Why Is Foster Parent Training So Important?

To be the best support possible for the child or teen in your care, Shineforth provides initial and ongoing training. When you participate in this specialized training, you’ll grow in your understanding of your youth’s experience, gain skills to help him or her cope with challenges, and learn how to cultivate a home environment conducive to your youth’s growth.

A child or teen’s journey doesn’t stop when he or she is placed in a loving foster home; the journey toward a successful outcome has only just begun. Shineforth’ ongoing foster parent training aims to help parents adjust to the ebbs and flows of this journey.

Foster Care Training Requirements & Opportunities

To become a foster parent with Shineforth, the organization prepares and equips you for the position through an information session, then offers a series of training sessions for you while ensuring that you meet several additional prerequisites.

As the Virginia Department of Social Services emphasizes, initial training informs and educates parents. This training may help you fully assess whether you’re ready to care for a child or teen in the foster program. Ongoing training continues to provide education and skills training, as well as dedicated support.

Below are the types of foster care training that are required and/or available to you as a Shineforth foster parent:

Introductory Information Session

This meeting will help you learn more about the children and teens who Shineforth serves, and you will gain a deeper understanding of the foster care process.

At the information session, Shineforth staff will present important information and answer questions. This is a great opportunity to clarify your responsibilities as a foster parent, learn more general information and find out what makes Shineforth unique.

Pre-Service Training and Foster Parent Classes

The pre-service foster care training curriculum, ImPACT (I’m Parenting All Children Therapeutically), is designed to give you a comprehensive understanding of the foster care system, as well as the needs of the youth in the program. You will engage in skills development and learn about important resources which will help you prepare your home for a child or teen in foster care.

Parents must complete 25 hours of pre-service training. Later, when you participate in a home study, you can discuss lessons learned or lingering questions from your pre-service training. This is another opportunity to gain new insights and learn more.

During our training sessions and foster parent classes, we will cover topics such as:

• Child welfare system
• Permanency
• Strengths-based thinking
• Attachment
• Grief and loss
• Child and brain development
• Discipline
• Self-care
• Policies and procedures

CPR & First Aid Training

Knowing how to perform basic first aid and CPR is essential for anyone working with children and teens. Becoming certified in CPR isn’t required by all local social services departments, but Shineforth wants our foster parents to be equipped with all the skills necessary to fully care for a child or teen.

Foster parents have numerous opportunities to complete CPR and first aid training. You can choose from several options to keep your certifications current as your time as a foster parent continues.

Ongoing Foster Parent Training & Support

Shineforth requires foster parents to complete 12 hours of ongoing training per year.

Plus, we provide numerous support groups, meetings, and one-on-one mentorship opportunities for foster parents to feel plugged into a network, guided along your journey, and connected to insightful resources that enhance your foster parent education.

Training meetings occur throughout the year. Support groups meet monthly, providing resources and information as well as emotional and mental support.

Foster Parent Education Principles At Shineforth

At Shineforth, pre-service foster parent training and ongoing training are rooted in four main principles:

• Trauma-Informed Care
• The Whole-Brain Child
• Collaborative Problem Solving
• High-Fidelity Wraparound Services

Trauma-Informed Care

Trauma-informed care is designed to help parents understand how trauma affects the brain and development. This training teaches parents how to build resilience after trauma.

During events such as the Trauma-Informed Care Panel, foster care alumni and social work experts speak to parents and provide anecdotal and professional perspectives. This insight helps foster parents understand what the children and teens in foster care have endured and how they can best support them.

The Whole-Brain Child

This is based on the book by Dr. Dan Siegel and Dr. Tina Payne Bryson, which teaches parents about youth’s brain development. It also teaches parents how to help children and teens in foster care move beyond challenging situations.

This involves accepting that we aren’t “stuck” in our circumstances and training our brains to move beyond difficult situations.

Collaborative Problem Solving

The principle focuses on teaching adults and youth how to manage conflict. Training is rooted in the belief that conflict management isn’t about “wanting” to do well; it’s about having the skills to do so. 

Collaborative problem solving teaches communication and problem-solving skills that help adults, children, and teens identify problems, respect others’ feelings, manage frustration, and work toward a resolution.

High-Fidelity Wraparound Services

This is a team-based approach to developing an individualized family care plan. Families work with professionals, and you will learn how to be your own advocate, identify your family’s needs, and connect to resources. The goal is to equip foster parents with the skills necessary to be as independent as possible in your foster care journey.Foster parents have numerous opportunities to complete CPR and first aid training. You can choose from several options to keep your certifications current as your time as a foster parent continues.

Interested In Becoming A Foster Parent?

Foster parenting is one of the most challenging but also one of the most rewarding roles you could have. It’s an opportunity to give children and teens love where before they felt neglected; to give them compassion where before they felt dismissed; to give them a hug where before they were abused.

As a foster parent, you can provide a true family to a child or teen who may have never had one.