FAPAC provides training opportunities that address the needs and concerns of the District’s foster, kinship and adoptive parents. As a small organization hoping to make a large “footprint,” FAPAC works to build collaboration between organizations and to build the capacity in our broader community.
Monthly Peer Support Group
Held every 4th Wednesday, this support group provides a safe place for people parenting children through the DC child welfare system to talk and connect with their peers. Participants are encouraged to share how their parenting role impacts them and to discuss the rewards and challenges of sharing responsibility for the care of the children with others, including birth parents. The group is open to all foster and adoptive parents, kinship caregivers, and legal guardians parenting children through the DC foster care system.
Foster and Kinship Parent Trainings
FAPAC has a full roster of past training workshops that we offered at times that we could not find them elsewhere in our community. One of our primary advocacy efforts in earlier years was towards enhancing and expanding the training capacity offered to DC’s foster parent community. This was a successful effort and there are many more opportunities now currently offered to our families. As we are committed to utilizing our limited resources on those offerings not available elsewhere, we removed them from our schedule when others begin to offer them. Some of these included: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders; Trauma informed Behavioral Interventions; Depression and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents; Developmental Stages of Children/The impact of Neglect, Abuse and Foster Care; Healing Invisible Wounds: Children Exposed to Violence; and others. Currently, our stand-alone modules are based upon community need and request. Past trainings included: Introduction to Shared Parenting and Advanced Shared Parenting , Navigating the, DC Permanency Process, Peer Advocacy, Training (P.A.T.), I’m Licensed – What’s Next
Individual Support
FAPAC provides families with a listening ear; mediation of issues with their agencies, problem solving, emotional support, and referrals to legal counsel, educational advocacy, and other resources. Typically, this work is done over the phone; however, in some situations FAPAC may accompany families to meetings with their agencies, or even occasionally to court.
Call (202) 269-9441 for individual support.
Additional CFSA Approved Trainings
The below websites have been approved by CFSA’s Child Welfare Training Academy (CWTA). Upon completion of each online course, please print your certificate immediately and send them to your Resource Development Specialist or Licensing Specialist within 15 days of completion!! DC parents please remember, only 9 hours of online training is permissible within your 2-year in-service training cycle. If you are a Maryland foster parent of a DC child, please double check with your agency’s training/licensing staff to confirm their on-line training policy.
www.freestatesocialwork.com/dccfsa – Trauma Systems Therapy (TST) project is one tool CFSA is utilizing to fulfill our mission with children in foster care. CFSA supports foster parents as they work to make a difference in the lives of children in need. The TST program will benefit both our foster parents and our children as parents gain additional knowledge and enhance their parenting skills. This program will provide a better understanding of the children in your home and the trauma they have experienced as you continue to give your time, love and understanding. See below for log-in instructions.
https://dc.mandatedreporter.org/pages/Welcome.action – Free online DC mandated reporter training
www.fosterparents.com – One year membership: $24 (not reimbursable).
www.dshs.wa.gov/ca/fosterparents/training.asp – The entire FosterParentscopeTraining program is presented in this award-winning Web site from Washington State. Adapted from the SUNY Fosterparentscope curriculum.
www.fosterparentstest.com/store/index.htm – A wonderful selection of online courses for resource parents cover- ing topics from high needs babies to a range of disorders and challenges. Note that there is a non-reimbursable associated cost for each course.
www.fosterparentcollege.com – FosterParentCollege.com’s Self-Paced training is accessible 24 hours a day, sev- en days a week. From the comfort and safety of home, parents can enroll, complete a course, and receive a certificate of completion in a single session. FPC has conducted more than 80,000 online training sessions since 2004. De- signed by nationally recognized experts in the fields of parenting, pediatrics, psychology, psychiatry, and education, FPC courses are valued by foster care agencies and praised by caregivers. Many of our classes are also available on DVD at our websitewww.SocialLearning.com.
Need more information? Contact Aretha Wells, Program Specialist at aretha.wells@dc.gov.