When it comes to your child's case closing, are you hearing terms or phrases like, "least drastic alternative", APR, RGAP, intervention, etc. and feeling lost in the acronyms and language? Are you facing an APR and worried about ongoing support or post-permanency legal ramifications? Do you find yourself feeling unsure about how to advocate for your rights or desires in a potential APR? Do you have to accept an APR? Has your county told you the requirements to qualify for RGAP (post-APR financial assistance)? If you answered yes to any of these questions, join us as attorney, Tim Eirich, helps us make sense of all things APR and RGAP!

Secure attachments are essential to humans in order to develop healthy emotional, cognitive, and social skills. Children and youth in foster care benefit from (and deserve) healthy attachment with their caregivers as it provides them with a sense of security, stability, and trust during a time in their life that feels uncertain and scary. Join us as therapist and author, Eli Hardwood, presents on attachment theory, the various styles of attachment, how they are impacted by life circumstances and how attachment can be healed.

The histories of youth in foster and adoptive families often involve details that can feel difficult to discuss as a caregiver. Learn how to share your child’s history with them in ways that promote healthy communication, offer developmentally appropriate language, and support the reduction of potential negative internalizations. Navigating these conversations with youth whose backgrounds specifically include abuse/neglect/domestic violence, substance abuse, incarceration, rape/prostitution, and human trafficking will be discussed.

What is ABA (applied behavior analysis)? How can ABA support our children and youth from hard places? Is there such a thing as “trauma-informed ABA”? These questions and more will be explored in this webinar focused on behavior supports for children and youth in foster care and what makes an ABA program trauma-informed. Our instructor will discuss the basics of applied behavior analysis, behavior assessments and treatment plans that take trauma and adverse childhood experiences into account, as well as interventions common in the ABA world that might be contraindicated when working with children and youth who have experienced abuse, neglect, and other ACEs. We will also discuss questions to consider when interviewing ABA providers to find a best fit for your family, and the youth you support, as well as securing funding for ABA services via Medicaid.

Join functional health coach Justin Carroll and former foster parent/current adoptive parent Stacey Hansen as we dive into ways that our minds and bodies can find health again.

How can you turn moments of struggle into moments of connection? Discover how brain development, implicit memories, and the “6 F’s” (Fight, Flight, Freeze, Friend, Fidget, Flop) can influence your foster or adoptive child’s reactions to traditional methods of discipline, and develop compassionate, creative, and effective strategies for limit-setting and consequences that simultaneously enhance healthy attachment patterns in the child-caregiver relationship. Tools to cope with common struggles will be addressed, including separation anxiety, transitions, homework, aggression, lying, stealing, hoarding, argumentativeness, and sleep anxiety.

In this class, taught by Shari Simmons, we delve into the complex dynamics of children who, due to trauma, have taken on parental responsibilities for themselves, their siblings, and even their parents. This phenomenon, known as parentification, can have profound effects on a child's development and well-being.

Glass children (also known as "well siblings") are the siblings of those with special needs such as chronic mental or physical illnesses/disabilities. These children tend to be overlooked at home (and in the research literature) and tend to experience their own set of mental health difficulties. Join licensed psychotherapist and "well sibling" Debbie Missud to learn more about the challenges of being a glass child, the impact it has on mental health, and what parents can do to help their glass children.

Join us as we welcome biological, foster and kinship caregivers who will share their journeys, as well as what they learned from interacting with the system and with each other. We'll hear what worked, what didn't, and how we can all move forward together.

Join us as we welcome Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker for an insightful and enlightening discussion addressing the complex dynamics of transracial foster care and kinship care.