Family Connections Program Trainings - Amara

Family Connections Program Trainings

We offer an array of trainings for professionals, parents and caregivers. Incorporating personal experience and storytelling, these trainings cover a variety of topics related to Family Connections, including “Why Do Relationships Matter in Child Welfare”, “Relationship Building Tips for Caregivers”, and “The Value of Relationships in Supporting Family Reunification.”

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Caregivers, Families & Substance Use DisorderPartnering With Someone Experiencing Strong Emotions

Why Relationships Matter

Supporting Students With Foster Care or Adoption Experience in the ClassroomPartnering With a Parent Who is Unhoused
In order for caregivers to partner with someone with substance use disorder, it is helpful to learn more about addiction and it impacts the mind, body, and subsequent behaviors.This training will be provide strategies to help build, strengthen, and maintain relationships between caregivers and parents navigating the child welfare system.Prioritizing relationships between parents and caregivers can have significant positive implications for children and youth who must be separated from their parents.This training covers the invisible achievement gap, how to identify and understand student behaviors and emotions, how to build competency and some actionable steps to better support students.In this training we will take a closer look at some of the struggles unhoused parents are experiencing and focus on ways we can best support them through their journey.
     
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How to Create a Spirit of Openness in Your FamilyDo Kids REALLY Need to Know ALL the Hard PartsPartnering With Incarcerated ParentsManaging Relationships When Engagement is Inconsistent 
Learn the important difference between openness and contact, and how you can cultivate openness in your home today, regardless of whether or not you are able to have contact with a child’s first family.In this training, you will learn why it’s important to talk about the hard parts, when to start talking about them, and some helpful ideas on how to bring up these difficult topics in productive ways.People often have negative ideas about jail, prison, and visits to people in them. Building empathy takes patience and practice. It is important to find empathy for the incarcerated parent in order to support the child, their parent and your relationship with both.Some parents inconsistently come in and out of their children’s lives. Managing these relationships can be difficult. Understanding what these parents are going through can encourage you to build and manage a more consistent relationship for the child. 
     

An Introduction to the Family Connections Program

Learn how building child-focused connections between parents and foster/kinship caregivers helps children involved in the child welfare system. This animated short video will walk you through the main elements of a Connections Conversation. Click the yellow start button to the right to watch the video.

See More Stories

For additional trainings and resources for Family Connections Program mentors, click the button below. A password is required. Contact us for the password at fcp@amarafamily.org.

 

If you don’t see a training you need, contact us for custom trainings. fcp@amarafamily.org

Support this Program

The Family Connections Program model was created in collaboration with other local nonprofit and governmental organizations. Believing in the power of this approach to transform and improve the experience of families impacted by foster care, Amara has invested in making this program possible. We continue to seek funding to expand this program to more counties across the state. Join us in realizing our vision by making a gift to support our work with children and families today.

Related Content

Grayson's Story - the importance of connections

Katie and Jonathan Biron became foster parents knowing the importance of maintaining relationships between kids and their parents. While fostering Grayson, they formed a close relationship with his biological family who became one large extended family through adoption.

Watch Grayson's Story

A Network of Family

Katie and Caitlin, their daughters and their extended family, have created a constellation of people to share their lives with. “Our family has grown…I feel like our lives have been really enriched, but it was always in the purpose of keeping the girls connected to their people. That has felt like we’ve forged really amazing relationships with their birth families and it’s been incredible.”

Watch Caitlin and Katie's Story