Description Module 1: Becoming a Trauma Informed Caregiver/Worker/Parent (3 days)

Objectives for Developing and Building Competency in Trauma

• Understands the goals of effective child well-being
• Understands the essential skills of trauma informed care
• Understand the lifetime potential lifetime impact of trauma and development.
• Recognizes how child traumatic stress is exacerbated by ongoing stressors in a child’s life
• Identifies coping responses, strengths and protective factors that promote positive adjustment among traumatized children.
• Identifies new strategies, techniques and skills to manage children with a traumatic history.

Day One: The Impact of Trauma on the Life of a Child address the essential skills of trauma informed care, defines types of trauma, and examines the impact of trauma on child development.

Day Two: Building Trauma Competent Caregivers: Understanding and Navigating the Emotional and Behavioral Needs of Traumatized Children introduces practical strategies and tools within the context of the seven essential skills of trauma informed care. Participants will gain practical knowledge and experience that will help them deal with the emotional and behavioral needs of traumatized children.

Day Three: Using the Skills of a Trauma Competent Caregiver focus is about applying the knowledge gained on day two. Participants will have the opportunity to practice key learning strategies that they can use within the foster home or orphanage setting.

Description Module 2: Adolescents and Psychological Trauma (3 days)

Objectives for Adolescents and Psychological Trauma and Loss

• Knows the qualities and skills needed by parents and caregivers to care for traumatized children and the importance of prior education and preparation
• Understands how traumatic experiences can affect children’s physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development and functioning
• Understands the coping responses, strengths, and protective factors that can increase resiliency and promote a positive post-trauma adjustment for children
• Knows strategies to help children feel safe in expressing their fears and feelings and receive support and protection from adults
• Knows strategies to guide and support parents and caregivers of traumatized children to prevent placement disruption
• Can help caregivers develop realistic expectations and appropriate parenting strategies based on an adolescent’s history of trauma, maltreatment, cultural background, and developmental level

Schedule of Learning

Day One: The Impact of Trauma on the Life of a Adolescent and Introduction of Challenging Behaviors of Adolescents

Day Two: Skills Needed to Work With Challenging Behaviors of an Adolescent With Psychological Trauma

Day Three: Managing Adolescent Behavior

Description Module 3: Sensory Integration for Children Who Have Suffered Psychological Trauma and Loss (2 days)

Objectives – Module 3

Schedule for Day

Description Module 4: Helping a Psychologically Traumatized Child Learn to Regulate Their Emotions (1 day)

Objectives – Module 4

When a child enters a foster or adoptive home following a history of abuse, neglect and trauma, that child will greatly impact the family.

Often times, the foster or adoptive family is broadsided by shattered expectations – the experience is nothing like they expected. They are confronted by confusing emotions and feel unequipped for the journey.

It is absolutely essential that we change the conversation we have with prospective parents so that we include trauma-informed language. It is crucial that we develop an on-going conversation regarding trauma informed care with our foster and adoptive parents that guides and directs education and support for them throughout their journey as parents of children who have come from hard places. It is a process that each person who touches the life of a child with a history of trauma undertakes together – from home study assessors, to foster care/adoption support workers to foster and adoptive parents. Everyone needs to speak the same language.

Objectives for Adoption and Foster Care Workers for Trauma Informed Assessment and Preparation Training

•  Ability to conduct foster and adoptive family trauma informed assessments
• Knows topics to be assessed related to trauma informed parenting during foster and adoptive family assessments and knows how to conduct assessment activities
• Knows the social, emotional, and physical/medical characteristics of families that can successfully provide temporary or permanent homes for children
• Knows the types of family expectations and needs that are counterproductive to successful caregiving, and understands the importance of counseling such families out of the caregiving process
• Understands the family dynamics and characteristics that increase the likelihood of long-term placement success
• Understands various factors that motivate prospective parents to pursue foster care or adoption, and how these motivations may impact the long term success of fostering or adoptive parenting
• Understands the likely impact of chronic illness and emotional, mental, or behavioral disability on family life for the life span of the child; and can assist the potential resource family in realistically assessing their ability to cope with these challenges
• Knows how to gather information about the applicant family’s current functioning, history and background, and developmental needs, from a variety of sources, draw accurate conclusions, and make recommendations regarding their suitability for fostering or adopting
• Knows how to educate family members during the family assessment process regarding realistic expectations for fostering or adopting children who have been maltreated and the essential skills of trauma informed parenting
• Knows how to assess support needs of families and children once placement has been made

Description Module 5: Creating Nurture Groups for Children who Suffer Psychological Trauma and Loss (1 day)

Nurture Groups: Creating a Healing Environment for Vulnerable Children
Finding a safe person and safe place to express feelings and process traumatic events is key to healing. That is the exact purpose for Nurture groups. This workshop will provide participants with the foundation behind nurture groups, present the group format, provide sample lessons and offer a full and fun day of practice.

Description Module 7: Compassion Fatigue/Secondary Trauma of the Caregiver/Worker (2 days)

Description Module 5: Building a Trauma Informed Program for Foster and/or Adoptive Parents and Professionals (2 days)