Completion of training is required before service as a Resource Parent can begin. Class helps us get to know each other and prepares Resource Parents to work with the agency and to manage situations that occur in fostering. This class is not for Birth Parents of the children in foster care – Birth Parents should get contact information for parenting classes from their case worker.
We use the P.R.I.D.E. curriculum – Parent’s Resource for Information, Development and Education – for our non-relative pre-service training. We use the Traditions of Caring curriculum for relative pre-service training. (Note: Relatives can also attend PRIDE Training.)
Pre-service training offers a competency-based, integrated approach to recruitment, family assessment, and pre-service training. Through a series of at-home consultations and competency-based training sessions, prospective families have an opportunity to learn and practice the knowledge and skills they will need as new Foster Parents and Adoptive Parents. The readiness of families to foster or adopt is assessed in the context of their ability and willingness to meet the essential competencies.
Virginia Department of Social Services has made this curriculum available to all local Social Services agencies, and we have used it at Shenandoah Valley Social Services for over 15 years. Our pre-service training for non-relatives is conducted three times per year. All in-person sessions are held at the Verona office. Theses classes are supplemented by on-line training components which are completed between sessions.
The next pre-service classes will be held in January/February 2021.
April 8, 2021 (6-9pm – Virtual); April 15, 2021 (6-9pm – Virtual); April 22, 2021 (6-9pm – Virtual); April 29, 2021 (6-9pm – Virtual); May 6, 2021 (6-9pm – Virtual); May 13, 2021 (6-9pm – Virtual); May 20, 2021 (6-9pm – Virtual).
Start now to be ready for our next class . Prospective Foster Parents must attend all class sessions. You must register with our agency no later than April 1, 2020. Complete your application packets now in order to be ready for this class!
Instructors have experience as Case Workers and Resource Parents so all aspects of fostering are presented by qualified individuals with pertinent experience.
Contact [email protected] for detailed schedules and more information.
The PRIDE material was developed by Child Welfare League of America and Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
in collaboration with
Arkansas Department of Human Services, California Department of Social Services, Delaware Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families, Hawaii Department of Human Services, Kentucky Department for Social Services, Michigan Department of Social Services, Minnesota Department of Human Services, Missouri Department of Social Services, New Jersey division of Youth and Family Services, New Jersey Foster Parents Association, North Dakota Department of Human Services, Oklahoma Department of Human Services, South Dakota Department of Social Services, Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, The Casey Family Program
with assistance from
Annie E. Casey Foundation “Family to Family” Program, National Foster Care Resource Center for Family, Group and Residential Care, Eastern Michigan University, National Resource Center for Special Needs Adoptions, Spaulding for Children, San Felipe del Rio Foundation
with appreciation to
California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, Governors State University Illinois, University of Kentucky, University of Missouri, University of South Dakota, The Foster Parent Training Partnership, University of Vermont and the Vermont Department of Social Rehabilitation Services.