Training to be a Foster Parent

Fostering is not the same as parenting a child born to you. Over time, you may need to talk with that child about the birth family, or help the child manage feelings about being in foster care. The training we provide, the PRIDE Pre-Service Program, will help you help your children.

The nine-session  program will help prospective parents understand how the child welfare system works, the issues they may face in their new roles, and what is involved with parenting children who, for a variety of reasons, cannot live with their birth families.

Some people think that children who have been abused will feel grateful to be with another family. However, most children truly care about their parents, siblings, and extended family. Even though they may have been abused, there probably were some good family times also.

One of the biggest challenges in fostering is to be sure that children never feel they have to “choose” between families, and that one family isn’t “better” than another. It takes patience, skill and training to help children understand that birth families, adoptive families and foster families are different. It’s okay to care about all families.