Much effort is spent on recruiting more foster and adoptive parents. But what are the characteristics of great parenting and how do we help ourselves and others aspire to this greatness? Come engage in a discussion with former foster youth, and their foster/adoptive parents, to glean the most important lessons they’ve learned.
CEUs Available: 1 (Facilitated by: Johnston Moore, Writer, Speaker, & Advocate Joined by: Pam & Trent Taylor, Fost/Adopt Mother & Son and Bishop Aaron Blake & Diego Fuller, Fost/Adopt Father & Son)
This workshop will examine skills needed by parents, caregivers, or anyone who touches the life of a child with a history of sexual abuse.
CEU’s Available: 1 (David & Jayne Schooler, Community Impact Center)
Let’s be honest – whether you are a social worker, or a member of the faith community, you have at least some reservations about working with “the other side.” Learn from those who have seen great results from these vital partnerships and have lived to tell about it. Hear seasoned veterans talk about initial reservations, successes, and missteps – all of which will help you gain confidence as you move ahead for the sake of the kids.
CEU’s Available: 1 (Facilitated by: Shelly Radic, Project 1.27 Joined by: Lauri Currier, The CALL; Mischa Martin, Arkansas Department of Human Services; Chris Combs, Coalition of Care; & Margie Weaver, Hamilton County Job and Family Services)
Child welfare workers are at risk for compassion fatigue. This training will explore how we can incorporate fun into our office culture, amid the stress of the work. In this workshop, we will share our own journey through compassion fatigue and how play and fun have retained our staff and lifted spirits. Come and be entertained – as well as to experience how fun can bring balance to the work! Think “Jimmy Fallon” but on a non-profit budget.
(Katie Bass, Olive Crest)
Even though foster care is not mentioned directly in the Bible, it is one of the greatest opportunities for churches in disciple-making. Come learn how a Biblical effort in your church can produce those who depend more on Jesus while also seeing transformation in communities. For child welfare practitioners, come learn how your efforts can partner with the church in a mutually benefiting relationship.
(Chris Campbell, 111 Project)
Join the Show Hope team for a discussion on different grant opportunities for families to assist with pre and post-adoption related expenses.
No sign-ups are required for the coaching tables. Limited seating will be first-come, first-served. Stay the hour or drop in throughout for questions, guidance, and discussion!
(Nathan Magness, Show Hope)
There are more than enough families for the children in your community who need them. It’s just that they haven’t been found . . . yet. Come, see, and steal (uh, borrow) some of the best ideas in the country for finding foster, kinship, and adoptive families in your community. You’ll come away with practical steps learned from several leaders who are getting results in their own communities in innovative and surprising ways.
CEU’s Available: 1 (Facilitated by: Jason Weber, CAFO Joined by: Ian Anand Forber-Pratt, Children’s Emergency Relief International – CERI; Darren Washausen, Orphan Care Alliance; Sharen Ford, Focus on the Family; & Renaut van der Riet, Mosaic Church)
As 2020 launched us into a new age of Zoom calls and virtual meetings, the support that adoptive and foster families need has had to transform as well. This workshop will delve into five ways you can begin or advance your support groups using technology and virtual platforms.
(Aixa de López & David McCormick, Alianza Cristiana para los Huérfanos)
Helping parents become better partners in their children’s healing requires continued growth and healing for the therapist. Therapists who work with these tender systems must continue stretching their own containment capacities. This workshop will help lead clinicians through some self-reflective exercises interspersed with rich dialogue. Come play and grow together!
Find out more about Paris at https://www.parisgoodyearbrown.com/
CEU’s Available: 1 (Paris Goodyear-Brown, Speaker, Author, & Clinician)
Within the overall challenges of child welfare is an acute issue at the core that adversely impacts children of color. In the United States, 14% of children are Black. But 23% of children in the foster system are Black. This racial disproportionality adversely impacts more than 100,000 children each year. We can change that.
CEU’s Available: 1 (Adrien Lewis, Erika Glenn, & Audrey Deckinga, CarePortal)
As Christian social work practitioners, we desire to provide spiritual encouragement and discipleship to our Christian foster and adoptive families as they navigate the complexities of foster care. In this workshop, we will share what we have learned over the past two years as we have intentionally integrated the Scriptures into our social work practice. We believe that social work theories, perspectives, and practice models all have roots in Biblical principles. As we have continued this integration, we have begun to develop a practice framework that focuses on the Christian’s desire for spiritual formation as the primary motivation for change. From problem-solving, to crisis intervention, to helping families make sense of their story, it is important that practitioners working with Christian families are prepared to utilize the spiritual disciplines and Word of God as a guide in their process of leading their families. This workshop will describe our practice framework, spiritual foundations, and ideas for basic integration in hopes of encouraging others that desire to begin this process.
CEU’s Available: 1 (Jessi Esterling, FaithBridge)
If anyone should be GREAT at helping struggling families find restoration and reconciliation, it ought to be followers of Jesus. You believe this with all your heart – but could use a little help making it happen in your community. Come and learn from several leaders some of the best ideas going in the field of family preservation and reunification.
CEU’s Available: 1 (Facilitated by: Jason Weber, CAFO Joined by: Alejandra Castro, Back2Back; Chris Johnson, Lifeline Children’s Services; Amber Knowles, Fostering Family; Drake Bassett, Palmer Home for Children; and Ryan Mobley, Safe Families for Children)
Learn how to identify your own explanatory style and tendency toward optimism or pessimism. Your explanatory style is what you say to yourself when you experience stress and adversity. It influences your performance, your mood, and even your health. Discover the benefits of being an optimist and the opportunities that exist for nurturing optimism and being the voice of hope and encouragement. The key to optimism is to maximize successes and minimize failures. Participants will complete an action plan designed to infuse optimistic qualities into their sphere of influence in whatever ministry or activity they are engaged in.
CEU’s Available: 1 (Lynn & Ruby Johnston, LAMb International)
Parenting is the hardest job in the world. Parenting the child from a hard place, whose needs are complex and difficult to assess moment-to-moment, requires parents to continue stretching. The triangle of the caregiver role: Safe Boss, Nurturer, and Storykeeper, provides the scaffolding for empathy, consistency, delighting in our children, nurturing ourselves in order to nurture them, and holding their hard stories. When equipped to move in and out of these roles, parents become even more powerful agents of healing for their children.
Find out more about Paris at https://www.parisgoodyearbrown.com/
CEU’s Available: 1 (Paris Goodyear-Brown, Speaker, Author, & Clinician)
If your community is like most, you are losing approximately 50% of the foster families you recruit within the first year. However, there are communities with a MUCH better retention rate for one simple reason: they are supporting their families incredibly well. If you want to know what is working and how to wrap around foster, kinship, adoptive, and biological families, this workshop is your next best step.
CEU’s Available: 1 (Facilitated by: Jason Johnson, CAFO Joined by: Nicole Taylor, Congregations for Kids (CFK); Pam Parish, Connections Homes; Johnna Stein, Promise686; & Lesli Reece, Fostering Together)
The point of reintegrating children back to family is crucial, but the work doesn’t end there! Join us for a workshop about the long view of family care. Whether you have a children’s home and have never reintegrated children, or you’ve been reintegrating children for years, you have a place in this session as we dive into the most critical components of family care. We’ll discuss effective social service models, organizational structures, managing cases, closing cases, and connecting children and families with the community services that help them thrive. Bring your questions and experiences – and prepare to receive counsel from leaders on the frontlines of family care.
CEU’s Available: 1 (Facilitated by: Brandon Stiver, 1Million Home Joined by: Jared Scheppman , Ekisa Ministries; Laura Horvath, Helping Children Worldwide; Ashlee Heiligman, Global Child Advocates; Spencer Reeves, Child Hope International; Marisa Stam, Selamta Family Project; & Brent Phillips, Cherish Uganda)
The landscape of intercountry adoption has changed dramatically in recent years. This facilitated conversation will outline what those changes have been and focus on where the field is going. Participants will discuss how to participate and engage in the field as it is, while actively working to advocate for needed changes.
(Chuck Johnson & Ryan Hanlon, National Council For Adoption)
Parenting children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder or other brain-based disabilities is challenging and can be isolating at times. Meeting their social, emotional, educational, and mental health needs is a daunting task. Join a panel of FASD caregivers and hear how they navigate the journey, because the struggle is real – but so is success.
CEU’s Available: 1 (Sandra Flach, Adoptive Mom & Justice For Orphans; Rebecca Tillou, Adult Adoptee; Aubrey Page, Adoptive Parent; and Chris Troutt, Adoptive Parent)
Almost everything today seems to pull people apart. Differences of race, class, and other factors split nations, communities, even friends and families. Scripture calls God’s people in the opposite direction – both “bearing with” and building bonds with those who appear different, but share a common Lord. In this session, we’ll look at how this commitment must always begin with the practice of attentiveness. Even better, we’ll experience together what that looks like across many of the lines that divide people today.
CEU’s Available: 1 (Facilitated by: Jedd Medefind, CAFO Joined by: Lea Wright, Hope for the Fatherless; Kevan Chandler, We Carry Kevan; Johnna Murray, Palmer Home Family Care)
Learn practical tools and brain-integrating strategies for parents to share with teachers, administrators, and paraprofessionals to implement trauma-informed care in the school setting.
CEUs Available: 1 (Angie Proctor, Trust-Based Counseling Services)
You are tired of foster care in your community being defined by the words “not enough.” You know it doesn’t have to be that way – but are a little foggy on the way forward. This session will introduce you to the principles, practices, and people of local foster care transformation through the power of community collaboration. A team of leaders from various backgrounds, who have seen thriving foster care movements start and grow in their own communities, will share their insights and answer your questions about how churches, organizations, businesses, and government can work together to go from not enough to more than enough.
CEUs Available: 1 (Facilitated by: Jason Weber, CAFO Joined by: Shelly Radic, Project 1.27; Philip Pattison, Foster the City; Lauri Currier, The CALL; & Sharen Ford, Focus on the Family)
Many children participate in monitored or supervised visits with their biological parents. Is your church or agency open to providing space for family visitation? Bring your best practices (or questions) and learn new ones! Together we’ll discuss: designing or selecting a visitation location, coaching parents for success, incorporating caregivers into visitation, and troubleshooting concerns about safety, attachment, and more.
(Wendy McMahan, Olive Crest)
