NTDC classroom-based sessions are designed to be delivered locally. Foster, kinship and adoptive families will work through their local jurisdictions to ensure they are following their required training process. Connect with your local agency to ensure you’re all set on your journey through the process!
Online themes offer the flexibility of being viewed either during class time or independently outside the classroom. The “Overview of Child Welfare” and “Expanding Your Parenting Paradigm” themes include a video, discussion questions, additional resources on the topic, and an optional post-test.
Please note: Each theme video is available for download as an Open Caption and Audio Description version. Open Caption videos contain subtitles for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. Videos with Audio Description contain audio-narrated descriptions of a video’s key visual elements. Audio Description videos are for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. YouTube links to the accessible versions of the videos are also provided by theme in the downloadable materials below.
Expanding Your Parenting Paradigm
This theme helps participants understand why traditional parenting is not effective for children who have experienced separation, loss, or trauma. The theme helps identify parental strengths as well as the need to adapt parenting techniques to support these children and helps to create awareness of changes needed to be made to parenting values and beliefs. The importance of adapting parental expectations, the need to not take things personally, and the value of cultural humility are highlighted. Characteristics for successfully parenting children who have experienced separation, loss or trauma are identified, including flexibility, patience, nurturing, compassion, and sense of humor.
Overview of Child Welfare System
This theme helps participants understand the child welfare system and how it operates, including the key players and their roles. Critical laws that have shaped child welfare are covered and the role of the court system and how decisions get made is explained. Also covered are the reasons children enter the child welfare system and the types of maltreatment children may face. The permanency options that exist for children and the importance of being considerate of a child’s sense of time are highlighted.
This site doesn’t track or provide details on state-specific training requirements, be sure to reach out to your foster or adoptive agency after completing either of the online themes. They’ll guide you on any next steps needed to meet your requirements.
Families and facilitators participating in the Pilots can log in here to access further information and resources.
This product was funded by the Children’s Bureau, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under grant #90CO1134. The contents of this document are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Children’s Bureau.