All Children - All Families: Training Curriculum

All Children - All Families training is now being delivered by a cadre of experienced trainers through The Downs Group, LLC. Find out more about training opportunities.

The All Children – All Families initiative has developed a five-part training program that can be customized for the needs of individual agencies. The content and competencies addressed in this training are directly linked to the 10 benchmarks outlined in the Promising Practices Guide. Each module of training is approximately three-hours long.

Module 1: Basic LGBT Competency for Foster Care & Adoption Agencies

Purpose: This critical first session in the All Children – All Families training series is designed to introduce child welfare professionals to accurate and up-to-date information about LGBT individuals.  Agencies that wish to build an effective and affirming practice with LGBT clients must achieve, at the very least, basic competency with the community, including an understanding of the full range of issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity.  Module 1 of this curriculum will cover the fundamental terminology, facts, and concepts that agency staff need to know to build an informed and sensitive practice. “This is for every staff member,” Scheyd says. “Everyone from the receptionist to the oldest and dearest board member should receive it. Some agencies may have had a similar training, but this is delivered from a foster care/adoption perspective, which folks might not have experienced.”

Intended Audience: All staff members.

Prerequisites: None.

Module 2: Foundations of Effective Practice with LGBT Parents

Purpose: The second session is designed to build upon child welfare professionals’ basic knowledge of the LGBT community by helping them to develop a specialized understanding of LGBT-headed families.  Agencies will learn about LGBT family demographics, the legal landscape surrounding these families, what makes them similar to and unique from non-LGBT families, and what research tells us about them.  Module 2 will also emphasize the experience of LGBT families through the firsthand accounts of LGBT parents and their children. “This training builds on the first – we expect that participants will know basic terminology and concepts. We ask them to take all that rich knowledge to talk specifically about LGBT families,” Scheyd explains. “We debunk myths and assumptions about LGBT parents and their children, and provide facts based on years of social science research. We also discuss local adoption laws. Everyone should get these two trainings - all staff, volunteers, and board members. We think these first two modules are critical to good work.”

Intended Audience: All staff members.

Prerequisites: Module 1 (or the equivalent).

Module 3: Rolling Out the Welcome Mat: Establishing Agency Communications, Spaces & Recruitment Practices that Embrace LGBT Families

Purpose: Module 3 covers the essential steps all agencies need to take in order to create welcoming environments for LGBT prospective parents.  In this session, child welfare professionals will utilize the knowledge of LGBT individuals and families gained in Modules 1 and 2 to thoroughly examine the messages they send to potential and current LGBT clients through agency communications including policies, literature, and staff behavior.  In this module, trainers will offer concrete suggestions on how to be more welcoming to LGBT applicants, while giving extra attention to helping agencies develop parent recruitment strategies for this specialized population. “Exercises help staff be reflective of how prospective parents experience the agency,” Scheyd explains.

Intended Audience: Managers, staff responsible for parent recruitment, training or licensing, or any others who interact with LGBT parents at early stages of their foster/adoptive certification process.

Prerequisites: Module 1 and Module 2 (or the equivalents).

Module 4: Conducting Home Assessments and Child Matching with LGBT Parents

Purpose: In the 4th Module, trainers will lead participants through what many identify as the most challenging aspect of working with an unfamiliar parent population.  Agency staff members will have a chance to explore their own feelings and readiness in evaluating and certifying LGBT parents, and trainers will provide specific, practical suggestions for how to conduct non-biased, LGBT-competent home assessments.  This session will conclude with helping agencies navigate challenges and pitfalls in the process of matching LGBT parents with children awaiting families.  Throughout this module, trainers will encourage participants to confront the ways in which personal beliefs, societal attitudes, and discriminatory policies can interrupt and impede successful work with LGBT foster and adoptive clients. “We focus on how to conduct competent and respectful homestudies and then how to help in the matching process,” Scheyd says. “Even welcoming agencies get all the way to the matching stage and then struggle to make good placements. We discuss barriers and how to avoid or overcome them.”

Intended Audience: Staff members who are involved with any aspect of family assessment or child placement.

Prerequisites: Module 1 and Module 2 (or the equivalents).

Module 5: Case Management and Post-Permanency Support with LGBT Families

Purpose: Despite the many months of preparation and assessment often required before foster and adoptive parents have a child placed, their parenting journey does not truly begin until that child is in their home.  Module 5 is based on the premise that agencies committed to helping their LGBT parents provide stable, lasting homes for children must know how to support those parents throughout their family’s development.  This session prepares case management and/or clinical staff for the special considerations and skills needed when working with LGBT families from the early stages of their family development, to adoption finalization and beyond. “This is the advanced-level training, and will evolve as we see what the needs are at agencies,” Scheyd says. “Right now, it’s focused on ongoing case work with these families – how agencies may continue to be allies for these families while they interact with schools, medical professionals, and the court system leading to finalization, and as their own family development progresses.”

Intended Audience: Staff members who work closely with LGBT parents and their children, including clinicians, caseworkers and supervisors.

Prerequisites: Module 1 and Module 2 (or the equivalents).