Pre-Service Training

FOUNDATIONS PRE-SERVICE TRAINING

If you are interested in becoming a foster parent in the State of Florida, you are required to complete pre-service training. Fostering Our Future has developed a 100% online pre-license training course, Foundations for Strong Families and Supportive Communities, which has been approved by the Florida Department of Children and Families.

This course walks participants through the Florida foster care system, trauma and its effects, how to manage behaviors positively, and how to advocate for the best interest of the foster children in their care.

Upon completion, participants will have met the State of Florida’s required pre-service training, and not only have a better understanding of what is necessary to provide high-quality parenting that meets the individual needs of diverse children and help them achieve safe and stable permanency but also be fully prepared for the rest of the process to become a foster parent.

Completing pre-license training is an important first step on your foster care journey, however, to become a licensed foster parent, you’ll need to complete several additional steps, including a background check, fingerprinting, and two home studies. (A home study is an in-depth evaluation of your home environment and family to ensure it’s suitable for foster care.) While the process may seem overwhelming, Fostering Our Future is here to guide you through every step, providing support and resources from training to licensure and placement.

How It Works

7

Weeks

27

Hours

100%

Online

3

Hours
Zoom-facilitated
discussion
each week

A SNAPSHOT OF THE COURSE:

  • The Florida Foster Care System: How the system works and its goal; why children are removed from home; what is neglect and abuse.
  • The Effects of Entering the Child Welfare System: The signs of grief; trauma and its triggers; how the system impacts child development; attachment styles.
  • Standards for Licensed Caregivers: Standards for foster homes; Reasonable and Prudent Parent Standard; Multi-Ethnic Placement Act and Americans with Disabilities Act.
  • Introduction to Family Systems Thinking: Murray Bowen’s Family Systems Theory; Edwin Friedman’s concept of Family Systems Thinking; concepts of Triangles and Differentiation.
  • Managing Behavior: Multi-cultural parenting; Florida Administrative Code on discipline; behavior management techniques; foster parents role administering psychotropic medications; family huddles; Mobile Response Team; Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs).
  • Family Advocacy: Foster parent rights and advocate responsibility; your role and responsibility in court; your role in the multidisciplinary team.
  • Working Together as Part of the Treatment Team: Visitation types; effective co-parenting; develop a Life Book; roles of the multidisciplinary team.
  • Transitioning Out of Care: Exiting the Florida child welfare system; termination of parental rights; children’s transition to permanency; behaviors of grief and loss.

Foster Family Testimonials

The Christian-based classes with Fostering Our Future offer an enriching experience for individuals interested in becoming foster parents. Having previously fostered for fifteen years as well as co-training traditional MAPP/Pride classes, Fostering Our Future is truly a remarkable approach.

-- The Ludwig Family

We felt so defeated in the mainstream classes and support systems until we found Fostering Our Future, Julie, Bill, and their team. The classes brought real-life situations and principles, tangible advice, and allowed us to work at our pace with weekly gatherings to connect, share, review, ask questions, and have meaningful discussions. 

-- The Griffith Family
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