Post-Licensing Training Modules

1. Understanding and Assessing Self-Esteem
2. Building Self-Esteem and Understanding Behavior
3. Communicating with Children and Youth (Part I)
4. Communicating with Children and Youth (Part II).

1. Promoting Positive Behavior and Responding to Challenges
2. Promoting Self-Responsibility and Responding to Unacceptable Behavior

1. Addressing Developmental Issues Related to Sexuality
2. Sexual Orientation and Youth

1. Understanding Sexual Abuse
2. Responding to the Issues of Sexual Abuse

1. Respecting and Supporting Child/Birth Family Ties
2. Supporting Contacts between Children and Their Families
3. Becoming Partners in Parenting

1. Strengthening Teamwork Skills
2. Developing Your Professional Role
3. Conflict as Opportunity

1. Valuing and Making a Commitment to Cultural Competence
2. Helping Children Develop Life books

There are two sessions in this module, held over two evenings one week apart.

1. An Overview of Permanency Goals
2. Understanding Permanency Goals
3. Supporting Transition to Permanent Homes through Reunification or Adoption Placement
4. Foster Parent Adoption

1. Managing Change in Your Family
2. Managing the Impact of Child Abuse/Neglect Allegations

1. Understanding Risk and Protective Factors and Understanding Chemical Dependency
2. Recognizing the Impact of Parental Chemical Abuse on the Child and Family
3. Understanding the Implications of Prenatal AOD Exposure for Parenting Young Children
4. Developing Partnerships with Birth Parents and Working with the Team to Strengthen Families

Definitions and Descriptions Related to Racial and Ethnic Identity
How to Develop Positive Racial and Ethnic Identity.

How to recognize a life threatening emergency for an adult, child and infant,
How to provide Basic Life Support (BLS), Good Samaritan Laws.

There is a $45/person charge for Module 13 classes. Licensed caregivers will be reimbursed up to $45/person once CPR Certified with proof of payment.

Please note: There are 25 seats available in each CPR class; if we have less than 10 registrations for a class, our trainers reserve the right to cancel the class.

Join Us for a Virtual Training about Supporting LGBTQ+

1. Understanding Sibling Issues: Why Siblings May be Separated and Benefits of Keeping Them Together
2. Ways to Build/Maintain Sibling Connections

Crisis Development Model to Recognize Escalating Stages to Crisis,
How Children Cope With Crisis,
The Trap of Counter-Aggression for Foster and Adoptive Parents,
Life-Space Interview

Relationship Traps and Suggested Strategies for Effective Intervention

Washing, Maintenance, and Relaxers

Become acquainted with the general principals and implementation of Applied Behavior Analysis.

Become acquainted with the symptoms, challenges and interventions for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Become acquainted with kinship care and its importance, the family dynamics, how to navigate the system, resources, and supports, out of state (ICPC) placements and how to have a successful placement.

QPR stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer — the 3 simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide.  Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help.

Key components covered in training:

• How to Question, Persuade and Refer someone who may be suicidal
• How to get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide
• The common causes of suicidal behavior
• The warning signs of suicide
• How to get help for someone in crisis

1. Identify the health risks of Lead Poisoning.
2. Learn how to find out if their child has Lead Poisoning.
3. Identify why Lead is dangerous to their child’s health.
4. Learn the symptoms of Lead Poisoning.
5. Learn what a Lead Level number means.
6. Identify the sources of Lead.
7. Learn appropriate ways to reduce the potential of Lead hazards.

1. Learn the relationship between school climate and bullying
2. Understand the landscape of “bullying” in Connecticut and nationally 3
. Explore the components and importance of “school connectedness”

Get an understanding of children who experience violence against their family and how those experiences may shape them as they grow, from infancy to adolescence. This module will address facts & figures, ways a child can be affected by living with violence at home, ways to help children cope with the trauma, and some myths about domestic violence.

Participants will learn the signs and symptoms of these mental health problems, and when and how to get help, and what sort of help has been shown by research to be effective.
The course covers the following crisis situation and mental health problems:
1. Suicidal behavior
2. Non suicidal self-injury (self-harm)
3. Acute stress reaction
4. Panic attacks
5. Acute psychotic behavior

The Mental Health Problems covered are:
1. Depression
2. Anxiety disorders
3. Psychotic disorders
4. Substance use disorders
5. Eating disorders

You will use your brain, voice, and body, instead of sitting still while your butt goes numb! You will stretch and learn using humor and creativity in a safe, confidential, and supportive environment that emphasizes making growth and improvement a fun, energizing process.

Module 28 is intended to supplement “Fostering Health for Children in Foster Care” and focuses on providing information and tools to best support families in managing the health care of children with complex medical needs with the DCF Medically Complex Classifications 2-4.

All foster parents are welcome to take this training but caregivers of children with DCF Classification 2-4 must take Module 28.

These caregivers are:

• Kin/Fictive kin or pre-adoptive parents
• Foster parents, backups and respite providers who must be Medically Complex certified to take care of this special population of children in DCF care.

This session will help parents and guardians navigate the (often) difficult waters of working and communicating successfully with your children’s schools. Whether working communicating with educators, from paraprofessionals to teachers; with directors and administrators from to special education directors to district level central office staff, as well as local board of education members.

Parents will learn which educators and adults should be contacted and what they may need to know, i.e. what pieces of information should be brought to their attention by parents/guardians when addressing any kind of problem (academic, social, behavioral, health-related, etc.).

1. Identify Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
2. Understand how FASD can occur and what the potential outcomes may be for the child
3. Recognize what the social impact of FASD may be from the child and family perspective

Outline:

• Defining adoption
• Giving the child the words to respond to questions (relatives, neighbors, peers, school)
• Positive Adoption Language
• Explaining Parental Behavior (birth parents)
• It’s Okay to Love two sets of parents.
• Explaining Adoption through the stages of development
• The Child’s Life Story
• The Search Process and what it means

The purpose of this presentation is to help parents and social workers rule in or rule out attachment trauma in the child in their care, know how to deal with that trauma, and understand the child’s history from a trauma perspective.

Outline:

• Understanding the Effects of Maltreatment on Early Brain Development
• Examples of behaviors which abused/neglected children may be unable to control
• Introduction to Attachment Disorders – Commonly Asked Questions
• Why could it be challenging for an adopted child to accept love?
• What is the parents’ first step?
• Ways to reduce the shame
• Attachment disorder characteristics (whether or not they are true of attachment disordered children)
• How Not to Be Monkey in the Middle – Ten Steps
• A Parent Primer (How to handle your child without burnout)

There are two sessions in this module, held over two evenings one week apart.

Outline:

• What are Restorative Practices?
• What are the strategies that parents, caregivers and educators can use day to day?
• How to use Restorative Questions effectively?
• How to work with schools that may (or may not yet) be using a restorative approach?
• How to access full training in Restorative Practices throughout the state (no cost)?

Car seat safety, is a critical component of your child’s safety every day. When traveling with your child in a vehicle it is the law to keep your child properly restrained in a car seat.

This presentation is to ensure safe transportation of all children safe in and around vehicles.

In this workshop, ACES and the ACES Scale will be introduced and the research and importance of this life-changing information will be presented. All children are affected by ACES, but our foster and adoptive population are even more at risk.

Healthy leadership requires lots of energy and resilience. Both are affected by choices we make every moment, often without realizing. While some choices are limited by circumstances, we can always choose to breathe more fully and laugh more often. When these natural abilities are chosen, on purpose, they become powerful tools to improve energy, resilience, and relationships.

Common benefits include improved self-awareness, cooperation, focus, resilience, learning capacity and self-esteem. We’ll explore the science and experience the relaxing and stress-relieving benefits. Then we’ll discuss the applications in school, home, and in therapy.

We will also discuss how to teach these skills to elementary school children using the presenter’s storybook, specifically designed to implement this easy, evidence-based strategy in school, at home, or on the job.

At this workshop, experience how to quickly transform anger into positive change, by using your “Magic Buttons”. Then discover and practice two safe and effective strategies for expressing difficult emotions while building health and self-esteem in kids and adults. One of them is the centerpiece of a therapeutic process that reversed 5 “incurable” chronic diseases in 83% of adults and 99% of adolescents in a 10-year study of 600 subjects. We’ll also discuss the psychophysiology involved in the healing of stress-related illness.

Restorative Circles provide a reliable and consistent strategy for building safe relationships and restoring damaged ones. In this workshop, we will experience and practice the simple process of conducting effective circles for a variety of purposes. We will also explore the principles that explain why Restorative Circles work so well, and discuss research studies and examples that support your ability to bring these skills into practice at home.

A Workshop for Parents, Professionals and Teachers covering topics such as:

• Understanding Signs of Drug Use
• Effective Communication Strategies with Youth on Drugs
• Prevention and Intervention Strategies for Teachers
• Teaching Youth Drug Refusal Skills
• Helping Youth Cope Effectively with Stress and Emotions
• Marijuana’s influence on Opioid Abuse and much more

Participants will learn tips and strategies to engage youth in healthy conversations around sex, consent, boundaries, sexual violence.

This training will teach caregivers, educators, and counselor’s techniques that will encourage them to provide safe places for children to talk about feelings, concerns, and racism. Participants will learn ways to support and address racial concerns and discuss current events with youth. The beneficial outcomes will help students improve self-esteem, explore their racial identity, and learn about diversity.

In this two-hour session, participants will have previously attended both CAFAF Modules # 33 (Restorative Practices) and # 35 (Adverse Childhood Experiences/Toxic Stress/Trauma).
 The intention in this follow-up offering will be to take the information provided in these two interconnected “modules” to an advanced level. Participants will reflect upon the prior learning and explore their use of the specific targeted strategies already provided as well as to become more confident in the implementation of restorative prevention and problem-solving skills.

This workshop explores the science of stress and how adults can view stress in ways that help them manage stressful times and events in ways that don’t become toxic and debilitating.

• Understand their child’s emotional world by learning to read emotional needs

• Support their child’s ability to successfully manage emotions

• Enhance the development of their child’s self esteem

• Honor the innate wisdom and desire for their child to be secure

Join Life-Long Educators Jo Anne Freiberg Ph.D. and Patricia Ciccone C.A.G.S. | L.P.C to learn more about dealing with stress in these uncertain times. Topics covered will include

• The Biology of Stress and the Science of Hope
• Resilience and the Human Condition
• Mechanisms, Structures and School Connectedness
• Structures and Mechanisms for Building Resilience

Watch this heartwarming recording of the live in person 2021 presentation where Joseph and Ana Montalvo discussed their personal stories surrounding the changes and adaptations they made in their lives in order to transition to foster parents and the additional challenges and successes that followed.

Topics:

• Meets DCF’s designation of Crisis Intervention
• ABC: Antecedent Behavior & Consequences
• 15 Techniques of Behavior Modification
• Communication Skills
• Resources and Tips

Mental Health First Aid USA’s mission is to provide high quality, evidenced-based education so everyone has the first aid skills to support youth with mental health challenges.

Topics:

• The importance of children living with people they know and trust
• How and why the reduction of trauma is important
• The importance of children’s identity, culture and ethnicity

Transitions, rules and family routines, rituals and chores.

Gain insight to the challenges of fostering and adopting while managing current and past experiences with infertility struggles. This module will address facts & figures, ways to promote discussion about the process, and how to explore meaning in healthy ways.

This workshop will help parents and caregivers learn about protecting their family from human trafficking. Participants will learn to define human trafficking. Caregivers will gain knowledge of the history of trafficking and information about modern day slavery. Parents and caregivers will be trained to utilize different ways to prevent their children from becoming victims of human trafficking. In the event that trafficking occurs in a families home they will be informed on possible ways to add in the survivors recovery.

Parent Partnering is all about the hard work of relationship building for the sake of the children. Join Marian Russo, Becca Allen, Thaddea David, and Samantha Heltke as we delve into the learning objectives, gounding exersises, best practices, and personal experiences surrounding Parent Partnering.

This workshop will focus on the myriad struggles families and children have had during the pandemic in both homes and schools.

In this training, participants will gain an understanding of the foundations of sexual violence through defining key terms and definitions and examining the prevalence in our communities. By examining the impact of trauma and sexual violence, participants will discuss ways to respond to disclosures of sexual violence, empowerment strategies, local resources, and how to create safer spaces for survivors.

In this Module, participants will learn about three important strength-based models that guide child, family, and school productivity: Connectedness, Resilience and The Circle of Courage (A Lakota Model).  All three overlapping models guide and support family members to help struggling youth and are used widely in CT schools for the same reason.  Supporting youth in positive ways at home and collaborating with schools is essential for their overall life success.   Resilience is the oldest strength-based model; preschoolers were followed into adulthood during a longitudinal study to discover solid factors that help raise resilient youth.  School Connectedness has been validated over the past twenty-five years most recently by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).  Originally the Military funded a major study on the impact of social mobility on student success.  By their very nature, foster children experience gross social mobility as they move from family to family, school to school, etc.  Without looking for it, the study revealed simple factors that help youth succeed regardless of the negative impact of social mobility.  Finally, the Circle of Courage is a rich multi-dimensional model that helps us understand the critical importance of fostering resiliency through the lens of belonging.

Getting squeezed by grocery stores and fast food? Want more independence from doctors and drugs? Discover where and how to shop for much lower prices on better quality versions of your favorite foods. Then learn how to easily make your own drinks, meals, treats and comfort foods, while reducing your family’s grocery bill. Of course, we’ll discuss why these alternatives make more sense physically, psychologically, and financially, while saving time and improving health and harmony at home.

This workshop addresses the importance of community involvement and support for foster youth. Participants will gain insight into these young individuals’ challenges and how they can be active allies. Foster care professionals, mentors, and community members will learn strategies to create a more nurturing environment, promoting better outcomes for the youth transitioning through foster care.

This workshop focuses on cultivating healthy connections with others while protecting one’s emotional well-being. Through interactive exercises, participants will explore the dynamics of healthy relationships and learn to build fulfilling connections.

This workshop is designed to inspire and educate young individuals about the potential they have to make a positive impact on society. Participants will learn about social issues, volunteer opportunities, and how to use their skills and passions to create meaningful change. Foster youth, who often have firsthand experiences with challenging circumstances, will be encouraged to channel their resilience into social advocacy.

This workshop will give foster youth insights into mental health awareness, destigmatization, and coping strategies. Participants will learn about available mental health resources and develop skills to manage stress and emotions effectively. The workshop aims to promote mental well-being and self-care among foster youth.

Identifying, preventing and solutions to Cyberbullying.

Basic knowledge on how to assist and support children with seizure and how to recognize the signs of seizure.