New FosterParentCollege.com® Class Explores Grief & Loss in the Care System

April 17, 2009

Eugene, OR — Grieving is a natural reaction to a major loss. In foster care, grieving can be experienced by everyone involved - the birth parents, the child, the foster parents, and members of the foster family. Yet this grief is often denied or hidden even though it can have a profound impact on the behaviors of the grieving parties. Join Charley Joyce as he explores the issues surrounding Grief & Loss in the Care System.

This course reviews the stages of grief, how the various members in a foster care situation grieve, and tools for regaining a sense of balance and acceptance after a separation. Interactive exercises reinforce the lessons on identifying the stages of grief in children and parents. Mr. Joyce offers clear suggestions for resource parents on how to aid grieving children. The discussion segment helps the viewer understand the differences between complex grief and normal grief, and when to seek professional help.

Completing the class yields two training hours and costs $8. FosterParentCollege.com (FPC) training units are accepted by over 1,000 agencies and organizations throughout the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. Grief & Loss in the Care System is available online on fosterparentcollege.com and on DVD through sociallearning.com.

Charley Joyce is a Licensed Independent Social Worker and Clinical Director of PATH, Inc. of North Dakota. He is the co-author and instructor of Working with Birth Parents on FPC. Mr. Joyce has worked in the areas of foster care and specialized foster care for over 30 years. Through PATH, he provides statewide consultation to social workers serving youth in treatment foster care. He also provides foster parent training and consultation. As a therapist and consultant, he has provided services to individuals, married couples, families, and groups in a variety of settings. For 15 years he was the Supervisor of Clinical Services for Casey Family Programs in Bismarck, ND. In addition, he has taught undergraduate and M.S.W. courses at several universities in North Dakota.

For more information about this class or to watch a short preview, visit fosterparentcollege.com or call 800-777-6636.

FosterParentCollege.com is a division of Northwest Media, Inc. of Eugene, Oregon. Northwest Media also produces SocialLearning.com, an online store with over 1,300 products for the social services field.

For more information about this article, contact us at press@northwestmedia.com.