and opportunities for connection and reflection with ways to incorporate these strategies and activities with the youth and families […]

The intention of this training will be for service providers and caregivers to learn and engage in resiliency building and healing activities that will help them to increase mindfulness and reduce trauma. Participants will be invited into restorative practices that nourish the nervous system, to increase their sense of well-being while also adding to their toolbox of renewal and reset strategies that can be used with their work with system impacted youth and families. Please anticipate an intentionally un-urgent day outdoors that includes therapeutic art strategies, gentle body movement, active rest, and opportunities for connection and reflection with ways to incorporate these strategies and activities with the youth and families […]

With the rise in opioid-related deaths across the nation, an informed community response is needed now more than ever. This training will cover the essential components of opioid overdose care and intranasal naloxone (NARCAN) administration in youth. During an interactive presentation, attendees will learn about what causes opioid overdose through a medical lens as well as how to identify and treat overdose victims as community bystanders as well as while working with youth and families. This training will also cover community harm-reduction resources and places to obtain free NARCAN. The training culminates with a group quiz on the topic covered.

This training is for providers who work with system involved youth and families. Eligible participants include alameda county providers, teachers, case managers, after school support staff, clinical supervisors, and resource caregivers. The substance use awareness training will help service providers identify the signs and symptoms of drug use among youth. In addition, the training will help providers understand the short- and long-term consequences of substance use. The trainer will show videos that illustrate how drugs impact the developing adolescent brain. Furthermore, the training will highlight strategies that help foster change and strengthen positive relationships. The presentation will also provide local resources to providers.

This training is for providers who work with system involved youth and families. Eligible participants include alameda county providers, teachers, case managers, after school support staff, clinical supervisors, and resource caregivers. The substance use awareness training will help service providers identify the signs and symptoms of drug use among youth. In addition, the training will help providers understand the short- and long-term consequences of substance use. The trainer will show videos that illustrate how drugs impact the developing adolescent brain. Furthermore, the training will highlight strategies that help foster change and strengthen positive relationships. The presentation will also provide local resources to providers.

If you are a supervisor and are supervising unlicensed support providers who are working with system-involved youth and their families, this is an important training for you. We will focus on issues of culture in supervision and also on ethical boundaries in supervision and how this parallels boundaries that support providers need to establish and maintain their relationships with system-involved youth and their families. We will also review the relevance of countertransference in the supervisory relationship and how to help supervisees identify this in order to stay focused on, and most effectively address, the needs of system-involved youth and their families.

This course equips child welfare professionals with foundational knowledge and actionable strategies to address grief and loss among system-involved youth and families. Participants will explore the multifaceted impact of grief on children, families, and professionals, emphasizing understanding developmental, cultural, and situational factors influencing grief responses.

Motivational Interviewing is client-centered disciplined method for enhancing intrinsic motivation to change by exploring and resolving ambivalence. The goal of this training will be to build strong communication skills and relational engagement skills with youth using the tenants and techniques of Motivational Interviewing

In this training, participants will gain a generalized concept of Motivational Interviewing (MI). Participants will be introduced to the spirit of MI, four processes of MI, sustained talk, discord and change talk, 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. This training has many activities, handouts, and videos to support all learning styles. The material will be delivered by PowerPoint presentation, short video clips, group discussion, breakout (small group) discussions and participant workbook (handout).

This is an advanced course developed for case managers and clinicians who have a basic understanding of MI. Participants will build on the knowledge gained from an introductory MI course. Participants will increase their understanding of open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries (OARS).

Service providers working with system involved children, youth, and families are held to many local, state, and federal expectations. Among these expectations include adhering to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), privacy practices (including confidentiality), and mandated reporting. This course will provide a comprehensive overview of HIPAA, protected health information (PHI), confidentiality, and mandated reporting requirements for service providers. Due to the ever changing nature of how we communicate with children, families, and other services this training will include how to ensure electronic communications adhere to the requirements as well. Mandated reporting will cover child and elder abuse reporting practices. This course has been customized for ABW staff and […]

Many providers do not practice stress reduction techniques despite endorsing the importance of self-care ideas, techniques, and recommendations with caregivers, youth, and families. With research demonstrating that the amount of time spent working with traumatized clients strongly predicted secondary trauma in helping professionals and caregivers, the necessity of self-care as a critical component of managing vicarious trauma is clear. Learning self-care practices experientially provides professionals with an additional level of familiarity in working with caregivers to implement their own self-care practices.

When caring for and supporting foster youth you can often face challenges of crises, placement instability, or system pressures. These can lead to quick decisions or unintended consequences for youth and families, especially when the needs and strengths of youth are not maintained as a guiding force. This training focuses on the importance of self-reflection, humility and self-care as a means of building capacity to deliver care for foster youth who experience trauma.

This training session is designed to prepare Intensive Care Coordinators at WestCoast Children’s Clinic to effectively utilize connection maps when working with ofster youth. Participants will gain a deep understanding of the purpose and structure of connection maps, develop practical skills in creating and interpreting them, and learn to apply these maps with foster youth. The training also emphasizes enhancing youth engagement, fostering cultural competence, and promoting collaboration.

This seminar will discuss some of the central issues surrounding community-based services and give participants the opportunity to discuss the benefits and challenges about seeing youth in a wide range of community settings. It will provide discussion about using an expanded frame to provide services to foster children and families in the home, school, community centers, parks and other non-traditional settings. In addition to all the complexities, delivering community based services can provide a new way of working with foster youth that can allow a more expanded way of engaging and creating relationships with youth and foster families.

Compassion fatigue is a broadly defined concept that can include emotional and physical distress. It is associated with caregiving where people are experiencing significant emotional or physical pain and suffering. Using strategies to mitigate vicarious trauma daily can help manage symptoms which can negatively influence work performance, resulting in traumatized families and children not getting the best care they deserve. Compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma are both important concepts in the context of working with foster youth, as individuals in these roles—whether they are social workers, caregivers, or therapists—often experience emotional and psychological challenges due to their interactions with children and families affected by trauma. For example, foster parents or […]

Working with foster youth can pose numerous challenges and can often lead to providers experiencing secondary trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout. This training reviews ways to foster resilience and continue building positive relationships with foster youth. Providers attending this training are reminded of the positive impacts they can have when working with foster youth. Providers are given the opportunity to share successful practices and strategies when working with foster youth that have led to prosocial behaviors.

Increase and improve providers with varying responsibilities to identify skills and/or strategies to engage with youth who AWOL having challenges in placement and/or comprehending the benefits of prosocial behaviors. Encourage and empower providers to identify existing and/or create strategies that work with difficult to engage youth. Identify what are the oppositions that youth have while in care. Identify what are implicit and explicit biases that accompany work between providers and youth.

Black and brown students are disproportionately pushed out of the public school system and funneled into the criminal justice system. System-involved youth are at particular risk. It is essential for those who support system involved youth to learn about this topic to advocate and support youth and families impacted by this issue.

This 4 hour course is designed to provide staff serving in Group Homes and STRTP’s promote prosocial behavior strategies for working with traumatized youth and families. The aim of the course is to assist adults helping severely emotionally disturbed youth and families have some clarity about how working with trauma creates trauma.

This 4-hour course is designed to provide staff serving in Group Homes and STRTP’s the skills to enhance Pro-Social behaviors strategies for working with traumatized youth and families. The aim of the course is to assist adults helping severely emotionally disturbed youth and families to have some clarity about how working with trauma creates trauma.

This training will cover the implementation of the problem-solving framework as an assessment tool through identifying dangerous behaviors, responding to simple assault with crisis communication, documenting the phases of the assault cycle, using evasion to minimize physical contact, and debriefing an assault crisis to model healthy problem solving.

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.

Community-based healing practices for youth involve unique challenges for care providers. This seminar will explore the dynamics unique to community work and tele-health, including such considerations as race, power, and privilege in relationships, maintaining healthy boundaries while practicing trauma-informed engagement strategies, and awareness of ways a provider’s own history and identity can impact the youth’s healing. Strategies to recognize and resolve unique challenges will be learned.

This training reviews related literature and research on trauma as well as highlights the impact of trauma on learning. The implications for supporting foster youth in learning will also be discussed. Further, we will explore how learning disabilities are defined as well as review how different learning disabilities impact foster youth in real-life.

Child sexual exploitation is a major child protection issue for communities across the country. Hidden from view and often unnoticed, vulnerable young girls and boys are recruited, groomed and then abused, leaving them traumatized and without support. Issues specific to sexual exploitation of youth, including the difficulty in identifying youth at risk, can make the provision of appropriate services a challenge for systems that serve the youth. This training is a framework for engaging with sexually exploited youth and will offer suggestions for talking with youth.

Child sexual exploitation is a major child protection issue for communities across the country. Hidden from view and often unnoticed, vulnerable young girls and boys are recruited, groomed and then abused, leaving them traumatized and without support. Issues specific to sexual exploitation of youth, including the difficulty in identifying youth at risk, can make the provision of appropriate services a challenge for systems that serve the youth. This training is a framework for engaging with sexually exploited youth and will offer suggestions for talking with youth.

This training provides a grounding in the foundations of Play Therapy as well as its applications for children with trauma, children and youth in crisis setting, and applying play based practices across the life span of developing youth. Play therapy continues to be one of the primary interventions recommended by the American Psychological Association for therapeutic intervention treating children with trauma and mental health symptoms.

This training provides a grounding in the foundations of Play Therapy as well as its applications for children with trauma, children and youth in crisis setting, and applying play based practices across the life span of developing youth. Play therapy continues to be one of the primary interventions recommended by the American Psychological Association for therapeutic intervention treating children with trauma and mental health symptoms.