Foster Care Training Programs

Emma Scott

Washington state foster parents must complete nearly 30 hours of pre-service training and 24 hours of annual training to remain licensed foster parents. Although training is highly structured and covers many topics, such as handling challenges, de-escalation techniques, and explaining challenging behaviors, responding to behavioral challenges needs to include considerations for child development. I use content analysis to examine publicly available training foster parent videos to examine if training includes consideration of psychological developmental needs, the degree to which needs are addressed, and how needs are portrayed. I find that there is a lack of specified training for early childhood vs adolescence. These findings are important to providing the best care to foster children to reduce placement disruptions and psychological setbacks.

• Emma Scott graduated from Cheney High School in Cheney, WA and is a senior sociology major with a minor in both human services and child and family studies. Her achievements include being awarded the Sociological Imagination award from the Department of Government, Criminology, and Sociology, and interning with Meg's House, a local women's shelter.