Building a
Comprehensive
Trauma Informed
Program for Foster
and Adoptive Parents
Guiding Families Through Trauma Informed
Assessment and Preparation and Support
Jayne E. Schooler, international adoption educator
Betsy Keefer Smalley, LSW, international adoption educator
Contact: jayeschool@aol.com 937-689-0985 www.jayneschooler.com
Building a Comprehensive
Trauma Informed Training
Program for Foster and
Adoptive Parents through
Trauma Informed
Assessment and
Preparation and Support
(T.I.A.P)
Butler County Pilot Study
When a child enters a foster or adoptive home following a
history of abuse, neglect and trauma, that child will greatly
impact the family.
Often times, the foster or adoptive family is broadsided by
shattered expectations – the experience is nothing like they
expected. They are confronted by confusing emotions and
feel unequipped for the journey.
It is absolutely essential that we change the conversation we
have with prospective parents so that we include traumainformed language. It is crucial that we develop an on-going
conversation regarding trauma informed care with our foster
and adoptive parents that guides and directs education and
support for them throughout their journey as parents of
children who have come from hard places. It is a process that
each person who touches the life of a child with a history of
trauma undertakes together – from homestudy assessors, to
foster care/adoption support workers to foster and adoptive
parents. Everyone needs to speak the same language.
Building a
Comprehensive
Trauma
Informed
Program for
Foster and
Adoptive
Parents through
Trauma
Informed
Assessment and
Preparation and
Support
(T.I.A.P)
GOALS OF STUDY:
1. To assess foster parent retention/reasons for
leaving
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2. To assess foster parent/adoptive parent satisfaction with traumainformed pre-service training and trauma-informed support
3. To track placement stability
Building a Comprehensive Trauma Informed Program for Foster and Adoptive
Parents
4. To create an evidence-based trauma-informed preparation, preservice and support model
2
Objectives for Adoption and Foster Care Workers for Trauma Informed
Assessment and Preparation Training

Ability to conduct foster and adoptive family trauma informed assessments

Knows topics to be assessed related to trauma informed parenting during
foster and adoptive family assessments and knows how to conduct
assessment activities

Knows the social, emotional, and physical/medical characteristics of families
that can successfully provide temporary or permanent homes for children

Knows the types of family expectations and needs that are
counterproductive to successful caregiving, and understands the importance
of counseling such families out of the caregiving process

Understands the family dynamics and characteristics that increase the
likelihood of long-term placement success

Understands various factors that motivate prospective parents to pursue
foster care or adoption, and how these motivations may impact the long
term success of fostering or adoptive parenting

Understands the likely impact of chronic illness and emotional, mental, or
behavioral disability on family life for the life span of the child; and can assist
the potential resource family in realistically assessing their ability to cope
with these challenges

Knows how to gather information about the applicant family's current
functioning, history and background, and developmental needs, from a
variety of sources, draw accurate conclusions, and make recommendations
regarding their suitability for fostering or adopting

Knows how to educate family members during the family assessment process
regarding realistic expectations for fostering or adopting children who have
been maltreated and the essential skills of trauma informed parenting

Knows how to assess support needs of families and children once placement
has been made
Definition of Trauma Informed Assessment and Preparation
The term, trauma informed assessment and preparation of foster and
adoptive families, conveys a purposeful, therapeutic approach to the
assessment and preparation process. The goal of “trauma informed
assessment and preparation” is to evaluate, educate and equip
“trauma competent” foster and adoptive parents who…
1) understand the impact of childhood trauma,
2) understand the unique needs of the survivor/child,
3) understand the impact on the family
4) understand the demands of relationship
5) understand the services needed
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TRAINING FOR WORKERS AND
ADOPTIVE AND FOSTER FAMILIES
SEQUENCED TRAINING TRACK FOR WORKERS
1. Trauma Toolkit ( 12 hours )
Building a Comprehensive Trauma Informed Program for Foster and Adoptive
Parents
2. Assessing and Preparing Parents to Care for Children with a History of Trauma
(6 hours)
3. Building Trauma-Competent Healing Parents: Three Essential Tasks and Nine
Essential Skills (6 hours)
4. Wounded Children, Healing Homes: How Traumatized Children Impact the
Adoptive/Foster Family Audience: workers and families together (6 hours)
Coaching sessions – monthly and then every two months related to assessment
and support issues
SEQUENCED PREPARATION AND TRAINING TRACK PENDING FOSTER
CARE/ ADOPTION LISCENSURE AND POST LISENSURE
1. T.I.A.P – homestudy interview linked with pre-service training. Trauma-informed
language will be integrated into the Ohio 36 hour pre-service training (36 hours) and
the TIAP interview will be conducted toward the end of the homestudy interviews.
2. Within the first six months following licensure , families will take the Resource
Parenting Trauma Training from NCTSN ( 12 hours )
3. Within the second six months, families will take: Becoming a Trauma Competent
Healing Parent: Three Essential Tasks and Nine Essential Skills (6 hours)
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4. Wounded Children, Healing Homes: How Traumatized Children Impact the
Adoptive/Foster Family Audience: workers and families together (6 hours)
Fundamentals of Fostering Courses will be added here as well.
TOOLS FOR WORKERS TO USE IN ASSESSMENT, PREPARATION AND
WITH PARENTS – WORKSHOP 2 IN THE SERIES
1. Ten Common Expectations
2. Evaluating Your Circle of Support
3. Adult Attachment Capability Questionnaire
4. TIAP Behavioral Questions and/ or Life Experience Scale based on the Nine
Essential Skills from NCTSN
TOOLS FOR WORKERS TO USE IN BUILDING TRAUMA COMPETENT
ADOPTIVE/FOSTER PARENTS – WORKSHOP 3 IN THE SERIES
1. Ten Common Expectations - reviewed for revisiting in post placement
2. Evaluating Your Circle of Support – reviewed for revisiting in post placement
3. Trauma/Loss Exposure History from nctsn.org
4. Current Traumatic Stress Reactions and Current Behaviors Questionnaire – from
nctsn.org
5. Developmental Checklist
6. Tracking Undesirable Behaviors
7. What We Believe – What We Feel – How We Respond to Our Child’s Behavior
8. What Effects Have You Experienced as a Foster or Adoptive Parent?
9. Support Tool Based on Nine Essential Skills
10. Adoptive Family Care Plan
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INSTRUMENTS OF EVALUATION TO BE DEVELOPED
Foster parent preparation training and support satisfaction
Ten Common Expectations – pre training and post training evaluation
Building a Comprehensive Trauma Informed Program for Foster and Adoptive
Parents
Effectiveness of Circle of Support
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WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS
Trauma Informed Workshops
I. Assessing and Preparing Adoptive and Foster Parents to Care for Children with a
History of Trauma – this workshop is designed to equip social workers who do foster
and adoptive homestudies with the skill to integrate trauma informed language into
the assessment process and pre-service training.
III. Building Trauma – Competent Healing Parents: Three Essential Tasks, Eight
Essential Skills – this six hour workshop guides both workers and families through
those essential tasks and skills that are crucial for parents as they grow into trauma
competent, compassionate, healing adoptive or foster parents. It builds on the
NCTSN trauma toolkit and provides support language and tools for workers and is a
life application how-to approach for caregivers.
II. Wounded Children, Healing Homes – this six or twelve hour workshop focuses
on the impact of traumatized children on foster and adoptive families- facing the
challenges and finding strategies for success (audience – social workers and families.
TEAM PARTICIPANTS
Project Coordinator: Jayne Schooler
BUTLER COUNTY
Jeff Center, Executive Director, Butler County Children Services
Donna W. Lang MSW, LSW, Director of Placement Services, Butler County Children
Services
Deborah A. Camara, M.Ed. Foster Care/Utilization Management Butler County
Children’s Services
Mary Vierling, LSW, Adoption Supervisor, Butler County Children Services
Mary Vicario, Clinical Therapist, Trauma Specialist, St. Aloysius Orphanage
Bev Morris, Pre-service Trainer
OCWTP and Institute for Human Services
Darren Varnado, SW Ohio Regional Training Center Director
Betsy Smalley, Adoption and Foster Care Training Manager
Kelley Gruber, Training Coordinator, Institute for Human Services
Pam Ross, MBA, IHS Administrative Coordinator
MSW Interns, Wheelock College, Boston, Massachusetts
Sascha Johnston, Heather Farrell, Alyson Prahlow, Katie Dalo, Haley Stasinos
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TIMELINE, MEETINGS, ACTIVITIES,PROJECTS
January 17 – met with team in Butler County
Building a Comprehensive Trauma Informed Program for Foster and Adoptive
Parents
January 23 – met with MSW interns in Boston. This team will be revamping the tools
and processing them through an evaluation process with five foster care agencies in
Boston. Deadline to create the evaluation process for the tools is February 17 th. At
that time, the tools from Assessing and Preparing will be evaluated and critiqued in
Boston and with five agencies in Ohio, including Butler. Finalization of the tools for
use the first workshop is scheduled for March 1.
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February 13 – meeting with Butler County assessors/staff at 11:00 am. Meeting
with Dr. Laura Nabors, evaluator from UC at 1 pm.
February (date to be arranged) – meeting with Bev Morris, pre-service trainer on the
integration of the trauma-informed language into pre-service.
February 21-22 – first wave of Butler County workers will take the Trauma Toolkit
with David Zidar (see training track)
March 20 – Assessing and Preparing Families - 2nd workshop of the series with
Butler County assessors/staff - Katie Dalo from Wheelock plans to attend
March 20-21 – second wave of Butler County workers will take the Trauma Toolkit
with David Zidar
April – Pre-service Training Round with Trauma informed Pre-Service will begin,
required research permissions will be obtained and other things directed by the
research team and Dr. Nabors.
April 16 - Building Trauma Competent Parents – 3rd workshop in series with Butler
County staff


FUTURE TRAINING DATES FOR ADOPTIVE/FOSTER PARENTS TO BE DECIDED.
COACHING BUTLER COUNTRY STAFF TIMES TO BE DETERMINED