Calendar

Children experience grief over the loss of their families when they come into foster care, similar yet more challenging, then they do through divorce or death. There are many unknowns within the complicated family dynamics of each situation. We can help them understand and heal through caring conversations, story-sharing, and creative projects like memory boxes or journaling.

Upon completion of this course, participants will:

• Learn the stages of grief that are common to all situations regarding loss.
• Discover why loss in foster care is more complex and if unresolved can lead to lifelong problems.
• Obtain tools to utilize with children to help them address their grief in healthy ways.

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Participants will learn how to make creative projects that help children and teens reflect on their unique personality, establish a personal motto, and create a vision for their future.  Specifically, they will learn to make a Name-Poem (acrostic poem) OR a rhyming poem, a Coat-of-Arms OR a totem pole as well as a Vision Board.  These projects are fun for people of every age and help promote self-esteem.  The training session will show samples, demonstrate how-to make each project, and explain the importance of these tools for personal growth.  Foster parents will be able to teach these techniques to the children in their homes far into the future.  A supply list incorporating items you have at home will be supplied during the session

Upon completion of this course, participants will:

• Learn how creative activities can help their foster children build their self-esteem.
• Learn teachable activities by practicing them during the workshop session.
• Discover new ways to connect and create a deeper bond with the foster children in their care.

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While each of the Child Development workshops can be taken independently, taking them as a series gives a detailed perspective on the growth and development of children ages 0-12.  Each session includes important milestones that typical children achieve and the warning signs that they are falling behind.  The sessions also include activities that you can do with the child to help them thrive.  All sessions highlight the unique challenges that children in foster care may face as a result of being abused or neglected,  born with addiction or fetal alcohol syndrome or attachment problems. All workshops include discussion time, reflection time, and case studies.

In addition to developmental milestones, warning signs and activities, The Infant – 3 Years Old session includes info on failure to thrive, shaken-baby syndrome, delays vs disabilities, and early intervention.

Upon completion of this course, participants will:

• Learn about the important milestones between birth and three years of age. These milestones represent typical development in language, learning (cognitive), physical movement, and social/emotional growth.
• Learn about early warning signs that may signal early delays, disabilities, or lack of attachment.
• Become familiar with famous theories and studies on the effects of separation, difference between delays and disabilities, and specific conditions such as failure to thrive, fetal alcohol syndrome, and shaken baby syndrome. Participants will learn the short and long term ramifications of early  abuse and neglect.
• Learn how to help infants and toddlers thrive.

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This webinar will focus on models of FASD assessment and intervention that are effective and well-suited for child welfare systems’ array of services. The attendees will learn about a brief consultation behavioral health clinic model for utilizing FASD-informed care to provide assessment, consultation, and links to supportive services. This model has potential to provide a quick and efficient pathway to diagnosis and services for children and families served in child welfare. Next attendees will learn about an evidence-based child and parent intervention that facilitates development of social-emotional functioning, self-control, positive behavior, and long-term mental health among children six to 12 years of age in foster or adoptive care who meet criteria for an FASD diagnosis. An adoptive parent of a child with an FASD will share insights about the experience and benefits of FASD-informed diagnosis and family-focused interventions and supports.

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In this webinar, presenters will discuss the critical multidisciplinary needs of children who have been prenatally exposed to a substance and their families and articulate ways in which current policies, initiatives, and workforce development can be leveraged through multi-system collaboration to enhance care and outcomes. Drawing from state approaches to implement the plans of safe care requirement of CAPTA legislation, the presenters will discuss the need for additional implementation support and federal technical assistance, multi-system collaboration, and equitable supports to improve outcomes.

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FTCs, like all drug courts, historically focused on treating substance use disorders (SUDs). However, FTCs cannot maintain this singular focus since 45% of adults with an SUD in the general population also live with a co-occurring mental health disorder. People with an untreated co-occurring disorder are less likely to complete substance use treatment or achieve sustained recovery; they are also more likely to experience unemployment, homelessness, child welfare involvement, incarceration, and suicide.

Many dependency court professionals recognize the prevalence of co-occurring disorders. Still, due to complexities in screening, assessment, diagnosis, and securing mental health services, FTCs may not appropriately identify and treat parents with co-occurring disorders. This Practice Academy examines the interactive nature of substance use and mental health disorders, while providing strategies for improved approaches and outcomes for parents and their children.

Learning Objectives:

1.  Summarize definitions and prevalence rates of co-occurring disorders and explore theories of how and why substance use and mental health disorders co-occur.
2.  Identify complexities and opportunities in screening and assessment to more accurately identify parents with co-occurring disorders.
3.  Apply evidence-based approaches for integrated treatment and recovery.
4.  Adopt strategies from FTCs who successfully serve parents with co-occurring disorders.

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