|
 |
|
|
|||
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
|
|
||
|
||||
|
|
 LAPP California Trainings LAPP provides training on a variety of foster care topics for members of the California child welfare team, including foster, kinship, and adoptive parents, child welfare agency staff, CASA volunteers, service providers, attorneys, and others. California training modules focus on practical implementation of the laws and regulations and how participants can utilize the information to better serve children. Each training module comes complete with coordinating LAPP Toolkits that support trainees long after training sessions end. Below are standardized California training modules that may be individualized for specialized audiences. Additional topics are available upon request. Permanency and the Law Training Description: This training helps foster, kinship, and adoptive families, child welfare agency staff, CASA volunteers, service providers, and others understand permanency options and court processes for children in foster care. The training covers an explanation of the reasonable efforts requirements for agencies, concurrent planning, permanency timelines, termination of parental rights and some exceptions to the requirement to terminate parental rights. Explanations of various permanent plans for children in foster care are provided, including reunification, adoption, guardianship, and long-term foster care as well as the role of caregiver families in each one. The second portion of the presentation is devoted to explaining the role of foster and kinship families in the court process and how they can be effective in providing information for decision making. New Child Welfare Laws and Regulations Training Description: Child welfare agencies and their foster, kinship, and adoptive families are subject to constantly changing California laws and regulations on a range of foster care topics. This training covers the new laws and regulations that became effective over the past three years. Several of the laws presented were sponsored by LAPP. Information is included on laws about education for foster youth, ensuring continued relationships between foster youth and the important adults in their lives, emergency placement of children with relatives, use of the “prudent parent” standard to allow foster children to participate in normal childhood activities and for short-term, occasional babysitting and many other recent legislative developments. Effective Communication between Child Welfare Professionals and Caregiver Families Training Description: Child welfare agency staff and caregiver families need to work together closely to ensure the best outcomes for each foster child. This training will explain the role of each of the child welfare system participants and suggest effective methods for communication between foster and kinship families, child welfare agency staff, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs), attorneys, and the juvenile court. Information on the legal status of each group will be provided along with perspectives on how the educational backgrounds and cultural differences between groups can be managed to enhance communication. Ensuring Well-Being and Normalcy for Children in Foster Care Training Description: Children and youth in foster care have certain rights under California law. Caregiver families as well as child welfare agency staff need to know what these rights are, how to make sure they are followed, and what to do when it appears that a child’s rights are being violated. The first portion of this training will focus on the practical application of the law and how it can be implemented in real life situations. The second section of the training will introduce the “prudent parent” standard that permits foster and kinship parents to decide whether their foster child can participate in extracurricular activities and to arrange short-term, occasional babysitting for the child. Assembly Bill 408 and Senate Bill 358 which created the “prudent parent” standard in foster care in California will be covered in depth. [LAPP sponsored Senate Bill 358 in the California legislature]. Caregiver Families and the Court Process: Making a Difference for Children Training Description: This training explains the role of foster, kinship, and adoptive families in the court process for their foster children. Information will be provided about appropriate ways foster and kinship caregivers can provide information to the juvenile court, various legal status options that are available to caregivers, as well as how to effectively be heard in the courtroom. Specific information on using the Caregiver Information Form, becoming a de facto parent or a court-designated prospective adoptive parent will be provided. In addition to legal information, this training gives practical suggestions on non-legal factors resource families should consider in deciding whether and when to ask the juvenile court for an enhanced legal status. Legal Aspects of Maltreatment Allegations Training Description: This workshop explains the legal basis for the investigation and processing of maltreatment (abuse) allegations against foster and kinship parents in California. The workshop will cover issues relating to licensing violations or deficiencies, placement of a caregiver’s name on the California Child Abuse Central Index (CACI), and criminal liability issues. Legal information on how investigations should be conducted is included. Information will be provided about how foster caregivers can effectively participate in the investigation process, focusing on specific actions they can take to ensure the well-being of the foster child as well as their own family. Child Welfare Law 101 for Non-Lawyers: Understanding Those Pesky Legal Procedures Training Description: This day-long training features hands-on activities designed to give participants a real feel for the legal process involving foster children. Foster and kinship parents, child welfare agency staff, CASA volunteers, and others will have an opportunity to "try-on" different roles using court case files for imaginary children. Complete with props and scripts, this workshop emphasizes learning by doing while having fun! Working with Schools: Improving Educational Outcomes for Foster Children Training Description: Meeting the educational needs of children in foster care is a critical component of ensuring their future success. This training explains how foster and kinship parents, child welfare agency staff, CASA volunteers, and others can work with schools to ensure foster youth receive appropriate educational services. Explanations of who is authorized to make educational decisions for foster children, confidentiality issues, unraveling the individualized educational plan (IEP) process, and recent changes in education issues for foster youth are explored. Rights of Children and Youth in Foster Care Training Description: This training describes and explains the personal rights of children and youth in foster care under California law and makes practical suggestions on how the rights should be implemented by foster and kinship parents and other foster care placements. Specific attention is devoted to new youth rights to be involved in the development of their own permanency plans and the implications for caregivers and caseworkers when youth invoke the psychotherapist-client, doctor-patient, or clergy-penitent privileges. Achieving Permanency for Older Youth through the Placement Process Training Description: This training covers the intricacies and legal requirements of the placement process, from the requirements for placement agreements, the sharing of important information about children in care, and the necessity of describing the type of care and the expectations of child welfare agencies for each type of care. A connection will be drawn between legal placement requirements and the opportunities for child welfare agencies to use placements as a means for beginning and continuing the permanency process. Participants will have the opportunity to analyze current agency practices and make recommendations for best practice improvement. Confidentiality and Collaboration in Child Welfare Training Description: This training reviews the legal requirements for disclosure of information to foster and kinship parents, explains practical aspects of handling confidentiality issues in the community, explains new aspects of confidentiality for teens in foster care and its effect on permanency, and explores the importance of collaboration between caregivers and caseworkers to achieve permanency for youth. Specific information on how confidentiality requirements affect foster caregivers and caseworkers will be provided. The Role of ILP, TDMs and Education in Promoting Permanency for Older Youth LAPP National Trainings LAPP provides training throughout the nation on a variety of foster care topics for foster, kinship, and adoptive parent groups, child welfare agencies, CASA organizations, attorneys, and others. LAPP’s national training modules focus on the National Legal Resource Manual and Curriculum developed by LAPP and the American Bar Association Center on Children and the Law, the Child Welfare League of America, and the National Foster Parent Association. Each training module comes complete with coordinating handouts to support trainees long after training sessions end. Below are standardized national training modules that may be individualized for specialized audiences. Additional topics are available upon request. Permanency, Foster Parents and the Law Training Description: This training provides the basis for understanding child welfare law and practice in the United States. Introduction to the federal laws governing child welfare cases, an overview of the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), and an explanation of the five permanency plans for children in foster care are included. Information on the changing role of foster families is also provided. Dependency Court and Removal of Children Training Description: This training explains the legal court process for children in child abuse and neglect cases, including how foster caregivers may be involved in the court decision making process. The second portion of the training describes remedies that may be available to foster parents through child welfare agencies and courts when a child is moved from their care for reasons other than maltreatment (abuse or neglect). Court Participation by Foster Parents Training Description: This training explores how foster parents can participate in review and permanency hearings for their foster children under the federal Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). Practical suggestions on how to participate in court, what information is important to judges, and how to become a “party” to the case is included. Suggestions on how states can standardize court input from foster parents are provided. Allegations of Maltreatment Training Description: This training explains the legal basis for the investigation and processing of allegations of maltreatment (abuse) in foster care. Information on minimizing the risk of an allegation, participation in the investigation of reports, and practical suggestions on how to support foster children and their families during an investigation is included. Constitutional procedural due process issues are also explored
|
