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College
of the Redwoods
Foster
& Kinship Care Education Program |
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Because it's never too late to make a difference.
Why Foster Care? When it is no longer safe for children to live in their own home or when they no longer have a home to go to, they need a stable and nurturing living envorinment that will help them to continue to grow and learn. Sometimes the situation is temporary, other times it can be more permanent. In either case, caring and uniquely skilled individuals are required to fill this need. That's where you come in. If you love kids and have room in your heart and your home for additional children, you really should consider foster parenting or foster-adoption. College of the Redwoods partners with Humboldt and Del Norte County's Department of Health and Human Services to offer a dynamic and comprehensive training program for those interested in providing a loving home for foster children. It is the mission of the Foster Parent and Kinship Care Education Program to provide quality education and support opportunities to caregivers of children and youth in out-of-home care, so that these providers may meet the foster childrens' educational, emotional, behavioral, and developmental needs. Getting Started In order to become a licensed foster parent, you must participate in one of the PRIDE pre-service training sessions. The twenty-four hours of training covers the following areas: ♥ Appreciation for special needs of foster and kinship children ♥ How to access health services and community resources ♥ How foster care fits into the Child Welfare System ♥ Techniques for building your foster children’s self-esteem These workshops are completely free and are available every Tuesday and Thursday evening beginning August 30, 2007. To enroll in a PRIDE session, contact Kelly Remington at 707-269-4003. Already a licensed care provider? Sharpen your skills and enhance your knowledge by attending our in-service, therapeutic and special-topic training classes. We offer sessions in the following areas: ♥ How to effectively advocate for your foster child when dealing with schools and health-care agencies ♥ Learning about attachment and attachment disorders ♥ Working effectively with birth parents ♥ Understanding attention-deficient and hyperactive foster children ♥ Resolving family conflicts and anger ♥ Exploring healthy responses to grief and loss To receive the current Foster Parent Program newsletter, please contact Kelly Remington at 707-269-4003.
Helpful Information and Links Right Start for America's Newborns Releases New Birth Outcome Data: Data from the 2007 Right Start for America's Newborns report is now available online. The report now includes data on the eight indicators of healthy birth outcomes, going back to 1990, and is available for states and cities. The Right Start report is a joint project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Child Trends. http://www.kidscount.org/sld/rightstart.jsp. New National Autism Registry: The Kennedy Krieger Institute recently launched the first national online autism registry. The Interactive Autism Network (IAN) is designed to promote autism research by linking researchers and families. Visit the website to stay informed about autism research, provide feedback, share information and become part of an important national research effort. For more information go to http://www.ianproject.org/. Infants in the Child Welfare System: A Developmental Framework for Policy and Practice: Brenda Jones Harden, PhD, presents a detailed examination of the dangers faced when very young children are unable to bond with a safe, dependable caregiver. Using extensive research, her work explains some of the basic theories of child development that are especially relevant to the experiences of infants and toddlers in the child welfare system. https://secure2.convio.net/zttcfn/site/Ecommerce?VIEW_PRODUCT=true&product_id=2721&store_id=1121&JServSessionIdr010=w48b53w4y2.app8a Interactive Newsletter Explores Children's Mental Health. Data Matters is an interactive electronic newsletter that highlights the importance of data, discusses evaluation strategies and outcomes, and informs readers about the latest developments in the field of children's mental health. Each month, featured discussions in Data Matters coincide with the teleconference topic of the National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health. Participants can read a featured article, browse through additional resources, review posted comments, and access an archive of previous discussions. Participants are encouraged to post their own comments to the site to facilitate greater interaction and discussion. The National Technical Assistance Center for Children's Mental Health is operated by the Georgetown University Center for Child and Human Development. http://gucchdgeorgetown.net/data/ National Center for Trauma-Informed Care The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has created a new center to assist publicly funded agencies, programs, and services to deal more effectively with the needs of trauma survivors. The National Center for Trauma-Informed Care (NCTIC) emphasizes that trauma from violence or abuse is often an underlying cause of mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, or substance abuse. he NCTIC website offers access to many resources, including education and outreach, trauma-informed care models, and trauma-specific treatments and interventions. These include topic papers and research, links, and other materials to help educate and foster a deeper understanding of the impact of trauma, and free or low-cost trauma training and technical assistance for publicly funded health and human service systems and programs. CTIC is a service of the Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of HHS. http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/nctic/default.asp NEW STRATEGY BRIEFS FROM CASEY FAMILY PROGRAMS How to finance programs for youth transitioning out of foster care
These three new strategy briefs help policymakers, child welfare administrators, program developers, and community leaders finance their transition programs. The briefs describe resources and strategies for these program areas:
Improving Educational Services for Foster Youth Living in Group Homes
The purpose of this curriculum from the California Social Work Education Center is to provide child welfare workers with some very practical tasks and knowledge to be able to effectively assist the children on their caseload enroll in school. Although much of the focus has been on group home youth who often present the greatest challenge in terms of school enrollment and attendance, the material will be applicable to children in all types of out-of-home placement. Since the enrollment and advocacy process is often a three-way collaboration between the child welfare agency, the school district, and the foster or group home, the curriculum is broken down to illustrate the various responsibilities of these parties.
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy with At-Risk Families
This bulletin from the Child Welfare Information Gateway is intended to build a better understanding of the characteristics and benefits of this family-centered approach. It was written primarily to help child welfare caseworkers and other professionals who work with at-risk families make more informed decisions about when to refer parents and caregivers, along with their children, to PCIT programs. This information may also help biological parents, foster parents, and other caregivers understand what they and their children can gain from PCIT and what to expect during treatment. This brief also may be useful to others with an interest in implementing or participating in effective parent-training strategies.
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