Interdisciplinary Research Center on Children and Families
The Interdisciplinary Research Center on Children and Families plays a leading role in advancing and disseminating research informed by the lived experiences of youth, caregivers, and providers across multiple disciplines to promote child safety, permanency, and well-being.
Our Goals
- Develop and sustain partnerships within and across professions that intersect in the lives of children and families, including but not limited to social work, social sciences, education, law, medicine, nursing, and behavioral health.
- Bridge gaps between child welfare and well-being research, policy, teaching, and service.
- Prepare future leaders and scholars in child and family advocacy through scholarly engagement in interdisciplinary education and research.
- Ensure research, teaching, and service is pursued with intention to eliminate racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism – and other forms of inequity and disparate outcomes among at risk youth and families.
- Translate or disseminate empirical and applicable evidence in child-focused practice or clinical contexts.
Training Resource Center
by the numbers
6
Unique Centers & Labs
116%
Increase in FY20 extramural research funding
50,000+
Individuals served annually by Centers & Labs
Calendar of Events
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6 events,
Learning Your Child Has A Disability
Learning Your Child Has a Disability aims to help foster and adoptive parents understand the unique emotions of discovering or confirming a child in their care has a disability. This […]
Preventing Child Abuse: Types, Signs, And Symptoms
Preventing Child Abuse: Types, Signs, And Symptoms
Preventing Child Abuse: Types, Signs & Symptoms will inform parents of the definition of child abuse and ways it can be prevented. It provides descriptions and statistics of different types […]
Working With Birth Families To Achieve Permanency
Working With Birth Families To Achieve Permanency
Working with Birth Families to Achieve Permanency will equip foster parents many different ways to positively work with birth families toward the initial goal of reunification. The training also discusses […]
Transracial Parenting: Ages 5-12
Transracial Parenting: Ages 5-12
Transracial Parenting: Ages 5-12 explores the unique experiences of transracial families and examines developmental stages of racial identity development in elementary and middle school-aged children. It offers strategies to create […]
Foster/Adoptive Parents Of Teens Support Group
Foster/Adoptive Parents Of Teens Support Group
ASK-VIP Support Group for Foster/Adoptive Parents of Teens is specifically designed for foster/adoptive parents who are caring for teenagers or those considering fostering and/or adopting teenagers. This support group offers […]
2 events,
Kinship Families Impacted By Substance Use KIN VIP Support Group
Kinship Families Impacted By Substance Use KIN VIP Support Group
This new KIN VIP Support Group will begin as a 12-week pilot Support Group and will provide a community of support for kinship caregivers who have been impacted by a […]
2 events,
Sibling Attachment & Adoption
Sibling Attachment & Adoption
Sibling Attachment & Adoption provides parents with tools to promote healthy sibling relationships in foster and adoptive families. Parents will explore different ways in which families are formed and learn […]
2 events,
BASW Info Session
BASW Info Session
Are You Wildly Passionate About Social Work? Explore the Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (BASW) program during an online info session. Registration link is at the bottom of the […]
1 event,
2 events,
DSW Info Session
DSW Info Session
Turn Your Goals into Reality Explore our Doctorate of Social Work (DSW) program during an online info session. Registration link is at the end of the event listing, under 'Website'. […]
2 events,
Creative Parenting: New Ways To Focus On Your Child
Creative Parenting: New Ways To Focus On Your Child
Creative Parenting: New Ways to Focus on Your Child is designed to help parents recognize the value of seeking to understand the meaning behind a child’s behavior. It explores the […]
1 event,
2 events,
Kinship Families Impacted By Substance Use KIN VIP Support Group
Kinship Families Impacted By Substance Use KIN VIP Support Group
This new KIN VIP Support Group will begin as a 12-week pilot Support Group and will provide a community of support for kinship caregivers who have been impacted by a […]
2 events,
Keeping Families Strong
Keeping Families Strong
Keeping Families Strong provides foster parents insight on how to keep partnerships, families and friendships strong while providing care to out of home children. It will also provide strategies for […]
4 events,
Caring For Kinship Teens With Judy Russell
Caring For Kinship Teens With Judy Russell
Caring for Teens in Kinship is a new KIN VIP Support Group offering caregivers who are caring for teenagers in kinship care. This group will focus on caring for teenage […]
Recognizing Signs Of Adoption Disruption And Dissolution
Recognizing Signs Of Adoption Disruption And Dissolution
Recognizing the Signs of Adoption Disruption & Dissolution will teach foster/adoptive parents about adoption disruption and dissolution by equipping them with information regarding factors that contribute to disruption/dissolution, statistics on […]
ASK-VIP Support Group with Sheila
ASK-VIP Support Group with Sheila
ASK-VIP Support Groups are expressly designed to meet the needs of foster and adoptive parents in an inclusive, safe, and compassionate environment. They are led by seasoned facilitators who have […]
2 events,
Adoption: Understanding Your Commitment
Adoption: Understanding Your Commitment
Adoption: Understanding Your Commitment explores adoption dissolution. It addresses the impact on a child and family when adoption dissolution occurs and offers strategies and resources to prevent it. After completing […]
3 events,
Preparing Children For Permanency
Preparing Children For Permanency
Preparing Children for Permanency equips foster/adoptive parents with strategies to prepare children for permanency. It offers insight on the thoughts and emotional reactions that a child transitioning to permanency may […]
Attachment & Bonding With Your Foster & Adopted Child
Attachment & Bonding With Your Foster & Adopted Child
Attachment & Bonding with your Foster & Adopted Child equips parents to enhance their relationship with foster/adopted children by teaching them the basics about bonding and attachment. This training also […]
2 events,
Fostering & Adopting Sibling Group
Fostering & Adopting Sibling Group
Fostering & Adopting Sibling Groups explores the benefits of placing siblings together as well as potential barriers and challenges. The impact of on attachment and bonding among siblings who have […]
4 events,
Making Your Kinship Voice Heard! Advocacy With Arion
Making Your Kinship Voice Heard! Advocacy With Arion
As caregivers, we may realize how important advocacy is, but, knowing where to start and how to effectively advocate for policies that can create change for kinship families may be […]
A Guide To Coping With Allegations
A Guide To Coping With Allegations
A Guide to Coping with Allegations explores the prevalence of false allegations of abuse and neglect amongst foster homes and reasons such allegations may arise. Strategies for preventing false allegations […]
Understanding A Case Through The Child Welfare System
Understanding A Case Through The Child Welfare System
Understanding a Case Through the Child Welfare System will provide foster and adoptive parents knowledge on how a case progresses through the child welfare system. Each case may include removal, […]
4 events,
KIN VIP Support Group With Merlin Jones-Smalley
KIN VIP Support Group With Merlin Jones-Smalley
This group will focus on the day-to-day issues involving relative and fictive kin care and will be a place where each member can find support, resources, ideas, and a place […]
ASK-VIP LGBTQ+ Foster/Adoptive Parent Support Group
ASK-VIP LGBTQ+ Foster/Adoptive Parent Support Group
ASK-VIP LGBTQ+ Foster/Adoptive Parent Support Groups are specifically designed for foster/adoptive parents who identify as LGBTQ+ as well as foster/adoptive parents who are caring for children or teens who identify […]
Compulsive Lying
Compulsive Lying
Compulsive Lying explores why a child may lie compulsively. It identifies strategies and offers resources designed to assist children and their families dealing with this issue. After completing this training, […]
4 events,
Developing & Sustaining A Healthy & Supportive Relationship With Your Youth
Developing & Sustaining A Healthy & Supportive Relationship With Your Youth
CORE TEEN (Critical On-going Resource Family Education) Session 3 Developing & Sustaining a Healthy & Supportive Relationship with Your Youth September 13, 2023 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST Via […]
DSW Info Session
DSW Info Session
Turn Your Goals into Reality Explore our Doctorate of Social Work (DSW) program during an online info session. Registration link is at the end of the event listing, under 'Website'. […]
Myths & Realities Of Foster Care & Adoption
Myths & Realities Of Foster Care & Adoption
Myths & Realities of Foster Care & Adoption enables parents to identify myths and realities related to foster care and adoption. After completing this training, participants will be able to: […]
4 events,
Medically Complex Join Hands Together Virtual Training
Medically Complex Join Hands Together Virtual Training
This training will take place via virtual live Zoom meeting. Participants will be required to have a laptop or tablet with reliable internet connection to participate in the live, interactive […]
Building Positive Relationships With Caseworkers & Community Partners
Building Positive Relationships With Caseworkers & Community Partners
Building Positive Relationships with Case Workers & Community Partners provides foster parents the information and tools needed to establish a positive working relationship with their caseworker and child’s caseworker, with […]
KIN VIP Support Group With Mary Jo Dendy
KIN VIP Support Group With Mary Jo Dendy
This group is an opportunity for kinship caregivers to come together to find support, community, and resources in the care of relative and fictive children. This group will focus on […]
1 event,
2 events,
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES)
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) come in many forms, from physical and mental abuse to neglect and household dysfunction. This training examines data from the ACE study, how early adversity as […]
3 events,
Promoting Stability & Increasing Resiliency For Children In Care
Promoting Stability & Increasing Resiliency For Children In Care
Promoting Stability & Increasing Resiliency for Children in Care explores the concepts of stability and resiliency and introduces skills for building resiliency in children who have experienced trauma. After completing this […]
ASK-VIP Support Group With Kay
ASK-VIP Support Group With Kay
ASK-VIP Support Groups are expressly designed to meet the needs of foster and adoptive parents in an inclusive, safe, and compassionate environment. They are led by seasoned facilitators who have […]
2 events,
Services & Support For Foster & Adoptive Families
Services & Support For Foster & Adoptive Families
Services & Support for Foster & Adoptive Families will inform parents about resources available to individuals with intellectual disabilities through the Michelle P. Waiver Program, which allows eligible individuals to […]
5 events,
ARC Meetings & IEPs: The Basics
ARC Meetings & IEPs: The Basics
ARC Meetings & IEPs: The Basics will help foster and adoptive parents understand the process of an ARC Meeting and gain a better perspective of what an IEP will look […]
Kinship Live Virtual Webinar Training- “Education Series: Bullying And Other Harmful Situations-What Do I Do To Protect My Child?”
Kinship Live Virtual Webinar Training- “Education Series: Bullying And Other Harmful Situations-What Do I Do To Protect My Child?”
As kinship children head out the door for a new school year, caregivers send them out with all the resources and materials they need for a successful year. Unfortunately, in […]
Developmental Stages & Children’s Responses To Grief
Developmental Stages & Children’s Responses To Grief
Developmental Stages & Children’s Responses to Grief defines grief and explores how children process and express grief at different developmental stages. It offers insight into the unique experiences of grief […]
Kinship Families Impacted By Substance Use KIN VIP Support Group
Kinship Families Impacted By Substance Use KIN VIP Support Group
This new KIN VIP Support Group will begin as a 12-week pilot Support Group and will provide a community of support for kinship caregivers who have been impacted by a […]
Kinship Families Impacted By Substance Use KIN VIP Support Group
Kinship Families Impacted By Substance Use KIN VIP Support Group
This new KIN VIP Support Group will begin as a 12-week pilot Support Group and will provide a community of support for kinship caregivers who have been impacted by a […]
2 events,
Centers & Labs Monthly Meeting
Centers & Labs Monthly Meeting
Monthly Staff Meeting for Centers & Labs Training Resource Center Staff. The meeting is held the 3rd Wednesday of Each Month at the Training Resource Center. This is an in-person […]
Helping Your Child Make Healthy & Positive Choices: Talking To Teens & Preteens
Helping Your Child Make Healthy & Positive Choices: Talking To Teens & Preteens
Helping Your Child Make Healthy & Positive Choices: Talking to Teens & Preteens will teach foster and adoptive parents the importance of open and ongoing dialogue with their preteen or […]
4 events,
Healthy Boundaries In Teenage Relationships
Healthy Boundaries In Teenage Relationships
Healthy Boundaries in Teenage Relationships explores healthy and unhealthy dating behaviors. It is designed to assist caregivers in identifying warning signs that a teen may be involved in an abusive […]
BASW Info Session
BASW Info Session
Are You Wildly Passionate About Social Work? Explore the Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (BASW) program during an online info session. Registration link is at the bottom of the […]
Caring For Kinship Teens With Judy Russell
Caring For Kinship Teens With Judy Russell
Caring for Teens in Kinship is a new KIN VIP Support Group offering caregivers who are caring for teenagers in kinship care. This group will focus on caring for teenage […]
Internet Safety
Internet Safety
The Internet Safety training explores questions caregivers often have related to internet safety. It examines recommended guidelines for internet access and usage among children. It provides resources related to parental […]
1 event,
Ten Things Every Pediatrician Should Know About Children In Care
Ten Things Every Pediatrician Should Know About Children In Care
Ten Things Every Pediatrician Should Know About Children in Care will equip foster and adoptive parents to better understand the unique medical factors children in care face. This training will […]
0 events,
1 event,
Understanding And Coping With Sensory Processing Challenges
Understanding And Coping With Sensory Processing Challenges
Understanding and Coping with Sensory Processing Challenges provides parents with tools to engage and work with children who display sensory processing challenges. Parents will learn what Sensory Processing Disorder is […]
4 events,
Connecting With Your Child While Correcting Behavior
Connecting With Your Child While Correcting Behavior
Connecting with Your Child While Correcting Behavior introduces parents to strategies to use to help them feel connected to children while correcting difficult behaviors. Parents will learn how to connect […]
A Child’s Education: Rights & Responsibilities
A Child’s Education: Rights & Responsibilities
A Child’s Education: Rights & Responsibilities will inform parents of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The training informs foster and adoptive parents of the processes used to determine […]
Foster/Adoptive Parents Of Teens Support Group
Foster/Adoptive Parents Of Teens Support Group
ASK-VIP Support Group for Foster/Adoptive Parents of Teens is specifically designed for foster/adoptive parents who are caring for teenagers or those considering fostering and/or adopting teenagers. This support group offers […]
Fostering & Adopting At-Risk Children
Fostering & Adopting At-Risk Children
Fostering & Adopting At-Risk Children explores categories of at-risk behaviors among children and adolescents that may lead to negative consequences, like poor health, injury or death. It assists foster/adoptive parents […]
1 event,
ASK-VIP LGBTQ+ Foster/Adoptive Parent Support Group
ASK-VIP LGBTQ+ Foster/Adoptive Parent Support Group
ASK-VIP LGBTQ+ Foster/Adoptive Parent Support Groups are specifically designed for foster/adoptive parents who identify as LGBTQ+ as well as foster/adoptive parents who are caring for children or teens who identify […]
4 events,
Nurturing Youth’s Cultural / Racial / Ethnic Needs And Sexual Orientation / Gender Identity
Nurturing Youth’s Cultural / Racial / Ethnic Needs And Sexual Orientation / Gender Identity
CORE TEEN (Critical On-going Resource Family Education) Session 4 Nurturing Youth’s Cultural / Racial / Ethnic Needs and Sexual Orientation / Gender Identity September 27, 2023 10:00 AM - 12:30 […]
MSW Info Session
MSW Info Session
Explore our Master of Social Work (MSW) program during an online info session. Registration link is below, under 'Website' The UK Difference Our MSW program is an Advanced Generalist program […]
Confidentiality In Foster Care
Confidentiality In Foster Care
Confidentiality in Foster Care explores the importance of protecting the confidentiality of children in care. It offers strategies for how sensitive information about children in care can be communicated in […]
Perceptions Of Adoption: A Child’s Developmental View
Perceptions Of Adoption: A Child’s Developmental View
Perceptions of Adoption: A Child’s Developmental View will discuss the ways a child’s cognitive development skills and emotions develop, and how that impact his or her perceptions regarding adoption. This […]
1 event,
Blended Families: Parenting Children When They Don’t Get Along
Blended Families: Parenting Children When They Don’t Get Along
Blended Families: Parenting Children When They Don’t Get Along assists caregivers with identifying issues that children may experience that are unique to blended families. It offers strategies to create a […]
0 events,
0 events,
