Training program for new foster and adoptive parents begins in Delaware
Children and Families First, a Delaware nonprofit human services agency, has introduced Foster PRIDE/Adopt PRIDE, a nationally recognized training program creating a new path to ensure that skilled foster and adoptive parents (resource parents) will be available to care for Delaware’s growing number of children who are separated from their birth parents because of abuse and neglect. Foster PRIDE/Adopt PRIDE integrates preparation (pre-service training) and assessment to realistically educate prospective resource parents about what is expected, what the child may be like and how the child welfare system works.
Already growing, the number of Delaware children requiring foster care and adoptive services is expected to surge as an estimated 600 Delaware babies will be born addicted, many requiring separation from their parents. Since 1919, the agency has partnered with over 3,000 resource parents and facilitated 2,518 adoptions. “Our resource parents are selected and trained to protect and nurture children, meet their developmental needs, support their relationships with their birth families, connect children with relationships intended to last a lifetime, and work as members of our professional team," says Theresa Broom, MSW, program director for Adoption and Foster Care Services at Children and Families First.
When an individual or family shows interest in caring for these vulnerable children, participating in Foster PRIDE/Adopt PRIDE prepares them to become team members in child protection and to be confident in this new role. Agency staff members report that the Foster PRIDE/Adopt PRIDE program offers insight that makes them more empathetic and supportive of the resource parents and children they work with.
Created by the Child Welfare League of America, the Pride model has been used for years, but Foster PRIDE/Adopt PRIDE is a dramatic departure from long-standing practices in the child welfare industry. The paradigm shift is reflected in the dated language of children being “placed” with adoptive and foster parents as if they were objects, to the accepted language of children “joining” families. Eileen Mayers Pasztor, DSW, a consultant/trainer for CWLA, says, “Children and Families First is exactly the kind of child welfare agency we are proud to have implement Foster PRIDE/Adopt PRIDE and our entire model of practice. CFF is committed to minimizing trauma and maximizing teamwork.
Children and Families First recognizes that foster and adoptive parents are a rare, valuable resource. Without them, children who must be separated from their families of origin would not have the benefits of family living. Foster PRIDE/Adopt PRIDE also emphasizes that to be any kind of parent (birth, foster, adoptive) is a privilege, not a right, but for children to be protected, that is a right, not a privilege.
For more information, go to cffde.org and cwla.org/pride-training.
