14.8 Pre-Service Training

Georgia State Seal

Georgia Division of Family and Children Services
Child Welfare Policy Manual

Chapter:

(14) Resource Development

Policy Title:

Pre-Service Training

Policy Number:

14.8

Previous Policy Number(s):

N/A

Effective Date:

November 2024

Manual Transmittal:

2024-09

Codes/References

Title IV-E of the Social Security Act Section 471(a)(24)
Public Law (PL) 113-183 Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act of 2014

Requirements

The Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) will

  1. Ensure prospective foster and adoptive parents are adequately prepared with the appropriate knowledge and skills to provide for the needs of a child. As necessary, such preparation shall continue after placement of the child and includes knowledge and skills relating to the reasonable and prudent parenting standard.

  2. Require prospective caregivers to complete a pre-service training program [National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC)] to become approved foster or adoptive parents for children in DFCS custody.

    1. Caregivers who voluntarily closed their homes while in good standing and desire to have their home reopened are not required to repeat pre-service training if they completed it within the last three years.

    2. Topics addressed in pre-service training will include:

      1. Rights, roles, responsibilities and expectations of foster parents

      2. Child Development

      3. Attachment

      4. Separation, Grief, and Loss

      5. Trauma Related Behavior

      6. Trauma Informed Parenting

      7. Effective Communication

      8. Permanency Outcomes

      9. Preparing for Intrusive Questions

      10. Maintaining Children’s Connections with Siblings, Extended Family, and Their Community

      11. Cultural Humility

      12. Parenting in Racially and Culturally Diverse Families

      13. Mental Health Considerations

      14. Impact of Substance Abuse

      15. Creating a Stable, Nurturing, and Safe Home Environment

      16. Parenting a Child with Sexual Trauma

      17. Kinship Parenting

      18. Building Resilience for Kinship Caregivers

      19. Connections with Birth Families After Adoption

      20. Accessing Services and Supports

    3. A waiver of pre-service training may be considered for families who are approved to foster or adopt in another state and are moving to Georgia with children placed by that state through the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC).

  3. Make it possible for prospective caregivers to attend pre-service training no later than 60 days after submitting the appropriate documents from the Prospective Caregiver Application Packet.

  4. Require pre-service training sessions to be facilitated only by DFCS certified NTDC trainers.

  5. Restrict parent co-leaders from being solely responsible for an entire training session or completing In-Home Family Consultations.

  6. Hold preservice training sessions on days and times that meet the needs of the participating families while ensuring the entire curriculum is completed within 10 weeks. Meetings may be held at night, during the day, and/or on weekends.

  7. Require participants to attend all sessions.

  8. Require all adult household members (age 18 and over) of prospective foster parents to complete pre-service training if they will be involved in the parenting of children placed in the home. For adoptive families, these household members are strongly encouraged to participate.

  9. Require DFCS staff who will not facilitate pre-service training sessions to receive an abbreviated “overview session” of the curriculum from Resource Development (RD) staff or another approved facilitator. At a minimum, the following DFCS staff will be provided an overview of the NTDC Curriculum:

    1. Regional Directors;

    2. Field-based Consultants;

    3. County Directors;

    4. Deputy Directors;

    5. Social Services Program Directors and Social Services Administrators;

    6. Social Services Supervisors and Case Managers; and

    7. Independent Living Specialists.

Procedures

NTDC Facilitators

  1. Evaluate the needs of the family, as well as the needs and resources of the agency, to choose a mode of pre-service preparation (i.e., group or individual sessions) for the family. Group is the preferred mode.

    Approval must be obtained from the Regional Adoption Coordinator (RAC) to pay for individual sessions.

  2. Help participants make the decision to “select out” as a part of the joint selection process whenever participants decide they do not wish to foster or adopt. Participants who select out may be allowed to remain in the group, unless they are disruptive to the group. However, one-to-one sessions are discontinued.

  3. Offer classes in the configuration that best meets the needs of their participants and still allows for completion of the entire curriculum within 10 weeks.

  4. Request a waiver of pre-service training for families who are approved to foster or adopt in another state and are moving to Georgia with children placed by that state through the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC).

    1. All applicable ICPC requirements must be met, and the Georgia ICPC Administrator must authorize the placement of children from other states into Georgia.

    2. ICPC allows provisional approval of families. This means ICPC families can be provisionally approved before pre-service training is completed. The family will have to complete pre-service training within 120 calendar days in order to maintain approval status.

  5. If applicants were approved in other states within the last five years, take the following actions to confirm the training hours and begin collecting information for the SAFE Home Study:

    1. Obtain Authorization for Release of Information.

    2. Contact the other state in writing.

    3. Obtain a description of the training content and number of hours earned as part of pre-service and in-service hours.

      1. Assess whether the training content was trauma informed.

      2. If the training content was not trauma informed, require the applicants to complete the following NTDC trauma informed modules:

        1. Trauma Related Behaviors

        2. Trauma Informed Parenting Mental Health Considerations

        3. Parenting a Child with Sexual Trauma

    4. Request a copy of the family’s initial evaluation and any subsequent evaluations.

    5. Request a written recommendation from the state as to the capabilities and protective capacities of the family.

    6. Enter all information collected into Georgia SHINES.

Practice Guidance

National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC)

The National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC) has been adapted to address the needs of Georgia families and equips potential foster, kinship, and adoptive parents with the information, resources, and tools needed to parent a child who has experienced trauma, separation, or loss. NTDC requires 34 hours to complete and is designed as a hybrid model that can be delivered both virtually and in-person (at the discretion of the DFCS region). It is recommended that the first and last sessions be conducted in-person. The training schedule can be modified as long as the entire curriculum is not completed in a condensed format such as in one week or weekend. NTDC gives parents access to information and resources needed to continue building their skills once they have a child in their home through Right-Time Training (RTT). The NTDC curriculum and RTT themes are accessible from the agency’s learning management system, IOTIS.

Right-Time Training (RTT)

Right-Time Training (RTT) is a component of NTDC that serves as a supplement to the classroom-based training. It provides caregivers online access to beneficial information on-demand whenever they want it. RTT includes 15 themes specifically for caregivers who are fostering or adopting. Each of the themes (listed below) takes about an hour to review.

  • Accessing Services and Support

  • Building Children’s Resilience

  • Building Parental Resilience

  • Common Feelings Associated with Being Adopted

  • Education

  • Family Dynamics

  • Intercountry Adoptions: Medical Considerations

  • Life Story: Birth Story and Adoption Story

  • Managing Placement Transitions

  • Preparing for Adulthood

  • Preparing for and Managing Visitation

  • Responding to Children in Crisis

  • Sensory Integration

  • Sexual Development and Identity

  • Sexual Trauma

Caregivers may use RTT to enhance their knowledge of any of the particular topics. RTT may also be used to address specific parenting needs when a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) with a foster or adoptive parent has been developed. RTT completed by approved caregivers during a calendar year may be credited towards their annual training requirement (see policy 14.09 Resource Development: Continued Parent Development). However, prospective caregivers will not receive credit for training taken prior to home approval.

Reducing the Waiting Period

Potential applicants could become discouraged or lose interest if they are left waiting to begin pre-service training. Some strategies to help reduce the amount of time applicants have to wait to participate in pre-service training include:

  1. Conducting pre-service training groups across county lines;

  2. Having reciprocal arrangements with other counties and agencies to make groups available to each other;

  3. Co-leading groups with other public or private agencies that have approved trainers;

  4. Referring prospective adoptive families to the Regional Adoption Coordinator (RAC) for linkage to a private adoption agency under contract with DFCS.

Consistent Group Leaders

It is preferred that group leaders remain the same throughout all assigned sessions of the pre-service training to enhance effectiveness. Leaders should not start group or individual training if it is known in advance that they will not be able available for the entire duration of the series. Each leader brings unique perspectives and experiences to the learning process.

Parent Co-Leaders

Pre-service preparation is most effective when jointly presented by DFCS staff and a competent, experienced foster or adoptive parent using an instructive and practical approach. DFCS County Offices/Regions and CPAs should maintain enough certified parent co-leaders to meet the training needs of the county/region. Parent co-leaders should be active partners in conducting groups and share an active role in planning, scheduling, logistics, and delivery. The DFCS and parent co-leaders should collaborate following each group meeting to discuss the meeting and exchange feedback on performance. Caregivers selected to become approved co-leaders should:

  1. Be an approved, active caregiver; or a previous caregiver whose home was voluntarily closed while in good standing;

  2. Demonstrate the ability to grasp and impart information;

  3. Have at least two years of experience as a caregiver;

  4. Demonstrate functional knowledge and understanding of the general needs of the children in foster care;

  5. Demonstrate the ability to manage, nurture, and support children in foster care;

  6. Demonstrate a functional understanding of the DFCS mission to strengthen and support birth families;

  7. Have a positive working relationship with DFCS;

  8. Provide an environment that ensures the health and safety of the child;

  9. Understand the role they have assumed as caregivers and the ongoing impact this has on their family and themselves; and

  10. Have no active CPS investigations.

Parent Co-Leader Scheduling

Counties/Regions should develop an annual training plan and inform parents of plans and approximate times that parents will be co-leading groups. DFCS and parent co-leaders must ensure the needs of the child(ren) placed in the parent co-leader’s home are being met before scheduling the parent to co-lead pre-service training. The parent co-leader must be able to state how the child(ren)'s needs will be met during the parent co-leader’s absence.

Forms and Tools

Bill for Services Rendered