Foster Care Training

The foster care system should be a refuge for children who’ve endured neglect or abuse, providing a fresh start after years of dysfunction. But often, adolescents get drawn into a pattern of risky behavior that threatens their well-being and future success. Harm reduction can be very effective for helping youth who are the hardest to reach and have the greatest need. Harm Reduction refers to policies and practices that aim primarily to reduce adverse health, social, and economic consequences of high risk behaviors and benefits people engaging in high risk behaviors as well as their families and communities. Presenter will review the key risk factors that often put foster youth in harm’s way. Presenter will review ways to implement harm reduction strategies into work with foster youth. The goal of this training is to educate professionals on the philosophy of harm reduction and review its benefits in work with youth in the foster care system. The Primary goal of most harm reduction approaches is to meet individuals ‘where they are at’ and not to ignore or condemn the harmful behaviors but rather to work with the individual to minimize the harmful effects of a given behavior.

Objectives

1. Provide an overview of harm reduction, trauma informed care, and positive youth development philosophy.
2. Participants will be able to identify key elements of a successful harm reduction approach.
3. Identify benefits of using a harm reduction approach.
4. Participants will be able to identify high risk behaviors.