Foster Care Training

How do a person’s race, sex, age, and other social identities influence how we are treated, as well as how we see and treat others, even when we are genuinely working to be unbiased? Implicit bias. Project Implicit defines [implicit bias] as the “thoughts and feelings that occur outside of conscious awareness or control.” And these thoughts are often the foundation for our behavior and interactions with one another. The result is that even the most well-intentioned people sometimes say and do things that are discriminatory and oppressive.

In this interactive workshop, we will work to unearth our own implicit biases, and explore ways to make the implicit more explicit. This will include learning practical steps and practices we can take to reduce implicit bias and bias related discrimination. Through activities and large and small group discussion, we will also gain tools, language, and practice in effectively and compassionately interrupting implicit bias, discrimination, and oppression perpetuated by our colleagues and clients to better support youth in the child welfare system.