Make it easy for families to take high-value training for renewals

About this recommendation

Current foster families are often overwhelmed with day to day responsibilities and may put off their training requirements until their renewal date is looming. In some systems, this means the only training available to them is reading books or watching movies, which does not maximally prepare caregivers for the needs of foster youth.

Offer a curriculum of the highest-value trainings, with childcare and meals taken care of, to make completing training hours prior to renewal both simple for families and high-value for the agency.

How to do this

• Secure a venue for an all-day training event on a recurring basis at a time convenient for families, like one weekend a month.
• Survey parents, listen to questions at foster parent events, and speak with other case workers to identify the most-requested and most-needed trainings.
• Plan a day-long training curriculum around the highest-priority trainings for your community.
• Post the training online with clear instructions on how to sign up.
• Notify families with license renewal dates in the next four to six months about the upcoming training dates.
• Secure childcare, provide lunch and snacks, and make transportation easy to access (i.e. by providing bus vouchers).

Anticipated costs and benefits

Outcome data

Families that attended the Resource Parent Education Conferences demonstrated greater skills and higher retention rates, while completing their license renewal requirements on time.

Who's doing this

1 of 54 states and territories have implemented this recommendation.

• Prince George's County, Maryland