Foster Parent Training Course Description

Live Online Course Offerings

The following is a list of the Live Online Courses with accompanying descriptions:

Developmental Disabilities

This five-part series is intended for foster/adoptive parents who are raising children with developmental disabilities and who have already taken the Internet course Ages and Stages of Development (or, alternatively, the COMPASS Session 3: Promoting Child Development module through in-person delivery) or who are already knowledgeable about child development. Since each part builds on the previous one, these trainings should be taken in sequence.

DD1: Introduction to Developmental Disabilities

This course focuses on the developmental disabilities and delays that may affect the children in your care. Since there are important differences in the terms used in this topic, we’ll look at how developmental delay and developmental disability are defined. We’ll talk about how to use the Child Development Guide to help you decide whether there are indicators or warning signs related to developmental delays and disabilities in the children in your care. Then we’ll explore the New York State Office of People With Developmental Disability’s (OPWDD’s) five categories of developmental disability.

DD2: Acquiring Services for Children with Developmental Disabilities

This course focuses on the various services and agencies that assist children who have developmental disabilities and their families. We’ll look at how different programs establish eligibility for their services. Dealing effectively with service providers often requires us to be assertive, so we’ll refresh our memories about how to do that. A resource guide that provides extensive information and contact numbers for all the agencies and organizations servicing children with developmental disabilities and their families accompanies this course.

DD3: Foster/Adoptive Parents as Effective Advocates

This course reviews the federal law (IDEA) that set the standards for what we can expect from the educational system on behalf of any child with a disability. We then talk about what advocates do and the elements of effective advocacy, including the role of assertiveness. There are many websites that can help us advocate on a child’s (or family’s) behalf and we’ll explore some of them.

DD4: Raising Children with Developmental Disabilities: The Impact on Family Life

This course considers how caring for a child with a developmental disability impacts all aspects of family living, including parents and siblings. Resources and strategies are explored.

DD5: Parenting a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

In this course, we’ll look at the definition of ASD, talk about the specific way that ASD is diagnosed, explore who are some of the professionals you’ll need to work with and consult with to help a child with ASD, and consider successful intervention strategies that can help a child with ASD manage his or her behaviors and feelings.

Kinship Foster Parents: Caring For Our Own

Caring For Our Own (CFOO) is a nine-session training for kinship foster parents (any relative by blood, marriage or adoption, or any person with close family ties). This training is only available to those individuals who are currently providing foster care for one or more children to whom they are related or with whom they have close family ties. It does not matter how long a participant has been a kinship foster parent. In order for kinship parents to be in a position to receive the maximum benefit from this offering, it is strongly recommended that they register for and attend all nine trainings. Most agencies and districts will not credit this training without completion of all nine classes.

Participants learn how to help the children in their care to better manage their behaviors, receive parenting tips, and are introduced to strategies that can help them develop effective relationships with birth parents and agency/county staff. They benefit from receiving helpful knowledge, understanding, and support from other kinship foster parents and learn that they are not alone in taking on the responsibilities of kinship foster parenting.

CFOO1: Introduction to Caring For Our Own

This training provides an opportunity for kinship caregivers and the trainer to get acquainted with each other and share a little about personal kinship experiences.

CFOO2: Assessing the Impact of the Children Living in My Home

This training provides participants with an opportunity to assess the immediate impact of having children live in their homes. It will also assist kinship foster parents in assessing their ability to meet the present needs of the children in their care.

CFOO3: Looking at My Role in Achieving Permanency

This training provides kinship foster parents with an overview of reunification and adoption and identifies ways in which they can support permanency planning (children leaving foster care). It will also continue to provide participants with the opportunity to assess the strengths and needs of the members of their immediate household and of their extended family members.

CFOO4: Assessing the Strengths and Needs of the Children in My Care

This training helps kinship foster parents begin to focus on the needs of the children living in their homes and to identify the types of services they need to access to ensure stability in the children’s overall growth and development

CFOO5: Building on the Strengths and Meeting the Needs of the Children in My Care

This training continues to help kinship foster parents examine the behaviors of the children living in their homes, to identify methods of managing the behaviors, and to identify and access needed services.

CFOO6: Preparing Children and Youth for the Future

This training assists kinship foster parents in understanding their roles and responsibilities in the education of the children in their care and in preparing youth for independent living.

CFOO7: Understanding the Issues of Birth Parents

This training provides an opportunity for kinship foster parents to examine the challenges that birth parents face. Participants will gain a better understanding of birth parent issues and how those issues interplay with the kinship foster parent’s own issues. The nature of drug addiction in birth parents and how the addiction affects their ability to provide children with permanency (help their children leave foster care) will be explained and explored.

CFOO8: Working with Birth Parents to Achieve Permanency for Their Children

This training examines how kinship foster parents can redefine their relationship with birth parents in order to ensure children’s physical safety and emotional well-being and support birth parents’ efforts to achieve permanency (help their children leave foster care).

CFOO9: Networking and Moving Ahead

This training provides kinship foster parents with the opportunity to complete their assessment of their ability to meet long-term needs of the children in their care. Participants will develop a family plan, which they should later share with their caseworkers for the purpose of planning for the children.

Foster/Adoptive Parent Foundation Classes

Three online classes provide certified foster parents with the foundational information and skills required to work in partnership to achieve safety, well-being, and permanency for the children in their care. Each of these three foundation classes builds on the previous offering, and it is most helpful to take all three. Each course is offered twice so that participants can choose the time that is most convenient for them.

FC1: Using the Helping Skills to Build Relationships

This class introduces foster parents to the building blocks of a helping relationship. Since successful application of the helping skills is critical to effective interventions that promote the well-being of children, the nonverbal and verbal skills needed to build positive relationships with children and their families are highlighted. By the end of this class, participants will be able to:
  • Identify the building blocks of a helping relationship.
  • Identify the nonverbal and verbal helping skills.
  • Describe behaviors that demonstrate effective use of the nonverbal helping skills.

FC2: The Ages and Stages of Development

This class provides foster parents with a key tool, the Child Development Guide, and the information necessary to identify the presence or absence of significant skills and abilities at each age and stage of child development, to report important observations to the caseworker and other service providers, and to select and use activities that will support a child's optimal development. By the end of this class, participants will be able to:
  • Recognize the specific skills and abilities characteristic of each age and stage of child development.
  • Recognize possible indicators of unmet developmental needs or delays that require further assessment.
  • Use the Child Development Guide to support the healthy development of the children in their care.

FC3: Supporting Attachment

This class uses the Cycle of Attachment model to help foster parents understand the foundation process of children's emotional development and health. The behavioral clues that identify healthy attachments are highlighted. Foster parents learn how to select and use parenting behaviors that support emotional security and attachment in children, as well as how to identify behaviors that may signal unmet needs related to attachment. By the end of this class, participants will be able to:
  • Explain the meaning of the term attachment.
  • Identify “red flag” behaviors that may signal unmet needs related to attachment.
  • Choose to help a child build and maintain attachments to her birth family.
  • Select and use parenting behaviors that will maintain and support a child's attachment
    to his birth family and his foster family.

Fear and Control

Foster parents will gain a better understanding of the dynamics of fear and control issues and learn how these issues can sometimes become barriers to working in partnership with parents of children in foster care and agency staff. This training helps participants to recognize their own fears, as well as those experienced by the parents of children in foster care, the children themselves, and the caseworker involved. Participants will also learn how to identify effective strategies for addressing issues of fear and control.

When Children Move: The Foster Parents’ Loss Experience

Having a child in foster care transition out of the home can trigger stages of grief and loss in foster parents and children remaining in the home. This workshop will enable foster parents to better anticipate, identify, and cope with their feelings and make a plan to take care of themselves and their family members.

Keeping My Family Safe

As a result of attending this two-hour training, foster parents will be able to identify child abuse and maltreatment allegation issues and recognize how they can be exposed to these allegations. Participants will be able to identify tools and skills that build and maintain a safe environment in their homes. Participants will assess their own defensive parenting skills.

Managing My Anger

As a result of attending this two-hour iLinc training, foster parents will be able to identify those behaviors of others that stimulate anger in themselves. Participants will be able to identify underlying conditions that can result in angry behaviors and list appropriate ways to express anger. Foster parent participants will practice using appropriate methods to express their own angry feelings.

Proactive Responses to Lying

As a result of attending this two-hour training, foster parents will be able to clarify their values regarding lying and identify reasons children engage in this behavior. Through practice simulations, participants will be able to respond appropriately to children who lie, and make plans to prevent this behavior.

Proactive Responses to Stealing

As a result of attending this two-hour training, foster parents will be able to clarify their values regarding stealing and identify reasons children engage in this behavior. Through practice simulations, participants will be able to respond appropriately to children who steal, and make plans to prevent this behavior.

Live Online Course Offerings

Live Online Courses FAQ
Register for Live Online Courses

The following is a list of the Live Online Courses with accompanying descriptions: Developmental Disabilities This five-part series is intended for foster/adoptive parents who are raising children with developmental disabilities and who have already taken the Internet course Ages and Stages of Development (or, alternatively, the COMPASS Session 3: Promoting Child Development module through in-person delivery) or who are already knowledgeable about child development. Since each part builds on the previous one, these trainings should be taken in sequence.
	DD1: Introduction to Developmental Disabilities This course focuses on the developmental disabilities and delays that may affect the children in your care. Since there are important differences in the terms used in this topic, we’ll look at how developmental delay and developmental disability are defined. We’ll talk about how to use the Child Development Guide to help you decide whether there are indicators or warning signs related to developmental delays and disabilities in the children in your care. Then we’ll explore the New York State Office of People With Developmental Disability’s (OPWDD’s) five categories of developmental disability. DD2: Acquiring Services for Children with Developmental Disabilities This course focuses on the various services and agencies that assist children who have developmental disabilities and their families. We’ll look at how different programs establish eligibility for their services. Dealing effectively with service providers often requires us to be assertive, so we’ll refresh our memories about how to do that. A resource guide that provides extensive information and contact numbers for all the agencies and organizations servicing children with developmental disabilities and their families accompanies this course. DD3: Foster/Adoptive Parents as Effective Advocates This course reviews the federal law (IDEA) that set the standards for what we can expect from the educational system on behalf of any child with a disability. We then talk about what advocates do and the elements of effective advocacy, including the role of assertiveness. There are many websites that can help us advocate on a child’s (or family’s) behalf and we’ll explore some of them. DD4: Raising Children with Developmental Disabilities: The Impact on Family Life This course considers how caring for a child with a developmental disability impacts all aspects of family living, including parents and siblings. Resources and strategies are explored. DD5: Parenting a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) In this course, we’ll look at the definition of ASD, talk about the specific way that ASD is diagnosed, explore who are some of the professionals you’ll need to work with and consult with to help a child with ASD, and consider successful intervention strategies that can help a child with ASD manage his or her behaviors and feelings.

Kinship Foster Parents: Caring For Our Own Caring For Our Own (CFOO) is a nine-session training for kinship foster parents (any relative by blood, marriage or adoption, or any person with close family ties). This training is only available to those individuals who are currently providing foster care for one or more children to whom they are related or with whom they have close family ties. It does not matter how long a participant has been a kinship foster parent. In order for kinship parents to be in a position to receive the maximum benefit from this offering, it is strongly recommended that they register for and attend all nine trainings. Most agencies and districts will not credit this training without completion of all nine classes. Participants learn how to help the children in their care to better manage their behaviors, receive parenting tips, and are introduced to strategies that can help them develop effective relationships with birth parents and agency/county staff. They benefit from receiving helpful knowledge, understanding, and support from other kinship foster parents and learn that they are not alone in taking on the responsibilities of kinship foster parenting.
	CFOO1: Introduction to Caring For Our Own This training provides an opportunity for kinship caregivers and the trainer to get acquainted with each other and share a little about personal kinship experiences. CFOO2: Assessing the Impact of the Children Living in My Home This training provides participants with an opportunity to assess the immediate impact of having children live in their homes. It will also assist kinship foster parents in assessing their ability to meet the present needs of the children in their care. CFOO3: Looking at My Role in Achieving Permanency This training provides kinship foster parents with an overview of reunification and adoption and identifies ways in which they can support permanency planning (children leaving foster care). It will also continue to provide participants with the opportunity to assess the strengths and needs of the members of their immediate household and of their extended family members. CFOO4: Assessing the Strengths and Needs of the Children in My Care This training helps kinship foster parents begin to focus on the needs of the children living in their homes and to identify the types of services they need to access to ensure stability in the children’s overall growth and development CFOO5: Building on the Strengths and Meeting the Needs of the Children in My Care This training continues to help kinship foster parents examine the behaviors of the children living in their homes, to identify methods of managing the behaviors, and to identify and access needed services. CFOO6: Preparing Children and Youth for the Future This training assists kinship foster parents in understanding their roles and responsibilities in the education of the children in their care and in preparing youth for independent living. CFOO7: Understanding the Issues of Birth Parents This training provides an opportunity for kinship foster parents to examine the challenges that birth parents face. Participants will gain a better understanding of birth parent issues and how those issues interplay with the kinship foster parent’s own issues. The nature of drug addiction in birth parents and how the addiction affects their ability to provide children with permanency (help their children leave foster care) will be explained and explored. CFOO8: Working with Birth Parents to Achieve Permanency for Their Children This training examines how kinship foster parents can redefine their relationship with birth parents in order to ensure children’s physical safety and emotional well-being and support birth parents’ efforts to achieve permanency (help their children leave foster care). CFOO9: Networking and Moving Ahead This training provides kinship foster parents with the opportunity to complete their assessment of their ability to meet long-term needs of the children in their care. Participants will develop a family plan, which they should later share with their caseworkers for the purpose of planning for the children.

Foster/Adoptive Parent Foundation Classes Three online classes provide certified foster parents with the foundational information and skills required to work in partnership to achieve safety, well-being, and permanency for the children in their care. Each of these three foundation classes builds on the previous offering, and it is most helpful to take all three. Each course is offered twice so that participants can choose the time that is most convenient for them.

	FC1: Using the Helping Skills to Build Relationships This class introduces foster parents to the building blocks of a helping relationship. Since successful application of the helping skills is critical to effective interventions that promote the well-being of children, the nonverbal and verbal skills needed to build positive relationships with children and their families are highlighted. By the end of this class, participants will be able to: • Identify the building blocks of a helping relationship. • Identify the nonverbal and verbal helping skills. • Describe behaviors that demonstrate effective use of the nonverbal helping skills. FC2: The Ages and Stages of Development This class provides foster parents with a key tool, the Child Development Guide, and the information necessary to identify the presence or absence of significant skills and abilities at each age and stage of child development, to report important observations to the caseworker and other service providers, and to select and use activities that will support a child's optimal development. By the end of this class, participants will be able to: • Recognize the specific skills and abilities characteristic of each age and stage of child development. • Recognize possible indicators of unmet developmental needs or delays that require further assessment. • Use the Child Development Guide to support the healthy development of the children in their care. FC3: Supporting Attachment This class uses the Cycle of Attachment model to help foster parents understand the foundation process of children's emotional development and health. The behavioral clues that identify healthy attachments are highlighted. Foster parents learn how to select and use parenting behaviors that support emotional security and attachment in children, as well as how to identify behaviors that may signal unmet needs related to attachment. By the end of this class, participants will be able to: • Explain the meaning of the term attachment. • Identify “red flag” behaviors that may signal unmet needs related to attachment. • Choose to help a child build and maintain attachments to her birth family. • Select and use parenting behaviors that will maintain and support a child's attachment to his birth family and his foster family.

Fear and Control Foster parents will gain a better understanding of the dynamics of fear and control issues and learn how these issues can sometimes become barriers to working in partnership with parents of children in foster care and agency staff. This training helps participants to recognize their own fears, as well as those experienced by the parents of children in foster care, the children themselves, and the caseworker involved. Participants will also learn how to identify effective strategies for addressing issues of fear and control.

When Children Move: The Foster Parents’ Loss Experience Having a child in foster care transition out of the home can trigger stages of grief and loss in foster parents and children remaining in the home. This workshop will enable foster parents to better anticipate, identify, and cope with their feelings and make a plan to take care of themselves and their family members.

Keeping My Family Safe As a result of attending this two-hour training, foster parents will be able to identify child abuse and maltreatment allegation issues and recognize how they can be exposed to these allegations. Participants will be able to identify tools and skills that build and maintain a safe environment in their homes. Participants will assess their own defensive parenting skills.

Managing My Anger As a result of attending this two-hour iLinc training, foster parents will be able to identify those behaviors of others that stimulate anger in themselves. Participants will be able to identify underlying conditions that can result in angry behaviors and list appropriate ways to express anger. Foster parent participants will practice using appropriate methods to express their own angry feelings.

Proactive Responses to Lying As a result of attending this two-hour training, foster parents will be able to clarify their values regarding lying and identify reasons children engage in this behavior. Through practice simulations, participants will be able to respond appropriately to children who lie, and make plans to prevent this behavior.

Proactive Responses to Stealing As a result of attending this two-hour training, foster parents will be able to clarify their values regarding stealing and identify reasons children engage in this behavior. Through practice simulations, participants will be able to respond appropriately to children who steal, and make plans to prevent this behavior.