For LDSS Staff

CRAFFT helps local Departments of Social Services shape stronger families by supporting their capacity to assess and train resource families.

Technical assistance is provided to LDSS staff is as follows:

• Identification of pre-service and in-service training needs of resource families (Information gathered via completion of a Needs Assessment).
• Assistance with establishment of a plan to meet the pre-service and in-service training needs of resource families. Plans include logistics such as identification of trainer (CRAFFT Coordinator, LDSS staff, or both as co-trainers) date, time, location, and topics.
• Identification of training needs of staff interested in providing pre-service and in-service training to resource families.
• Assistance with establishment of a plan to meet LDSS staff training needs. Plans include logistics such as identification of course, prerequisites, date, time, and location (In region and out of region).
• Notification of upcoming trainings, events, and conferences offered by CRAFFT, neighboring agencies/organizations, and statewide entities.
• Identification of free and for purchase training resources for foster, adoptive and kinship families.
• Coordination of Regional Roundtable meetings for LDSS staff to meet with colleagues in their respective regions to share and exchange information, ideas, and resources on training, recruitment, development, and support of resource families. Additionally, the Coordinators invite guest speakers to the Roundtable meetings to share information on various regional and statewide programs and initiatives.

Training for LDSS Staff

Intro to PRIDE

CWS3101 Course Description

Target Audience:  Agency staff including child welfare workers, supervisors and others who work with children in resource homes or resource home families.

Length:  2 days

Overview:  This course offers an overview of the PRIDE Model. It is a practice model for recruiting, supporting and developing resource families. The PRIDE Model emphasizes teamwork and collaboration, selecting appropriate families through the use of a joint pre-service and mutual assessment process and developing skills and knowledge in the PRIDE core competencies. This course focuses on the process of the PRIDE Model with emphasis on the pre-service training component.

Topics Include:

• Resource family competencies
• PRIDE guiding principles and the Family Services Practice Model
• Teamwork
• The philosophy of engaging  families in the foster care process
• Implementation of the PRIDE Model
• The various roles of the individuals involved in the process
• The conceptual basis of the PRIDE curriculum
• Introduction to the PRIDE curriculum materials
• Examples and discussion of practice issues as they relate to the PRIDE Model implementation
• Guidance on anticipated problem areas as they relate to implementation of the PRIDE Model
• Tips on training approaches to the pre-service sessions
• Training practice/support of the pre-service PRIDE pre-service curriculum
• Importance of the PRIDE Connections as they relate to the mutual family assessment process
• The importance of continuing skill development for resource families through in-service training

Tradition of Caring

ToC Preparation for Kinship Trainers/Assessors

A Tradition of Caring is PRIDE’s pre-service and assessment model for relative caregivers. The ToC Preparation for Kinship Trainers/Assessors day of training is intended for LDSS staff that conducts training sessions and assessments with relative caregivers.

During this day of worker preparation, we review both the curriculum and the assessment guide focusing on areas of assessment specific to kinship, as well as discuss critical issues for placement stability and ongoing support in kinship care.

LDSS staff must have completed CWS 3101 prior to this training. It is recommended that staff have also completed CWS 3103: PRIDE Mutual Family Assessment.

Topics covered include:

• The parallel features and differences between Foster PRIDE/Adopt PRIDE and ToC
• Common issues for Kin and the unique characteristics of kinship assessment
• Worker skills for collaborating with Kin
• ToC – Curriculum Logistics: Overview of each session
• ToC– Training Methodologies
• ToC Resources- Caring in Action Plan (comparable to PRIDE Connections) and their use

Each agency will receive one disc containing the Tradition of Caring Facilitator’s Guide, Carebook, and Assessment Guide upon completion of the training by a staff member that conducts training and assessment for kinship caregivers/resource parents.

Mutual Family Assessment

CWS3103: Mutual Family Assessment

CWS3103: Mutual Family Assessment is a blended policy/skills course, including aspects of assessing resource families (approved foster, adoptive, kinship, and respite families) such as minimal approval requirements, required forms/checks, interviewing strategies with families, key questions to ask regarding foster care & adoption, integrating training and assessment, the variance process for approving relatives, pre- and in-service training, determining family competencies, denying & “counseling out” families who are not appropriate for fostering, and more. This course is ideal for any staff member who will be assessing resource families (including ICPC requests) or for those supervising the assessment/approval process. Note, this course replaces “PRIDE Mutual Family Assessment” as of 2013.