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 foster parents to build workable boundaries around these key elements to keep their core families strong while providing foster care.   After completing this training, participants will be able to:  Establish and maintain workable boundaries around […]

Drugs: Things You Need to Know

Drugs: Things You Need to Know is designed to inform parents of the many different classifications of illicit drugs, as well as the current trends related to adolescent drug abuse. Detailed descriptions of commonly abused drugs are provided, including the appearance of these drugs and the effects they produce in users. The importance of identifying drug […]

Child Development: Ages 0-5

Child Development 0-5 explores the typical milestones, or skills, that children develop from birth through age 5. It offers resources that caregivers can utilize to determine if a developmental screening may be warranted. Strategies for successfully advocating on behalf of children to receive needed assessments and services are explored.  After completing this training, participants will be […]

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 this training, participants will be able to:  Interpret information about adoption dissolution and reasons why it occurs.   Identify strategies to prevent adoption dissolution.  ASK-VIP trainings are expressly designed to meet the needs of foster and adoptive parents. Skilled trainers who have lived experiences with fostering and […]

ASK-VIP Support Group With Donna

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 lived experiences with fostering and adoption. If you’re seeking an opportunity to share resources, suggestions, frustrations and successes with those who share the unique experience […]

Healthy Boundaries: Strategies For Answering Tough Questions

Healthy Boundaries: Strategies for Answering Tough Questions helps foster and adoptive parents understand the importance of setting boundaries in their lives. It explains the different types of boundaries (Physical and Emotional) and offers strategies and ideas to help parents work with children to build their own boundaries, especially when it comes to intrusive questions asked […]

Managing Behaviors in Children That Display Aggression and Other Challenging Behaviors

This virtual 2-part series, offered during Child Abuse and Autism Awareness Month, is designed to give parents the skills needed to manage behaviors in the home environment with children that display aggression and other challenging behaviors to increase resiliency and placement stability. This event is approved for 2 hours each session for ongoing, elective training […]

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 experience. It also explores ways to help children understand and express their emotions during this time of transition.   After completing this training, participants will be able to:  Identify what emotions children in transition may be experiencing as explained by the 3-5-7 model.  Utilize strategies to help children understand their feelings […]

KIN VIP Support Group With Merlin Jones-Smalley

Description 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 to belong as a Relative or Fictive Kin provider. This Group meeting will be welcoming guest speakers and discussing kinship group meetings. […]

Adjusting to Kinship Parenting

Adjusting to becoming a kinship caregiver for a relative or fictive kin youth can be a difficult transition, one that is often made quickly and during challenging situations. Understanding how to move from a relative or friend role with a child and their parents, to one of being the child’s parent and caregiver can pose […]

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 as LGBTQ+. The groups offer an opportunity to share experiences, questions, resources, and concerns in a safe and compassionate environment. These groups are led by a seasoned foster/adoptive […]

New Placements: Preparing & Adjusting Family Roles

New Placements: Preparing & Adjusting Family Roles will help foster and adoptive parents introduce new placements into their existing family units. It gives ideas and strategies on how to prepare children and family already in the home to best welcome a new foster or adoptive child. It also describes challenges children already in the home (biological, foster, […]