8524 Training Services
8524.1 Group Training for Foster and Adoptive Parents
CPS November 2006
Regions may authorize group training for the benefit of prospective foster and adoptive parents and current foster parents.
8524.11 Determining Eligibility
CPS November 2006
Prospective parents
Prospective parents (those not yet approved as foster or adoptive parents) are eligible for a pre-service training known as Parents' Resource for Information, Development, and Education or PRIDE.
PRIDE prepares participants to be foster or adoptive parents or adds to the skills they already possess.
Foster and adoptive parents
Foster and adoptive parents (those already approved) are eligible for in-service training, when the service helps to determine or maintain an appropriate placement.
In-Service Trainingmay cover a variety of topics, but must meet the developmental needs of foster and adoptive parents.
8524.12 Referring Clients
CPS November 2006
Since training is provided through administrative contracts, there is no referral process.
Workers may inform potential participants about the services in several ways:
• Provide the contractor with the names of parents who are eligible for training, or follows regional procedures;
• Notify local organizations and community groups about training, so they can inform their members; or
• Issue public service announcements through the media to inform the public of the training.
8524.13 Requesting Training
CPS November 2006
To provide training, workers must collect the following details and submit them as a request for training to the contract manager:
• Purposes of the training;
• Trainer's name and specified qualifications;
Note: In many instances the trainers are current or former foster or adoptive parents.
• Scope, schedule, and curriculum of the training, including the kinds of activities involved;
• Measurable objectives of the training;
• Method for evaluating the success or failure of the training;
• Estimated number of participants to receive the training;
• The workers responsible for training-related activities, such as arranging for a site and producing training materials; and
• Length of the training session and the names of participants and their affiliations or employers, as documented by the trainer after the training.
8524.14 Handling Additional Duties
CPS November 2006
To provide group training for foster and adoptive parents, the worker must perform the following duties:
Pre-service Training |
In-service Training |
Training for Birth Families |
|---|---|---|
• Verify that the proper curriculum is being taught; • Observe participants in the class to gather assessment information; and • Conduct background checks on the participants, including criminal history checks and a history check using the IMPACT database.
|
• Document in IMPACT the length of the training session(s); • Collect a list of participants by name and child-placing agency affiliation, if applicable; and • Collect assessment information about the participants.
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If the training is: • being provided through a Form 2054 (that is, training for birth families), and • additional units are being authorized, or • the training is being extended or reauthorized, or terminated before the end date, see: 8161.1 Active Cases — Authorizing, Extending, or Terminating Direct Services |
8524.2 Topic-Specific Training for Clients, Parents, or Contractors
8524.21 Authorizing Training
CPS November 2006
Topic-specific training for clients, foster or adoptive parents, or contractors may be authorized when:
• A client, foster parent, or adoptive parent needs help to recognize and understand the behavior and problems of children and families who receive services from CPS;
• A foster parent or adoptive parent needs help handling specific behaviors of children who are in their care;
• A foster parent or adoptive parent requires training to resolve developmental issues in their roles as foster or adoptive parents;
• A contractor needs to improve his or her ability to help families provide better care for their children;
• A contractor needs to improve his or her placement decisions, permanency planning, and child care for children in the managing conservatorship of DFPS;
• A contractor needs to improve his or her ability to plan services for families and children, both within CPS and in other agencies that serve CPS clients;
• Foster parents, adoptive parents, and staff from agencies and organizations (including CPS) need opportunities to communicate and build networks; or
• The community at large needs to increase public awareness of child abuse and neglect and increase public support for providing protective services to families and children.
8524.22 Determining Eligibility
CPS November 2006
Persons and organizations eligible for this service include:
• Foster and adoptive parents;
• Contractors that provide direct services to clients;
• Agencies and organizations outside of DFPS involved in protective services for families and children, including parent and community groups;
• Volunteers;
• Members of child welfare boards; and
• The community at large, if the training is designed to increase:
• Public awareness of child abuse and neglect, or
• Support for providing protective services to families and children.
Note: Training for DFPS staff may not be purchased through these training contracts. Generally CPS staff may not attend, although they may occasionally attend specific training sessions provided for under certain contracts. When CPS staff attends, the contractor may not claim reimbursement for the training costs. Instead, DFPS must prorate the contractor's costs, and use administrative funds to reimburse the contractor for the staff who participated. CPS staff that monitor, assist, or serve as a resource during training are not considered to be training participants.
8524.23 Requiring Topics
CPS November 2006
Contracted training for clients, contractors, or foster and adoptive parents must include topics agreed on by the contractor and DFPS staff.
The topics must be pertinent to the needs of the individuals who will receive the training. Topics may be covered in a single session or in several sessions.
Possible training topics include, but are not limited to:
• Permanency for children;
• Parenting skills;
• Discipline;
• Behavior management;
• Psychotropic medications;
• Communicating with children and families;
• Working with:
• Victims of sexual abuse,
• Teenage clients,
• Unmarried teenage parents who have been abused or neglected, and
• Resistant clients;
• Principles of child placement; or
• Separation from and attachment to the birth family, and other issues of family identity.
8524.24 Referring Clients
CPS November 2006
A worker should contact the regional contract manager to determine whether a contract for topic-specific training is available for a referral or what must be done to establish one.