Comprehensive, Culturally Approriate, and Competency-Based Workforce Development.

Permanency: Reunification, Foster Care and Adoptions

Life in Foster Care and Beyond

An honest and reflective life storytelling of the trainer’s lived experiences of family loss, growing up in foster care, entry into juvenile justice system, becoming a teenage mother, emancipation from foster care and on to receiving a Master’s degree and becoming a recognized advocate. This training also focuses on factors that contribute to youth overcoming trauma, the importance of cultural identity and restoration of self-esteem.

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Using Visitation to Support Permanency

In this course, trainees will learn how to make visits the center of casework practice, use visits to assess progress on the case plan, and resolve problems during visits.

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Tribal Customary Adoption

Through lecture, video, group discussion, and case scenarios this half-day course will provide a brief review of the ICWA, an introduction to the Tribal Customary Adoption law and its incorporation into social work practice. The long-term impact of transracial adoption for Native American children, adults, and tribes will be examined. Child welfare worker’s role and responsibilities related to the implementation of TCA will be reviewed.

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Trauma-Informed Permanency: Critical Thinking and Adoption Home Studies

This class will help participants look at permanency of children in the foster care system through a trauma lens. Participants will have the opportunity to consider how Adoption State Regulations, the Relative Home Approval Process and the Foster Home Licensing process can coincide and keep the child’s best interest at heart. The course will also provide the opportunity to discuss and determine how an applicant’s history must be balanced with child attachments and long term planning.

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The Role of Foster Parents in Reunification

In this course, trainees will examine the role of foster parents as members of the team working toward reunification, and intimately explore team dynamics by confronting perceptual differences and problems within the team.

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Separation, Loss and Transitioning into Placement

In this course, trainees will learn about the impact of traumatic separation as a crisis event for the child, mitigate the impact of loss and separation, and develop skills to help placement providers successfully integrate children into a new placement.

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Permanency and Loss – A Youth’s Journey Through the Child Welfare System

In this course, trainees will develop increased knowledge, awareness and understanding about sources of grief and loss as it relates to the youth and their parents/families within the child welfare system.

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Holidays for Kids in Care: Happy? Horrible? or Both?

In this course, trainees will learn about the impact of separation from family at the holidays, understand and develop empathy for the child’s feelings of ambivalence, and explore ways to help children with the psychological tasks associated with being separated from family on a temporary or permanent basis.

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Full Disclosure and Ethical Issues in Adoptions

This is a 3-hour course that will examine the aspects of full disclosure of information to prospective adoptive parents and caregivers, the goals, values, and ethics involved, and related policies and regulations.

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Attachment Issues and Adoption

In this course, trainees will develop a clear understanding of the nature of the attachment relationship, and be able to explain how it differs from other emotional relationships between children and adults, and outline the specific behaviors which comprise the “attachment cycle.”

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Attachment, Development and Therapeutic Parenting

In this course, trainees will be able to assess the strength of child-parent attachment, understand how removal and placement affect attachment, identify elements of case plans to enhance attachment, facilitate and assess visitation attachment activities, and identify services to enhance/repair attachment.

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Dealing with the Hard to Place Child

In this course, trainees will examine the history of the current “level” system operating in the California placement system, and how it impacts the success of a specific placement, and review research related to the outcomes of placement, in an effort to avoid placement errors that undermine later life adjustment for children/youth.

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Preserving and Stabilizing Placements Utilizing Crisis Intervention Strategies

In this course, trainees will develop skills to assist clients and caregivers who are experiencing crisis in a placement situation and work towards stabilization and avoidance of harmful breakdowns in relationships resulting in placement failures.

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Adoption Basics – The Nuts and Bolts of California Adoption

This is a full day course that will provide a general overview of Adoptions. This course will examine the core issues in adoption including grief and loss. Statewide data and statistics regarding adoptions will be reviewed. Details of the components required to complete the adoption process will also be discussed. Information regarding laws that impact the juvenile court adoption process will be reviewed. Relevant post-adoption resources and requirements will be discussed throughout the training day.

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Grief and Loss in Child Welfare

In this course, trainees will  learn about the impact of separation from family on children’s development and emotional well being, and the psychological tasks and attempts at mastery for children dealing with grief and loss.

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Concurrent Planning Processes and Implementation (County Specific)

In this course, trainees will learn strategies and skills for successful Concurrent Planning with families, understand the necessity for continued assessment of the concurrent plan at all stages of case progression through CWS, and recognize best practice solutions to common issues/dilemmas of concurrent planning.

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Working with Multi-Problem Families

In this course, trainees will enhance their knowledge and skills working with families with multiple problems.

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Family Finding – A Pathway to Permanency

In this course, trainees will learn about the principles of Family Finding, apply Family Finding principles to a caseload, value and appreciate a strength-based approach to families, and  learn how relatives are a valuable resource for children in foster care

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May I Have Your Attention Please – Key Strategies for Engaging Emerging Adults in Extended Foster Care

This is an interactive learning environment where strategies for engaging youth and emerging adults will be encountered by the participants as we explore the dynamics of our newest population in Child Welfare. EFC participation requirements and placement options will be confirmed and dilemmas considered. PowerPoint, learning groups, creative activities, and digital stories will be utilized to enhance the learning environment and offer examples of a paradigm shift in how we think of young adult clients.

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Better Outcomes – One Family’s Journey through the Child Welfare System

Understand that the ability to engage and establish rapport with children and families is predicated on an effective and accurate intervention, accurately assess risk, safety and strengths in families so that the safest, least restrictive intervention can be made on behalf of the children and families, recognize the necessity for interaction and continuity among CWS programs to promote family well-being as they travel through the entire CWS system.

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