Upcoming Foster Parent College Pre-Service Blended Training Program Start Dates
There is an intake process that includes getting a background check and obtaining a fingerprint clearance card. Families must have completed the intake process and have a valid fingerprint clearance card before they can begin training.
Contact 480-834-9424 for more information.
The Foster Parent College Pre-Ser vice Blended Training Program is a 5-week program that combines in-person classroom sessions with additional hours of online training. This training helps potential foster/adoptive parents understand foster and adoptive children’s needs introduces parents to the child welfare system and their role and gives families and specialists an opportunity to get to know each other to ensure the program is a good fit.
Once the training has been completed, specialists will schedule interviews with all adult members of the household. These are 2-3 hour individual interviews to explore your family, your childhood, your education and job experience, your relationships and significant life events and how they have affected you. Throughout your journey, our specialists will be available to help you prepare your home for your final home inspection. For a foster family, when they are ready, the Office of Licensing and Regulation (OLR) will conduct the home inspection. For adoptive families, your specialist will conduct a home inspection to ensure everything is in compliance with state standards.
After completing the Foster Parent College Pre-Service Blended Training Program and finishing any outstanding paperwork, specialists return to your home for another visit. At this visit, which can last several hours, specialists finalize the information they need to complete your home study. This may also be the time that children in the home will be interviewed.
During the 30 to 60 days after a family completes the Foster Parent College Pre-Service Blended Training Program, a specialist writes your in-depth home study. This is a report about all of the information gathered about the family, background, training, experiences, how the family operates and any other relevant information. For foster families, the home study is submitted to the Office of Licensure and Regulation for licensing and for adoptive families the home study is submitted to the court for certification. Both entities take several weeks to review the studies, on occasion they will have additional questions for the specialist. Once an adoptive family is certified they are placed on the Department of Child Safety adoption registry. When a foster parent is licensed they are added to Child Crisis Arizona’s placement list. Once placed on the placement list or the adoption registry, many factors can affect how long it will take to be matched with a child. Your specialist will help you manage realistic expectations regarding the placement of children.
