The training of foster parents is one of the seven systemic factors identified by the US HHS, Children’s Bureau in the CFSR reviews. Training of foster parents is seen as necessary to assure quality care and services to children placed in foster care.

The federal law requires states to provide training to help foster parents understand and address the needs of children and youth placed in their homes. Recognition of the foster family’s existing skills and knowledge base should be accounted for in the training.

Foster parents are truly members of the permanency planning team when their contributions in the areas of assessment, service planning, and decision making are valued by all members of the team. Foster Parents should be provided with multiple opportunities to grow and learn through training opportunities.

Foster parent training consists of pre-service training and in-service training.

Pre-service training programs have a dual purpose. They are meant to prepare applicants with the knowledge and skills needed to care for foster children. They also incorporate a screening process for foster parent applicants, helping prospective parents decide if they want to pursue a license. The training also helps the trainers to determine which applicants should go on to be approved as providers. Many states require and use a specific pre-service training curriculum such as MAPP or PRIDE.

In Service training provides training opportunities to foster parents in a wide range of areas such as: dealing with challenging behaviors; adolescent development; issues of sexuality in children and youth; de-escalating crisis situations; understanding mental illness; understanding psychotropic medications and many more topics are part of the in-service training for foster parents.

States have a wide variety of training hour requirements. Training hours range from six hours to 32 hours for pre-service and four hours to 20 hours for in-service training. States are left with wide discretion in designing their foster parent training programs. Some states identify specific subjects that must be included in the pre-service and in-service training curriculum. Topics vary from state to state.

This website identifies free, quality training for foster parents in the New York City area. The website is updated monthly, and foster parents interested in attending the courses identified here should contract the organization which hosts the training directly.