Blended Pre-Service Training Options
Blended Pre-Service Training Overview
Our blended in-person and online training approach offers prospective resource parents high-quality and convenient training while providing agencies with standardized delivery of the core program information. In a study that compared the efficacy of our blended approach with an entirely in-person approach, results showed that parents using the blended approach made significantly greater gains in knowledge of the training content from pre- to post-test. In addition, participants in the group using the blended approach had a significantly greater training completion rate than those in the traditional classroom-only training group. The findings of this study were published in the peer-reviewed journal Child Welfare.
FPC offers a variety of ways for agencies to implement a blended pre-service training approach to provide high-quality training and improve the retention of potential resource parents through to the completion of their training. One option is to use or modify the FPC-IHS Blended Pre-Service Training curriculum, which has been recognized by the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC). Another option for blended training is through The New Generation PRIDE Model of Practice offered by the Child Welfare League of America. A third option is to develop a customized curriculum using Series, an FPC feature that allows agencies to assemble clusters of our courses and blend them with staff-led meetings.
Benefits of Blended Pre-Service Training
Blended pre-service training combines agency-led meetings with the FPC standardized online courses. This approach takes advantage of the benefits of both mediums.
The benefits of FPC online courses include implementation fidelity of the training material, along with the ability for parents to complete their courses when it is convenient for them (and without the necessity of travel or childcare). The FPC courses are developed by nationally recognized experts using research-based information and a research-based training approach. The online courses are regularly reviewed and updated as appropriate.
Benefits of agency staff-led training in the blended training approach, either through in-person meetings or virtually through platforms such as Zoom, include creating a personal connection between the potential resource parent and the training agency personnel while the agency shares local/state policy information. In addition, there is the opportunity for mutual assessment to happen, that is, for the parent to decide whether being a resource parent is good for their family and for the agency to decide whether this participant is ready to take on resource parenting and continue with the process.
Research on Blended Pre-Service Training
Foster Parent College and its parent company, Northwest Media, Inc., innovated the design and use of blended pre-service training for resource parents. Partnering with the Institute for Human Services of Ohio, we created 10 online courses based on their in-person meetings. These courses were developed with funding from an SBIR grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
As these courses were being developed, the idea of blended training began. Blended training was uncommon at the time, and with approval from NICHD, we revised the research design for our study under the grant to evaluate the effectiveness of the entire blended pre-service training curriculum instead of each of the individual online pre-service courses we had developed.
The research study (conducted with the State of Oregon Department of Human Services) found that the blended curriculum produced a significantly lower training dropout rate of adults preparing to become foster parents than a comparable classroom-only training program. Additionally, parents in the blended training group made significantly greater pre- to post-test gains in knowledge of the presented information than parents in the traditional classroom-only training group. While both study groups made significant gains in awareness of parenting issues, those gains were greater for the classroom-only approach. At a 3-month follow-up assessment, both groups had maintained their gains in knowledge and awareness. An article in the journal Child Welfare (Vol.93, #6, pp. 45-72), titled Efficacy of Blended Preservice Training for Resource Parents, reports on the results of this study.
This blended training approach, now known as FPC-IHS Blended In-Person and Online Pre-Service Training for Resource Parents, has been recognized by the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), where it received a "Promising Research Evidence" rating with "High" relevance to child welfare.
FPC-IHS Blended Pre-Service Training
FPC-IHS (Institute for Human Services) Blended In-Person and Online Pre-Service Training for Resource Parents as originally studied combines classroom sessions and 10 online courses at FosterParentCollege.com. The blended program design offers flexibility to meet the needs of individual agencies and their parents.
The 10 online FPC courses cover the core parenting topics. Each course is written and presented by a national expert and includes interactive exercises, handouts, and a review questionnaire. Since the study of the program was published in 2016, FPC has developed several additional courses, such as Trauma-Informed Parenting, that would also be beneficial to families in pre-service training and could be added to the curriculum.
The studied version of the FPC-IHS curriculum includes four in-person meetings that provide opportunities for staff to review online courses, answer questions, and present regulations, as well as opportunities for staff and parents to mutually assess the parents' willingness and ability to care for a child. The number and content of in-person meetings can be adjusted to meet the needs of the agency.
Organization of FPC-IHS Blended Pre-Service Training
The FPC-IHS Blended Pre-Service Training combines 10 online courses at FosterParentCollege.com with four agency-led meetings. The agency-led meetings ideally occur in person but can also be held virtually, through online platforms like Zoom.
Meeting 1, Orientation & Overview:
Introduce parents to online pre-service training schedule; explain how to use online classes; lead group activities. The curriculum for the meeting is flexible and offers the opportunity to observe parents in a group setting. There is also the opportunity to provide unique state/agency information or required training that is not covered in the online training.
Online Courses Cluster 1:
- Child Abuse & Neglect This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- Parent-Child Attachment This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- The Child Welfare Team This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- Understanding Behavior in Foster Children This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
Meeting 2:
Review of Online Course Cluster 1; group activities that complement the online training; dissemination of local information.
Online Courses Cluster 2:
- Child Development This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- Cultural Issues in Parenting This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- Working Together with Primary Families This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
Meeting 3:
Review of Online Course Cluster 2; group activities; dissemination of local information.
Online Courses Cluster 3:
- Caring for Children Who Have Been Sexually Abused This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- Foster Care to Adoption This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- Reducing Family Stress This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
Research on FPC-IHS Blended Pre-Service Training
Foster Parent College and its parent company, Northwest Media, Inc., innovated the design and use of blended pre-service training for resource parents. Partnering with the Institute for Human Services of Ohio, we created 10 online courses based on their in-person meetings. These courses were developed with funding from an SBIR grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
As these courses were being developed, the idea of blended training began. Blended training was uncommon at the time, and with approval from NICHD, we revised the research design for our study under the grant to evaluate the effectiveness of the entire blended pre-service training curriculum instead of each of the individual online pre-service courses we had developed.
The research study (conducted with the State of Oregon Department of Human Services) found that the blended curriculum produced a significantly lower training dropout rate of adults preparing to become foster parents than a comparable classroom-only training program. Additionally, parents in the blended training group made significantly greater pre- to post-test gains in knowledge of the presented information than parents in the traditional classroom-only training group. While both study groups made significant gains in awareness of parenting issues, those gains were greater for the classroom-only approach. At a 3-month follow-up assessment, both groups had maintained their gains in knowledge and awareness. An article in the journal Child Welfare (Vol.93, #6, pp. 45-72), titled Efficacy of Blended Preservice Training for Resource Parents, reports on the results of this study.
This blended training approach, now known as FPC-IHS Blended In-Person and Online Pre-Service Training for Resource Parents, has been recognized by the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), where it received a "Promising Research Evidence" rating with "High" relevance to child welfare.
Curriculum Manual for FPC-IHS Blended Pre-Service Training
The FPC-IHS Blended Pre-Service Training curriculum manual is available free to agencies that purchase training units on FosterParentCollege.com. You can sample a preview and contact FPC for the full PDF.
New Generation PRIDE Model of Practice
Developed by the Child Welfare League of America
PRIDE: Parent Resources for Information, Development, and Education.
New Generation PRIDE Model of Practice by CWLA provides child welfare agencies with a standardized practice model that includes a structured framework for a unified approach to assessing and training foster and adoptive (resource) families based on five established competencies.
The CWLA New Generation PRIDE Model of Practice includes a blended pre-service training curriculum for potential resource parents. The curriculum blends FPC's research-based courses and training approach with the established CWLA PRIDE pre-service curriculum. Blending these two recognized approaches cuts the amount of in-person training time and allows parents to experience much of the training within the comfort of their home. The pre-service component of the Model of Practice combines five in-person meetings based on the PRIDE curriculum with a total of 12 FPC online pre-service classes grouped into five sets of FPC courses to be viewed between the in-person meetings.
CWLA PRIDE Model of Practice Overview
For over two decades, the CWLA PRIDE Model of Practice has increased opportunities for child welfare agencies to provide a structured framework for the professional development of foster and adoptive families. This Model is more than a curriculum; it includes the competency-based recruitment, preparation, assessment, selection, and support of resource parents. The PRIDE Model of Practice is used, in whole or in part, across the United States and in more than 25 countries.
The PRIDE Model of Practice is built upon five core competency categories developed through comprehensive role analysis:
- protecting and nurturing children
- meeting children's developmental needs and addressing their delays
- supporting relationships with birth families
- connecting children to safe, nurturing relationships intended to last a lifetime (permanency)
- working as a member of a professional team
Strengthening the Quality of Care
The PRIDE Model of Practice provides the opportunity to ensure that staff and resource families commit to your agency's vision, mission, and values. The Model supports staff and parents to have complementary competency-based roles in the care of children. The Practice uses strengths-based language, implements culturally responsive best practices, and teaches trauma-informed skills, so that staff and parents can work together to achieve outcomes that support safety, well-being, and permanency for the children in care.
The PRIDE Model of Practice 14-step model develops and supports foster and adoptive families as team members in child protection. It is designed to strengthen the quality of family foster care and adoption services through:
- clarifying the role of resource families in support of the agency's vision and mission
- integrating resource families as core members of the agency's team
- educating communities about the importance of resource families
- recruiting families based on a strengths/needs, comprehensive plan
- providing blended in-person/online pre-service training around five core competencies
- integrating pre-service training as an essential component of the mutual family assessment (home study) process
- selecting resource families based on the five core competencies
- matching children with licensed (approved, certified, verified) resource families
- creating family development plans to guide ongoing professional development of foster parents
- providing in-service training and other essential supports
- ending relationships with resource families, using a strengths-based approach and a quality assurance process
CWLA can arrange to provide a variety of levels of support to states and agencies when implementing the New Generation PRIDE Model of Practice. In addition, the licensing fee includes free updates to the curriculum. When contracted, Foster Parent College offers free support to both staff and parents on the use of the website.
Benefits of The New Generation PRIDE
For Agencies and Parents:
- enhancing trauma-informed parenting information and skills
- focusing on the impact of fostering on all members of prospective foster families
- reducing parent costs, travel, and time away from home
- enabling parents to learn at their own pace and time
- demonstrating examples through interactive vignettes
- reemphasizing the practice of mutual assessment
For Agencies:
- standardizing the content and quality of training
- allowing more staff time to provide one-on-one support
- providing in-depth core training
- offering research-based training techniques
- increasing training opportunities for staff and potentially providing CEU credits
- being adaptable to local requirements
- helping the agency offer a structured yet flexible training schedule to potential resource families
Organization of Training
CWLA New Generation PRIDE Curriculum Sessions and Clusters
This research-based training approach is organized into five in-person group sessions and 12 online training courses. The online courses are bundled into four clusters, which are available for viewing 24/7 at the convenience of the parents. Both the online and in-person sessions feature highly dynamic, interactive learning activities that key in on trauma-informed parenting knowledge and skills.
In-Person Session 1:
Connecting with the PRIDE Model of Practice at group meeting site.
Online Courses Cluster 1:
- Child Abuse & Neglect This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- Child Development This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- The Child Welfare Team This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
In-Person Session 2:
Protecting and Nurturing Children at group meeting site.
Online Courses Cluster 2:
- Caring for Children Who Have Been Sexually Abused This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- Parent-Child Attachment This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- Understanding Behavior in Foster Children This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
In-Person Session 3:
Meeting Children's Developmental Needs: Separation and Loss, Trauma, Resilience at group meeting site.
Online Courses Cluster 3:
- Cultural Issues in Parenting This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- Trauma-Informed Parenting This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- Working Together with Primary Families This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
In-Person Session 4:
Supporting Relationships Between Children and Their Families at group meeting site.
Online Courses Cluster 4:
- Foster Care to Adoption This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- Reducing Family Stress This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
- The Impact of Fostering on Birth Children This course is Closed CaptionedDisponible en español
In-Person Session 5:
Planning for Change at group meeting site.
Research Supported
Foster Parent College and its parent company, Northwest Media, Inc., innovated the design and use of blended pre-service training for resource parents. Partnering with the Institute for Human Services of Ohio, we created 10 online courses based on their in-person meetings. These courses were developed with funding from an SBIR grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
As these courses were being developed, the idea of blended training began. Blended training was uncommon at the time, and with approval from NICHD, we revised the research design for our study under the grant to evaluate the effectiveness of the entire blended pre-service training curriculum instead of each of the individual online pre-service courses we had developed.
The research study (conducted with the State of Oregon Department of Human Services) found that the blended curriculum produced a significantly lower training dropout rate of adults preparing to become foster parents than a comparable classroom-only training program. Additionally, parents in the blended training group made significantly greater pre- to post-test gains in knowledge of the presented information than parents in the traditional classroom-only training group. While both study groups made significant gains in awareness of parenting issues, those gains were greater for the classroom-only approach. At a 3-month follow-up assessment, both groups had maintained their gains in knowledge and awareness. An article in the journal Child Welfare (Vol.93, #6, pp. 45-72), titled Efficacy of Blended Preservice Training for Resource Parents, reports on the results of this study.
This blended training approach, now known as FPC-IHS Blended In-Person and Online Pre-Service Training for Resource Parents, has been recognized by the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), where it received a "Promising Research Evidence" rating with "High" relevance to child welfare.
Customized Solutions
Series
The FPC management system allows agencies to cluster courses together for either pre-service blended training or for a series (grouping) of courses together for in-service training. The Series Training Program is a blank slate that agencies can use to build and implement a sequence of FPC courses into clusters. Once the series is built or modified, and upon activation, the group of courses is easy to assign to parents and can be adapted for use as a blended training approach.
With the Series Training Program, the agency administrator can do the following:
- Assemble a template using any of the FPC courses.
- Access suggested templates of clustered courses to use or modify or the administrator can create new custom templates.
- Organize the series as a blended training approach with a feature to include a time line for the training. The time line will organize training groups for both the cluster's viewing period and the scheduled dates for the agency's in-person meetings.
- Add links to curriculum material.
- Add agency-specific, localized handouts to the series courses.
- Monitor and manage training progress.
- Require a test after each cluster and set a minimum passing score.
- Request retakes of clusters or cluster tests.
- Issue certificates for trainees upon completion of the series.
The Series Training Program is often used for blended pre-service training groups yet is a convenient way to provide required in-service or annual training as well.
Research Supported
Foster Parent College and its parent company, Northwest Media, Inc., innovated the design and use of blended pre-service training for resource parents. Partnering with the Institute for Human Services of Ohio, we created 10 online courses based on their in-person meetings. These courses were developed with funding from an SBIR grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
As these courses were being developed, the idea of blended training began. Blended training was uncommon at the time, and with approval from NICHD, we revised the research design for our study under the grant to evaluate the effectiveness of the entire blended pre-service training curriculum instead of each of the individual online pre-service courses we had developed.
The research study (conducted with the State of Oregon Department of Human Services) found that the blended curriculum produced a significantly lower training dropout rate of adults preparing to become foster parents than a comparable classroom-only training program. Additionally, parents in the blended training group made significantly greater pre- to post-test gains in knowledge of the presented information than parents in the traditional classroom-only training group. While both study groups made significant gains in awareness of parenting issues, those gains were greater for the classroom-only approach. At a 3-month follow-up assessment, both groups had maintained their gains in knowledge and awareness. An article in the journal Child Welfare (Vol.93, #6, pp. 45-72), titled Efficacy of Blended Preservice Training for Resource Parents, reports on the results of this study.
This blended training approach, now known as FPC-IHS Blended In-Person and Online Pre-Service Training for Resource Parents, has been recognized by the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC), where it received a "Promising Research Evidence" rating with "High" relevance to child welfare.