The Northeastern region provides an excellent representation of the implementation we are seeing across the country. Because of the flexibility of the NTDC, states, tribes, territories and agencies can implement one, two or all three of the NTDC components (self-assessment, classroom-based training and Right-Time Training) without change or refine for the specific jurisdiction.
Maine
“As Maine goes, so goes the Nation”
As NTDC has moved across the US, Maine has been on the forefront, leading the Northeast’s implementation of this transformational, no-cost foster parent preparation resource. Maine began Train the Trainer sessions in January of 2021, and within 2 weeks had conducted their first parent training. As of March,1738 people have completed NTDC representing 1043 households available to accept a child into their home. Additionally, 573 kinship households have attended training sessions.
Mainers describe NTDC as having the core components they have been looking for and credit the team with offering a product they could pick up quickly and pass on to parents. Maine has incorporated the training curriculum into their learning management system which is available to Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) employees as well as resource parents.
The Maine team is maximizing the trauma-informed, and culturally relevant tools not only to support families and resource parents, but also to increase overall capacity to interact with children in foster care and support resource parents. Maine credits the implementation success of NTDC to a strong collaboration with the training team at the Catherine Cutler Institute at the University of Southern Maine and DHHS, the Adoptive and Foster Families of Maine, and the Maine Youth Action Network which specifically offers several venues for families and staff to the explore the curriculum.
The team at the Cutler Institute continues to utilize an Advisory Team which involves community partners, state child welfare staff and foster and adoptive youth in decisions regarding the curriculum and audiences with whom NTDC should be shared to maximize impact to the Maine child welfare system and the children and families they serve. Hats off to Maine for leading the way in the Northeast Region.
New Hampshire
Staff from the Child Welfare Education Partnership (CWEP) at Granite College began exploring NTDC alongside the Department of Health and Human Services/Division of Children Youth and Families staff in early 2022. A workgroup with staff from both programs was formed to review the curriculum for any additional material.
The workgroup also identified the need for a Kinship only curriculum comprised of the NTDC themes to be developed. The workgroup and its subgroups worked very efficiently and reached out to Maine for lessons learned to prepare for a pilot in late 2022. To ensure the training would be engaging and meaningful to participants, a partnership was created with caregivers, parent partners, and staff from both CWEP and DCYF. Adjustments to timing, specific content, and activities were done to ensure the training would be relevant to NH and remain within the timeframe expected.
CWEP offered a total of 6 cohorts which consisted of 2 cohorts specific to Kinship Caregiving and 4 cohorts for Caregiver Pre-Service Training. Within these 6 cohorts, CWEP trained a total of 75 future caregivers and 28 total kinship caregivers.
Following the completion of these cohorts, instructors, administrators, and course development specialists are working together to further refine the curriculum based on feedback from instructors and participants to further enhance the current curriculum and instruction for our future participants.
New York
New York began their exploration phase in late 2021. After reviewing the curriculum and committing to implementation, New York identified June 2023 as the target date for a state-wide pilot launch. The Bureau of Training within the New York Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) is currently reviewing the classroom-based themes, adding New York specific content to the curriculum in preparation for the June release date.
In addition to the excitement for the new curriculum within the Office of Children and Family Services; New York agencies are also looking forward to utilizing the training to prepare parents who will foster and/or adopt children who have experienced separation, grief, and loss.
Massachusetts
Staff in Massachusetts at the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) are offering the Right-Time Training of the NTDC curriculum to families across the state through their catalog of resources. As an agency which supports families who are pursuing adoption of children in foster care, MARE believes the Right-Time Training will be helpful in navigating challenges families and children may experience as they prepare for adoption.
