Foster Care Training

Sixty-three mass murders in the USA since 1982. Thirty-three since the 1999 school shootings at Columbine; ninety-seven since January 2012. Shocking as this is, it does not account for the more than 11,000 single-victim homicides last year alone, nor the ever-increasing suicide rates, nor the under-discussed structural violence that is ravaging our country. Violence is becoming prevalent in all sectors of our society and we are spinning towards becoming a nation of cultivated destructiveness In this training participants will learn about violence as a multi-determined phenomenon, and will become familiar with notions of violence as a preventable public health issue. Participants will examine the preventability of violence in a variety of interpersonal and institutional aspects. We will learn about prevention and intervention tools and discuss their applicability to our work in schools and within family and community dynamics. Participants will gain knowledge of violence embedded in our language and attitudes regarding diverse and marginalized populations. Additionally participants will acquire skills at identifying the dynamics of power and dominance Vs, cooperation and collaboration and note their impact on personal, social and political relations. Together we will consider violence prevention solutions, learn about deliberative dialogues and study circles forming to dismantle the face and forms of violence. The participant will:

1. Be able to articulate the building blocks of violence
2. See and analyze material highlighting violence as both a public health threat, and preventable
3. Experience shared activities examining violence embedded in language, attitudes
4. Learn about and practice a deliberative dialogue for community engagement regarding dismantling violence
5. Identify and share applicability of tools to their work, community, school and/or personal lives