Foster Care Training

Online Class via Zoom In this workshop, participants will be able to experientially learn first-hand and learn to use interactive techniques to engage with a diverse population of clients including children, youth and families. Participants will also understand basic foundations of Expressive Arts (EXA’s) best practices and how embodied methods can be tools used to better engage clients and enliven treatment via online telehealth sessions. The session will be conducted like a retreat for participants to learn and practice methods that are taught. NO prior experience needed and all exercises occur at one’s own pace. Participants are encouraged to arrive in comfortable clothes and be ready to sit, stand and […]

Online Class Creating a safe container of acceptance, nonjudgement, and belonging is critical for the wellbeing of LGBTQI+ youth. In this workshop you will learn how to support LGBTQI+ youth in processing unaccepting attitudes, cultivating resilience, developing self-awareness, and a strong self-love. For LGBTQI+ youth, mindfulness can be especially transformative by providing compassionate self-awareness practices. You will gain tools to deepen your allyship to your clients, in a way that truly honors the intersectional layers of identity.

This training is for service providers who work with chronically and severely mentally ill youth in out-of-home care. The training reviews common challenges that are faced by youth with chronic or severe mental illness with regard to placements, relationships, stability, and wellbeing. Providers will also understand the benefits of team-based approaches in service delivery for youth and NMD with high needs.

Online Class via Zoom Participants will have an opportunity to develop greater familiarity with the role and functions of supervision in professional clinical practice, with an emphasis on California Board of Behavioral Sciences supervisory requirements. The workshop is designed to support supervision that assures compliance with state regulations and enhances the clinical practice and license exam performance of supervisees.

Sponsored by Children’s Hospital, Oakland Online via Zoom: Login info will be emailed Trauma impacts one’s sense of self-worth, experience of love, and skew one’s boundaries. This training will discuss the importance of having ongoing dialogue with youth at risk and/or in out-of-home placements about consent and coercion. This training will look at how youth are coerced into commercial sexual exploitation and into staying involved in the sex industry; and at strategies to engage youth in dialogue about consent and why they deserve to have their boundaries respected, as well as respecting other people’s boundaries. Register Here

Online Class The training workshop focuses on how to assess and intervene with foster youth in the areas of suicidal ideation and Tarasoff. A trauma-informed care lens will be used throughout the training. This training will utilize case vignettes and small group sharing to teach the skills needed for properly and effectively assessing for risks related to suicidal thoughts and behaviors, as well as risks related to danger to others/Tarasoff.

Online Class Services for adolescents can present with a myriad of opportunities and challenges, especially due to dynamics that adolescents can have within their family systems. This training reviews some of the struggles as well as areas of possibility and opportunity that exist when collaborating with and engaging caregivers/family in the context of services for adolescent foster youth. Providers working with foster youth are encouraged to bring case examples to enrich the discussion of dynamics with youth, families, and providers.

Online Class Sustaining Resilience is a collaboration between service providers to understand the impact of stress and secondary trauma and to foster transformational change for the families and youth. This training is grounded in a racial and social justice. It will focus on the implications that key literature around vicarious traumatization, stress, and wellbeing have on work with families. There will be discussion of foundational concepts that are crucial to include in our trauma-informed systems and healing work.

Online Class The training workshop will take a developmental approach, focusing on the various mental health challenges that youth and children in foster care may experience. This training will utilize case vignettes, small group sharing and didactic techniques to give an introduction to the various depressive and bipolar disorder challenges foster youth may be diagnosed with. This training is for direct service staff without a clinical background (education or training).

Sponsored by Aldea Children & Family Services One of the biggest challenges parents face is managing difficult or defiant behavior on the part of children. Whether they’re refusing to put on their shoes, throwing tantrums, or openly stop following the house rules, you can find yourself at a loss for an effective way to respond. Register Here

**This is a TWO-DAY online training: June 15-16, 2020. Participants must attend both days** Attendees will review foundational Motivational Interviewing skills/concepts and practice 2-3 different exercises for each learning domain. Attendees will then process their experience with the exercises, in a small group, and identify which exercise they would like to use in their future trainings. Skills/concepts will include: the spirit of MI, the four processes of MI, value work, assessing client communication (sustain talk, change talk, discord), open ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries (OARS),goal setting/focusing, and change plans. Exercises will include role plays, worksheets, goal and value cards, readiness rulers, video excerpts, and the use of music and […]

**This is a TWO-DAY online training: June 15-16, 2020. Participants must attend both days** Attendees will review foundational Motivational Interviewing skills/concepts and practice 2-3 different exercises for each learning domain. Attendees will then process their experience with the exercises, in a small group, and identify which exercise they would like to use in their future trainings. Skills/concepts will include: the spirit of MI, the four processes of MI, value work, assessing client communication (sustain talk, change talk, discord), open ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries (OARS),goal setting/focusing, and change plans. Exercises will include role plays, worksheets, goal and value cards, readiness rulers, video excerpts, and the use of music and […]

Sponsored by Children’s Hospital, Oakland Online via Zoom While the larger human trafficking narrative has focused on sex trafficking, it’s important to discuss labor trafficking and how it affects children at risk and/or in out-of-home placements. This training will provide an overview of what labor trafficking is and risk factors related to being trafficked. This training will also discuss the signs that someone is being trafficked, and review strategies and recommendations to support labor trafficking survivors. ​ Register Here

Sponsored by Aldea Children & Family Services For parents at their wits end, behavioral therapy techniques can provide a roadmap to calmer, more consistent ways to manage problem behaviors and offers a chance to help children develop the skills they need to regulate their own behaviors. Register Here

Online Class Through didactic lecture, large and small group discussion and case examples, students will understand who, how and why people self-harm. Participants will list ways that youth and adults self-injure. Short and Long-term effects will be discussed at length. Treatment options will be shared and practiced. **Participants can utilize their new skills and knowledge after the training to reinforce their learning by: Being better able to assess for possible self-injurious behaviors while avoiding myths associated with such behaviors Applying newly gained skills to know to either treat or refer a client when appropriate.

Online Class via Zoom This one-hour webinar provides concrete strategies to support children in learning self-regulation skills. Goals: Understand how the neurobiology of a challenging behavior Identify the 1-2 key strategies to promote self-regulation Learn to introduce 1-2 strategies to children they can use to promote their own regulation

Online TrainingSponsored by Redwood Community Services The stress response is triggered when an individual perceives that environmental demands tax or exceed his or her adaptive capacity. This training focuses on the occurrence of environmental events that are consensually judged as taxing one’s ability to cope or on individual responses to events that are indicative of this overload and the downstream consequences of  exposure to toxic stress. Register Here

Online TrainingSponsored by Redwood Community Services The stress response is triggered when an individual perceives that environmental demands tax or exceed his or her adaptive capacity. This training focuses on the occurrence of environmental events that are consensually judged as taxing one’s ability to cope or on individual responses to events that are indicative of this overload and the downstream consequences of  exposure to toxic stress. Register Here

Online TrainingSponsored by Redwood Community Services The stress response is triggered when an individual perceives that environmental demands tax or exceed his or her adaptive capacity. This training focuses on the occurrence of environmental events that are consensually judged as taxing one’s ability to cope or on individual responses to events that are indicative of this overload and the downstream consequences of  exposure to toxic stress. Register Here

Online TrainingSponsored by Redwood Community Services The stress response is triggered when an individual perceives that environmental demands tax or exceed his or her adaptive capacity. This training focuses on the occurrence of environmental events that are consensually judged as taxing one’s ability to cope or on individual responses to events that are indicative of this overload and the downstream consequences of  exposure to toxic stress. Register Here

Online TrainingSponsored by Redwood Community Services The stress response is triggered when an individual perceives that environmental demands tax or exceed his or her adaptive capacity. This training focuses on the occurrence of environmental events that are consensually judged as taxing one’s ability to cope or on individual responses to events that are indicative of this overload and the downstream consequences of  exposure to toxic stress. Register Here

Online TrainingSponsored by Redwood Community Services The stress response is triggered when an individual perceives that environmental demands tax or exceed his or her adaptive capacity. This training focuses on the occurrence of environmental events that are consensually judged as taxing one’s ability to cope or on individual responses to events that are indicative of this overload and the downstream consequences of  exposure to toxic stress. Register Here

Online TrainingSponsored by Redwood Community Services The stress response is triggered when an individual perceives that environmental demands tax or exceed his or her adaptive capacity. This training focuses on the occurrence of environmental events that are consensually judged as taxing one’s ability to cope or on individual responses to events that are indicative of this overload and the downstream consequences of  exposure to toxic stress. Register Here

ONLINE COURSE: Team based care models are designed to comprehensively address the most intensive and unique challenges foster youth face. Any team centered model is effective with collaboration at it core. This seminar will define models, practices and strategies for multidisciplinary integrated care. Clear steps for addressing needs and amplifying strengths of foster youth through building and collaborating with a treatment team will be defined and practiced.

Online Class This training covers the fundamental philosophy of DBT modality and how to apply DBT based skills with foster youth. The training will begin with how and why DBT skills may be an effective modality to use with youth who experience chronic crisis and will cover DBT skills that youth may find easy to utilize and remember. A number of focuses will include emotion regulation, emotional awareness, crisis tolerance, and interpersonal conflict. The goal of this training is so that practitioners and service providers may expand on tools for which to use with youth in crisis.

Online Class This class will consider how early trauma can affect child development, how neurodevelopmental deficits can have independent effects, and how concurrent difficulties in both areas can create special difficulties for children in foster care, their parents, and in turn, providers who work with them in child welfare. We will describe specific strategies to assess and intervene that take both lines of development into account. Work with parents and direct work with children will be explored. **How can participants utilize their new skills and knowledge after the training to reinforce their learning? Review current cases with neurodevelopmental knowledge in mind. Design interventions that consider the impact of neurodevelopmental difficulties […]

Online Class TBA

Online TrainingSponsored by Redwood Community Services In this workshop attendees will be introduced to essential concepts and culture of LGBTQ people; how to be a foster parent to an LGBTQ youth if your religious beliefs are in conflict; how the idea of being a public servant can guide you to provide a loving and safe home to LGBTQ youth. Content includes: Understanding and defining what LGBTQ stands for and what it means to the LGBTQ population; the number of the LGBTQ population and how that compares to genetic anomalies in the mainstream population; Identifying the overlap between typical male and female physical, emotional and sexual traits. Register Here  

Online Class This training will educate providers about diagnostic criteria, gender identity frameworks, social transition strategies, and outcomes for youth who express a desire to transition their gender under 11 years of age. Participants will explore how to support children, caregivers, and other providers with gender questioning and gender creative children, while engaging ethical and diagnostic concerns.

ONLINE COURSE: TBA

Online Class *This training will be presented in Spanish* Collaboration is highly valued in the service delivery field. It is highly important to collaborate with other professionals when providing services to family, but it is even more beneficial for families that we treat them as partners throughout this process and remain collaborative with them. Sometimes, in bilingual service delivery, families lose their voice and ability to advocate due to language barriers and bias, therefore, it is imperative that we work towards engaging in effective practices to maintain this partnership and empower the families we serve. In this workshop, participants will review effective case planning in bilingual service delivery. Participants will […]

Online Class Creating a safe container of acceptance, nonjudgement, body + sex positivity and belonging is critical for the well-being of youth. In this workshop you will learn how to support youth in processing unaccepting attitudes from dominant culture, peers and families systems. You will be guided in practices that support cultivating resilience, developing self-awareness, and a strong self-love. For youth, a mindfulness-based approach around body awareness can support healthy choices around sex and intimacy. This foundation can be especially transformative by providing compassionate practices, awareness practices, and healthy honest conversation around these challenging topics. You will gain tools to deepen your allyship to your clients, in a way that […]

Online Class In this training, participants will participate in a round-table discussion on cultural humility and best practices of inclusion and culturally humble and inclusive services. Participants will also receive an overview of the Indian Child Welfare Act and gain understanding of its history, implementation, and current place in considering placement and permanency for children in out of home care.

Online Class In this training, students will learn to define power and privilege, learn the four frameworks that help us address power and privilege with youth and their families, practice responding to client situations using these four frameworks, and will be provided with resources for further exploration of cultural humility in work with foster youth, their families, and providers.

Sponsored by Aldea Children & Family Services This training is meant to educate participants about how to properly care for children and adolescents that identify as LGBTQIA+ and enter the foster care system. Participants will be learning about proper vocabulary, the importance of pronouns, SOGIE, the coming out process and the current issues that LGBTQIA+ youth are facing, especially in the foster care system. Register Here

Sponsored by Children’s Hospital, Oakland Online via Zoom: Login info will be emailed This training that provides the historical context of human trafficking and will cover the historical oppression and trauma of ethnic groups and how this provides the backdrop of human trafficking. Participants will learn strategies to approach youth, families, and communities in culturally competent ways. Register Here

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.

Online Class – 3 Days – 6/8, 6/9 and 6/10 Relationally based and neurobiologically-grounded, the Collaborative Problem Solving model out of Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Child Psychiatry views challenging behavior as a learning disability or delayed development of some very crucial neurocognitive (thinking) skills necessary to handle the demands of everyday life. Through a more empathetic and accurate understanding of what is getting in a child’s (or adult’s) way, we (caregivers, clinicians, etc.) are better able to intervene to support children (and adults) through a collaborative process of teaching skills and solving problems. In this training, participants will build their skills in applying the model through a combination of […]

Online Class – 3 Days – 6/8, 6/9 and 6/10 Relationally based and neurobiologically-grounded, the Collaborative Problem Solving model out of Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Child Psychiatry views challenging behavior as a learning disability or delayed development of some very crucial neurocognitive (thinking) skills necessary to handle the demands of everyday life. Through a more empathetic and accurate understanding of what is getting in a child’s (or adult’s) way, we (caregivers, clinicians, etc.) are better able to intervene to support children (and adults) through a collaborative process of teaching skills and solving problems. In this training, participants will build their skills in applying the model through a combination of […]

Online Class – 3 Days – 6/8, 6/9 and 6/10 Relationally based and neurobiologically-grounded, the Collaborative Problem Solving model out of Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Child Psychiatry views challenging behavior as a learning disability or delayed development of some very crucial neurocognitive (thinking) skills necessary to handle the demands of everyday life. Through a more empathetic and accurate understanding of what is getting in a child’s (or adult’s) way, we (caregivers, clinicians, etc.) are better able to intervene to support children (and adults) through a collaborative process of teaching skills and solving problems. In this training, participants will build their skills in applying the model through a combination of […]

ONLINE 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. The […]

Online Course The Nurtured Heart Approach is a relationship-focused methodology founded strategically in The 3 Strands for helping children (and adults) build their Inner Wealth and use their intensity in successful ways. It has become a powerful way of awakening the inherent greatness in all children while facilitating parenting and classroom success. The essence of the Approach is a set of core methodologies originally developed for working with the most difficult children. It has a proven impact on every child, including those who are challenged behaviorally, socially, and academically. The Nurtured Heart Approach has also been shown to create transformative changes in children diagnosed with ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Reactive […]

Sponsored by Aldea Children & Family Services This online training is an overview of working with foster youth. The focus of the training is on what a treatment foster care agency and home consist of. This includes discussion around appropriate accreditations, foster parent responsibilities, agency support, foster care structure and needs of youth entering the foster care. Register Here

ONLINE: 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. The […]

ONLINE: 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. The […]

Online Class This pre-service training includes PRIDE (Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education) curriculum. The focus of this training is: Goals and objectives of A Better Way’s pre-service training and the PRIDE curriculum; Teamwork Towards Safety, Permanency and Well Being; Developing Awareness – Child Development; Developing Understanding – Trauma: Grief and Loss; Developing Awareness – Discipline; Strengthening & Continuing Family Relationships; Planning for Change and Promoting Safety, Permanency and Well Being *How can participants utilize their new skills and knowledge after the training to reinforce their learning? Participants can use increased understanding and awareness to potentially relate to their foster child or adopted child in more productive and fulfilling […]

Online Class This pre-service training includes PRIDE (Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education) curriculum. The focus of this training is: Goals and objectives of A Better Way’s pre-service training and the PRIDE curriculum; Teamwork Towards Safety, Permanency and Well Being; Developing Awareness – Child Development; Developing Understanding – Trauma: Grief and Loss; Developing Awareness – Discipline; Strengthening & Continuing Family Relationships; Planning for Change and Promoting Safety, Permanency and Well Being *How can participants utilize their new skills and knowledge after the training to reinforce their learning? Participants can use increased understanding and awareness to potentially relate to their foster child or adopted child in more productive and fulfilling […]

ONLINE COURSE: 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 Session One: Connecting with PRIDE (Parent Resource for Information Development and Education) – Participants learn about the world of family foster care and adoption through the stories of children receiving child welfare services through video […]

ONLINE COURSE: 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 Session One: Connecting with PRIDE (Parent Resource for Information Development and Education) – Participants learn about the world of family foster care and adoption through the stories of children receiving child welfare services through video […]

Online Class via Zoom 1.5 – hour workshop designed for staff and providers that work with families in our communities. Knowing how to identify what’s happening for ourselves in our bodies and emotions informs how we take care of ourselves-, which is the first step of caring for others. This workshop was designed as a mutual aid benefit collaboration, as a means to offer real life practices to increase our collective resilience and wellness during this unprecedented global pandemic. This workshop collaborative series is focused Resilience and Recovery Trauma can have a long-lasting and broad impact on our lives that may create a feeling of hopelessness. Yet, when we focus […]

Online Class via Zoom Training description not available

Sponsored by Children’s Hospital, Oakland Online via Zoom: Login info will be emailed This 2-day training will provide engagement skills for working with Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) and transition-age youth. The training is intended for County Social Workers and Probation Officers throughout California, specifically Alameda County, as well as governmental and community-based organizations that provide services for youth identified as CSEC. The training builds off the knowledge learned in CSEC 101 and covers cover the following: Engagement skills An overview of trauma An overview of the Stages of Change model AWOLing and peer recruitment Register Here

Sponsored by Children’s Hospital, Oakland Online via Zoom: Login info will be emailed This 2-day training will provide engagement skills for working with Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC) and transition-age youth. The training is intended for County Social Workers and Probation Officers throughout California, specifically Alameda County, as well as governmental and community-based organizations that provide services for youth identified as CSEC. The training builds off the knowledge learned in CSEC 101 and covers cover the following: Engagement skills An overview of trauma An overview of the Stages of Change model AWOLing and peer recruitment Register Here

Online TrainingSponsored by Redwood Community Services Join social media expert, Kerry Rego for an educational conversation covering: tools that are regularly used for targeting youth, red flag behavior, legal consequences, how to respond, how to work with law enforcement, and protective measures to take. Walk away with action plans for increased safety and security. Register Here

Online TrainingSponsored by Redwood Community Services Join social media expert, Kerry Rego for an educational conversation covering: tools that are regularly used for targeting youth, red flag behavior, legal consequences, how to respond, how to work with law enforcement, and protective measures to take. Walk away with action plans for increased safety and security. Register Here

Online Class Depression and anxiety are on the rise for kids and teens everywhere. At the same time, children and teens in the child welfare system face distinct challenges, and need specialized kinds of support to stay calm and hopeful as they navigate life. This workshop is designed to help people who care for, and provide services to, youth in the child welfare system. The training will help participants identify symptoms of anxiety and depression in children and teens. We will discuss the ways that the experience of trauma, lost relationships, constant changes, and ongoing “unknowns” can contribute to feelings of anxiety and depression, and perhaps lead to suicidal ideation. […]

Online Class This training will cover the legal and ethical considerations to providing telehealth to foster youth and families, as well as review strategies for continued engagement in services.

Online Class In this time of the global Covid-19 pandemic, Harm Reduction once again offers us critical practical tools and strategies to assess, navigate, and reduce risks associated with the virus, while supporting overall health and well-being. Although typically used in relation to drug related harm, Harm Reduction is universal in that it provides tools, principles, practices, and strategies that can be implemented to also effectively address harms that are not directly related to drug use. Thus Harm Reduction is a perfect framework to use, especially for those working with system involved youth, as we navigate the ongoing uncertainties, changes, and risks during this time. Course participants spend the day […]

Online Class Trauma informed care is critical and positive development in systems of care, understanding how poverty and racism impact foster 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.

Online Class 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.

Online Class 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.

Online Class To promote sexuality that is healthy and safe for system involved youth, providers and caregivers must feel comfortable talking about sex and sexuality in an age appropriate manner. The California Foster Youth Sexual Health Education Act (Senate Bill 89) went into effect in July of 2017, requires comprehensive sexual health education for youth in foster care and training requirements for foster caregivers, social workers and judges. Learn how to talk to youth of all ages about sex, consent and decision making around engaging in sex.

Online Class In this training participants who support youth and their families or significant support persons will learn about youth crisis and how to respond with compassion and safety in mind. Youth specifically foster youth often exhibit risk behaviors which are misinterpreted as behavioral problems. This training will discuss best practices in working with youth crisis.

Sponsored by Lincoln This training will discuss vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue and moral distress that can arise in the social service field. When individuals don’t intentionally care for themselves, it can lead to burnout, premature department from an organization, etc. The trainers will discuss strategies participants can utilize to increase their self-care to be more resilient and compassionate. It’s essential for social service providers to prioritize our overall well-being so we can model it to the youth and families we work with. Register Here

Online Class 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 trauma in work with foster youth.

Online Class This training reviews ways to foster resilience and proactively respond to burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma. To do this, we will explore the benefits of connecting to core values as a way to mitigate the impact of trauma on providers. Some key questions that will be explored include: Why do we do the work that we do? How does expressing appreciation and having creative expressive outlets benefit work with foster youth?

Several youth and families, especially those from the LatinX community, that we serve in child welfare services have experienced shifts and transitions in their family systems due to immigration trends. Often, LatinX families have recent roots from countries of origins that are impacted by poverty, violence, lack of access to education and steady employment among other challenges. Therefore, many families or family members are forced to leave their country of origin to find refuge and a better life abroad, including in the U.S. The migration for each family may look unique to their family system and specific needs, but often we have a parent or both parents immigrating to the […]

ONLINE COURSE: Providers working with foster youth and families can become impacted by the secondary trauma exposure that is often inherent in the services provided. This workshop will provide service providers with tools to identify elements of their work that foster sustainability and commitment to working with youth and families. Participants will engage in the process of self-reflection and small-group discussions to envision how they can work from a strengths-based perspective with youth/families and assist them in practicing similar tools to help them identify and increase strengths and resilience factors.

Online Class 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.

Online Class via Zoom We are exhausted. In a culture that centers productivity and the constant expectation of more, how can we not be? Rest is one of our basic human needs and something that may even come naturally to us before we are inculcated with the values of “grind culture.” Deep rest can unlock our imagination, our resilience, and our readiness to usher in a more just world. Join this mindfulness and movement-based training to: Identify internal and external barriers to deep rest Experience restorative yoga as an easeful and restful practice Develop daily habits and routines to claim our right to rest

Online Class This training aims to provide an in depth look at assessing client’s for psychosis, and trauma The training focuses on helping participants recognize the differences as well as the overlap in the symptoms of trauma and psychosis. More specifically, the training reviews various key terms in psychosis, symptoms of psychosis, and the symptoms of complex trauma as well as PTSD. Additionally, the training explores ways to identify and understand questions of psychosis and trauma through various projective measures of assessment. Finally, the training provides resources for support for individuals struggling with attenuated or full psychosis.

Barriers to completing paperwork and meeting productivity deadlines are a common stressor for providers in mental health and social services agencies working with system involved youth. In this course participants will explore emotional reasons for resisting paperwork (it reminds us of homework, it raises our authority issues, it challenges our perfectionism, we fear criticism) and struggling over meeting productivity goals. Participants will have the opportunity to explore and eliminate their blocks and develop a plan to stay on top of paperwork and productivity in order to provide better care to the youth and families served. *Participants can utilize their new skills and knowledge after the training to reinforce their learning […]

Online Class This training is going to connect individual values to staff’s motivation in doing the work. Through didactic, individual reflections, and team collaboration learning, the group will explore the effects of burn out and how to manage the symptoms. Staff will map out self-care plans and brainstorm suggestions for how to maintain throughout their work week. This training will help individuals developed strategies to help support both staff, youth and families during difficult times of trauma. Register on Seneca’s website. Once registered, you will receive an email with a link and instructions to access this Zoom training.

Online Class Professional mental health and addictions services ethics codes, case law, and regulations are ever changing. With the busy schedules most MHPs have, it can be difficult to keep up with these changes. 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 mental health professionals in maintaining competence in this vital area, and in better managing the risks of mental health practice. It will do so […]

Online Class Professional social work/mental health ethics codes, case law and regulations are ever changing. With the busy schedules most MHPS have, it can be difficult to keep up with these changes. As a result, licensing boards have been requiring 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 social work/mental health professionals in maintaining competence in this vital area, and in better managing the risks of social work/mental health practice. It will […]

Online Class 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.

Online Class In this unprecedented time, staff and supervisors who work with at-risk youth are challenged in new and unexpected ways. Supervisors are not only holding their own distress and work challenges, but holding these for their supervisees. They also continue to have to address issues that arise in work with challenging supervsees. In the class, supervisors will learn how to identify and address specific challenges related to the stress of working during a pandemic and the difficulties of working with supervisees who continue to under function, resist feedback or in otherwise challenge the supervision process.

Online Class This full-day course will support professionals in offering trainings to providers and parents involved with youth in care. Participants will practice facilitation skills, experiment with activities, cultivate the skills needed to create measurable, specific objectives, and how to build a training based on those objectives. Participants will consider the needs of the audiences they will be presenting to, rehearse dealing with microaggressions, storytelling, and facilitating difficult conversations. Participants will leave with a greater understanding of how to create and present training content to meet multiple learning styles and evaluate their effectiveness in delivering information.

Online Class via Zoom This workshop will examine the importance of understanding and supporting social competence through the use of evidenced-based strategies that harness the therapeutic power of play. Children in the foster care system have often experienced multiple levels of loss, trauma and interrupted socialization due to removal from their family of origin. The negative impact of poor social competence includes: social withdrawal, social isolation, loneliness, social aggression, and bullying. For many children and teens in the foster care system finding the words to articulate the emotional experience of the events in their lives is challenging. Through play-based strategies children can learn specific social skills that are necessary for […]

Online Class This training will support service providers in examining their implicit biases and the adverse impact of these biases on the outcomes of vulnerable youth. Participants will learn about what implicit bias is, how their own biases manifest across settings, and how these biases disproportionality impact at-risk youth, such as clients of color and youth who have experienced trauma. Participants will explore strategies for combating their biases and disproportionate discipline practice in their work. Register on Seneca’s website. Once registered, you will receive an email with a link and instructions to access this Zoom training.

Online Class In this training students learn attachment theories, and means to develop attachments with clients with maladaptive attachment patterns. Students also come to see attachment as the means through which infants learn co-regulation, which leads to a child capable of achieving self-regulation. Students learn how disrupted attachment and neglect lead to a child who is unable to regulate him or herself, and students practice methods of achieving co-regulation with dysregulated clients.

Online Class 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.

Online Training 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.

Online Class 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.

Online Class 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.

Online Training 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.

Online Training 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.

Online Class As participants engage youth in identifying the youth’s presenting needs, what often follows are more nuanced relational dynamics that begin to emerge. Foster youth may at times be 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 reviews areas of nuance for providers to attend to in their work with youth, where dynamics of trauma reactions, implications for secondary trauma, and the impact on relationships is reviewed.

Online Class As participants engage youth in identifying the youth’s presenting needs, what often follows are more nuanced relational dynamics that begin to emerge. Foster youth may at times be 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 reviews areas of nuance for providers to attend to in their work with youth, where dynamics of trauma reactions, implications for secondary trauma, and the impact on relationships is reviewed.

Online Class This training focuses on the impact of childhood trauma of brain development, cognition, attachment, and behavior. Students learn effective ways for relating to clients with trauma, and practices for self-care.

Sponsored by Lincoln Given the disproportionate number of LGBTQ youth involved in the commercial sex industry, it’s essential for providers to learn more about the issue. Participants will learn about social risk factors, individual risk factors, familial risk factors for transgender females and gay CIS males’ involvement in the commercial sex industry. Participants will learn the unique experiences of gay males and transgender females in exploitation. Participants will also learn about the current gap in services for this population as well as what agencies can do to better serve this youth demographic. Register Here

Online Class In this training students learn about complex trauma and its impact on infant and child development. Students learn their own reactions to stress and methods of self-regulation so that clients with complex trauma can attune to them and achieve co-regulation. Students also learn about vicarious trauma and ways to manage it.

Online Training 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 […]

Online Training 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.

Online Training 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.

Crisis work, particularly with children, can result in vicarious traumatization for social service providers. The impact on the nervous system of stress and trauma system can result in becoming stuck in a fight or flight state. This can negatively impact an individual’s ability to function in their professional and personal life. Experience and practice techniques for regulating the nervous system on a daily or situation basis. *TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE: Participants will be able to practice self-regulation tools on themselves. Participants will be able to practice self-regulation tools with others (co-workers, friends, family) when vicarious traumatization is apparent.