Become a certified foster parent

Our virtual, 9-week training course is your next step in becoming a certified foster parent. This nationally recognized pre-service training will help you understand trauma and the power of nurturing relationships. Get the tools to be the best foster parent you can be!

People Places trainers have decades of experience in foster care and have been leading our training classes for more than 10 years. Read more about our instructors, Douglas Johnson and Tina Bosserman. 

To sign up for our next certification course, complete this form.

About our foster parent training course

What: This is a virtual workshop-style training. Work closely with your trainer and a small group of other foster families to build the skills you need. The course includes 27 hours of instructions over nine weeks.

When: One evening a week for three hours. This class is held on a weekday evening, beginning at 5:30pm or 6pm.

Where: All online

Course description: Here’s an overview of our 9-week course: 

• Orientation: A child’s journey through the system of care and the work of Therapeutic Foster Care.
• Session 1: The Teaching-Learning Journey – This session will focus on how children learn and what that means for us as teachers and caregivers.
• Session 2: Abuse, Neglect, and Trauma-Informed Care – Take an in-depth look at what you might see in and experience with children who have experienced abuse, neglect, and trauma. Examine how trauma experiences shape the way a child sees and reacts to the world.
• Session 3: Relationship Skills & Creating a Sense of Safety- The focus is on ways caregivers can use Trauma Informed Caregiving to create a sense of safety for a child. We also cover how trauma-informed caregiving is uniquely different from parenting one’s own children.
• Session 4: Behavior Management – Identify and learn approved behavior management techniques and use of behaviorally based ABC planning.
• Session 5: Birth Family-Separation/Loss, Connections, Culture & Identity – Establishing importance and skills associated with respecting a child’s birth family, their connections, and culture while honoring their identity and past experiences.
• Session 6: Crisis Management – Learn what to expect and do in the time leading into, during, and following crisis situations and prevention.
• Session 7: Nuts & Bolts of Responsibilities – Focus on in-depth identification of responsibilities of therapeutic caregiving and important agency policies and procedures.
• Session 8: Tying It All Together / Graduation – Designed to prepare you to begin the task of accepting your first child into your home.

Sign up for our next training course

For more information or to sign up for this online training, complete the form below.