Trauma-Informed Training for Foster Families

Last year, we asked our foster families how we could better equip and support them to work with the children being placed in their homes. The majority of families who responded to the survey indicated that they would like additional training in trauma-informed care and managing behaviors in children from tough places. At that time, we identified Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) as an ideal training series for our families.

TBRI is an attachment-based, trauma-informed therapeutic model that trains caregivers to provide effective support and treatment for at-risk children. It is designed to meet the complex needs of children who have experienced adversity, early harm, toxic stress, or trauma. The TBRI program consists of four training modules, each 6 hours in length.

Earlier this year, MCJFS received grant funds designated for retention efforts. We decided this would be the perfect opportunity to bring this needed training to our families. We worked hard to come up with the best way to format this training, and planned options to make this feasible for our already-busy families. We also wanted to be able to provide a meal with each training session to help parents attending the evening or Saturday sessions.

Offering multiple day and time options for each training module to around 50 families was challenging to say the least. We weren’t sure where we would be able to hold these training sessions for the many needed dates. When we approached First Baptist Church of Medina, they eagerly offered us use of their building and worked with us to accommodate every detail of the training.

Our families have just completed the second module of the TBRI training and we wanted to take this opportunity to thank First Baptist for welcoming us into their building and giving us a comfortable place to engage in this valuable training series. We have already heard from so many of our families how helpful TBRI has been in working with the children in their homes. We are so grateful to First Baptist for being an important part of equipping and supporting our families to care for children in our community. Thank you!