Foster & Kinship Care Education Program

Foster & Kinship Care Training

We invite you to join our Foster & Kinship Care Education Classes.

When you are:

• Parenting a child placed in out-of-home care and you want to improve your parenting skills
• Taking care of a relative's child
• Taking care of a non-relative family friend's child
• Needing to complete State mandated foster care education requirements
• Interested in being a foster or adoptive parent

Pre-Service Classes:

RFA (Resource Family Approval) Training

This 12-hour training provides basic training required for those who wish to become foster/ adoptive parents. This program is a unified, family-friendly, and child-centered approval process. It will replace the existing processes for the procedures listed below by combining elements of all of them into a single approval standard:

• Licensing of foster family homes;
• Approval of relatives and non-relative extended family members as foster care providers or legal guardians; and
• Approval of adoptive families.

Receive training and education on the following topics:

• Accessing Health Services
• Discovering Community Resources
• Understanding Foster Care and the Child Welfare System
• Appreciating Special Needs of Foster and Kinship Children

Additionally, RFA will provide greater support to relative and non-related extended family member caregivers, reduce placement moves and improve permanency processes for children and youth.

These classes meet on either Tuesdays and Thursdays or all day Saturday. Please check class calendars for specific dates. 

Infants in Care

Infants in Care is a required pre-service class offered at College of the Redwoods for any foster parent who plans to care for an infant under the age of three. Often, many of the infants who come into the foster care system were exposed to addictive opiate drugs or alcohol while in the mother’s womb. Babies who are exposed to opioids for prolonged periods in the womb are born with a physical addiction to the drug. During the Infants in Care class, a trained facilitator will provide in depth instruction on ways to care for an infant who was exposed to opiates in the womb and who may suffer from Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). Some of the topics covered in the class for infants with NAS include: providing a quiet and calm environment for the infant, minimizing the environmental stimuli the infant is exposed to, swaying infant in your arms, and responding early to the infant’s needs. In addition, the facilitator will also cover important topics such as caring for an infant born with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), as well as caring for an infant born premature.

On-Going Foster Care Education

California State Law Requires licensed foster parents to complete 8 hours of annual foster care education. Given that children are coming into the court system with greater histories of abuse and neglect than ever before, it has become more important than ever to develop excellent parenting skills, knowledge of the court system, and strong and on-going support systems.

In-Service Classes:

Adoption Support and Resources

This class is designed for families that are thinking about becoming adoptive parents, in the process of becoming adoptive parents, or already are an adoptive family. The facilitator has many years of experience as an adoptive liaison, working with pre and post adoptive families, birth families, and Kinship providers. If this subject applies to you, please come and check out this amazing class and meet other adoptive parents. This class is offered quarterly.

Learn how to take care of your loved ones or any others in need should an emergency, accident or injury occur. Learn how to save a life. The trainers show you how to do dressings, help stop bleeding, basic arm slings, help save a drowning victim, and other simple emergency tips. Trainers is certified by the American Red Cross. The FKCE Program will now be handing out certificates as instructed by the county for the CPR/First Aid classes. The CPR/First Aid class will continue to be free to all participants. The certification is good for 2 years. This class is offered once a month on Saturday.

Dad's Support and Resources

Monthly meetings will be hosted by Jim Nielsen, usually the first Tuesdays of the month from 6:00pm-9:00pm. The meetings will provide Foster and Adoptive dads a safe place to ask questions and share techniques that other dads use to raise children.

This regular class focuses on the issues relative caregivers are faced with as they raise their family's children. Family dynamics, school advocacy, working with the system, and obtaining necessary resources are some of the topics covered. Located in Del Norte, these classes offer support and resources to family members who are caregivers, or who may be concerned about the children, and wondering what is possible. 

Love and Logic parenting is a cornerstone for any parent wanting a practical, no-nonsense approach to parenting. Come learn how to talk to your kids so they will listen, learn and change behavior. Learn the most effective style and logical formulas you can use to teach your child personal success.This curriculum is comprehensive, fast-paced, fun and it makes sense! In-class problem solving will help you apply the model to your situation. This 3 week course is offered quarterly on Wednesday nights.

• The “Love” in Love and Logic means that we love our kids so much that we are willing to set and enforce limits. This “Love” also means that we do so with sincere compassion and empathy.

• The “Logic” in Love and Logic happens when we allow children to make decisions, affordable mistakes and experience the natural or logical consequences. When we balance this with sincere empathy, they develop the following logic: "I wonder how my next choice will affect my life?"

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children is a form of human trafficking happening around the world that occurs when an individual buys, trades or sells sexual acts with a child. In this workshop your will learn about State and Federal Laws, Local and National Statistics, Local Issues, Profile of a Trafficker/Pimp, and Cultural Contributors.This training is about raising awareness, recognizing the dynamics, identifying the vulnerabilities, and identifying CSEC warning signs. Most importantly, you will learn how foster and kinship home care intersects with CSEC.

Other Special Training

The community college Foster & Kinship Care Education Program annually offers classes on a variety of topics, including:

• Cultural diversity and sensitivity
• Accessing education and health services
• Medically fragile infants and children
• Self-esteem enhancement
• Understanding and working with the court system
• Basic child development
• Adoption and concurrent planning issues
• Special issues as needed

Refer to the class calendars for specific dates of these trainings.