Participant Feedback

During this full day training session, participants will be introduced to Indigenous Customs and Traditions, belonging mostly to Ontario First Nations – gaining familiarity with Indigenous ways of life and the values associated with living a “Good Life” and having a “Good Mind” consisting of holistic philosophies based on traditional beliefs. The following topics will be discussed:

1. Cultural Safety
2. Aftermath of Residential School & Sixties Scoop
3. Differing Worldviews & Values
4. Importance of Ceremony, Customs and Traditions
5. Sacred Medicines
   • Personal Altars
   • Let’s make Tobacco Ties!
6. Sacred Bundles/Sacred Items
7. Elders versus Elderly People versus Knowledge Keepers
   • Approaching Elders
8. Protocols
9. Teachings & Ceremonies
   • Differences amongst Nations

At the end of the session, participants will prepared to attend Ceremony with their children.

Safeguarding Against Allegations and Investigations in Foster Homes (Part 1) – Training Description

In this informative session, the foster parent will gain a comprehensive understanding of the process to conduct a Child Protection Investigation in a Foster Home. At the conclusion of this session, the foster parent will walk away with a clear understanding of the following:  essential principles of the foster home investigation, roles of the participants, supports, Foster Parent Rights, case flow of the investigation, the decision making process, malicious complaints/false allegations, impact of the criminal investigation, outcomes, verification and closure.

Safeguarding Against Allegations and Investigations in Foster Homes (Part 2) – Training Description

The session will focus on Safeguarding Against Allegations and Investigations in Foster Homes.  The objective of the session is to:

• Understand and be sensitive to the impact of allegations against foster parents
• Identify Risk – why allegations occur, taking into account the child, family and agency factors
• Improve Risk Management strategies – consider ways to project foster families including: biological/foster children, babysitters, boarders and extended family
• Help foster parents express their views, experiences and recommendations for Agency consideration

During this informative session, participants will review the major characteristics of Childhood Anxiety and subtypes of Anxiety defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders with particular attention to: Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD), Specific Phobia, Social Phobia, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Signs and symptoms of Anxiety based on physical, cognitive and behavioural issues will be explored. Common developmental fears will be distinguished from abnormal psychopathology. Possible developmental pathways/causes for anxiety and the influence of cognitive deficits, family impact, temperament and environmental factors will be discussed.  At the end of the session, participants will understand the invisible nature of the symptoms including effective strategies to manage the disorder.

When foster parents open their homes to a foster child, they also open themselves to criticism.  Somehow everyone involved with the child is an “expert” and because everyone is an expert their expert opinions may not always match. In essence, the multi-disciplinary approach is a breeding ground for conflict. The potential for conflict infers that conflict already exists.

A foster parent’s ability to manage the three C’s… Conflict, Chaos and Crisis is a test of their character and an indication of their ability to be a strong partner or a leader.  In order to survive foster care, it is critical that all members understand the role that the three C’s plays in our day to day work, which includes defining conflict, chaos and crisis and exploring how our actions contribute to improving or worsening matters.

The child welfare system is founded on the components of conflict.  These conflict components are the key elements of our child welfare work, identified as: Needs, Values, Interests, Power, Social Disagreement, Stress and Change.  During this training session the relationship between conflict and child welfare and its impact on the child, biological parent, foster parent, agency and government will be examined.

In child welfare, it’s crucial for team members to work effectively, united in their vision, mission and purpose to achieve good outcomes for the children and families that we serve.  Understandably, success is measured in outcomes, adding scrutiny and pressure to the child-in-care team to produce good results.  In order to create a Role Supportive Culture, the team needs to understand each other’s roles and responsibilities and support other people’s roles and responsibilities while fulfilling their own.  In a Role Supportive Culture, team members must have a genuine interest and willingness to learn about each other. The objective of this informative session is to have interdepartmental participation and authentic conversations about the challenges in creating and maintaining effective teams in a child welfare setting including a frank discussion about the implications and systemic barriers to engaging all team members.

During today’s session, designed exclusively for Staff & Management, participants will identify and analyze the following concepts:

• What is a team and how do you build a team?
• What does belonging to a team mean?
• Characteristics of an effective team
• Barriers to effective teamwork
• Pros and Cons of teamwork
• Personality, conflict and communication styles
• Challenges of Foster Care Resource Workers
• How to develop a Role Supportive Culture
• How to engage workers across departments

During this session, participants will be introduced to Indigenous Culture. Participants will become familiar with Indigenous definitions and terms specific to cultural norms and practices including how the Indigenous worldview differs from the Eurocentric worldview. The importance of building cultural attachments for Indigenous foster children will be discussed and practical strategies to maintain culture in foster care will be reviewed. The following topics will be explored:

1. Defining, assessing and measuring culture
2. The unique relationship between the Indigenous community and Canada’s history
3. Why Indigenous children are overrepresented in our child welfare system
4. Ontario demographics in the Indigenous community
5. Cultural terms and practices including typical stereotypes
6. Native and Eurocentric worldviews
7. Sacred medicines & the medicine wheel
8. Strategies to infuse Indigenous culture in a non-native setting

At the conclusion of the session, participants will understand the critical importance in preserving culture for an Indigenous Foster Child and how to develop a cultural plan to support this.

This session is designed exclusively for Staff who conduct Foster Parent Investigations or those who work closely with Foster Parents.  During the training session, Workers will be provided with the Foster Parent Perspective/Response to being subjected to an investigation and/or complaint.  The following topics will be reviewed:

Working with Foster Parents  – A Specialty

• Life in the fishbowl
• The 1 minute assessment
• Recognizing the Foster Parent Stage of Development

The Foster Parent Perspective

• Spoken fears & Unspoken fears
• Conflict, Chaos and Crisis… a concentrated period of a stress
• The aftermath of the Investigation

How to Help – Offering Effective Support

• The importance of time
• Clear and consistent communication
• Language & Terms of Reference

At the end of the session, participants will gain a unique perspective in the complexity of conducting and supporting Foster Parents during Foster Home Investigations and Complaints – leading to a better understanding of how to effectively provide support during this potential crisis and ease the trauma that foster parents experience after undergoing a formal child protection investigation.