Foster Parent Annual Training with ChildCareEd - post

Foster Parent Annual Training Made Simple

ChildCareEd offers online, self-paced training courses that may help foster parents, resource parents, kinship caregivers, and adoptive parents complete annual in-service training hours where accepted by their licensing agency.

Foster parent training requirements vary by state, county, and agency. Caregivers should confirm course acceptance with their caseworker, licensing worker, or agency before enrolling. These courses are intended to support annual or continuing training needs and should not be presented as a replacement for state-required preservice foster parent licensing training unless specifically approved by the appropriate agency.

Choose Your Foster Parent Annual Training Path

Complete Annual Foster Parent In-Service Training

Foster and resource parents are often required to complete annual training hours to maintain approval or licensure. ChildCareEd offers flexible online courses on topics commonly connected to foster parent continuing education, including trauma, child #development, behavior guidance, #safety, inclusion, family #engagement, and child abuse and neglect reporting.

Because approval varies, foster parents should ask their licensing worker whether a specific ChildCareEd course may count toward their required annual training hours.

View Foster Parent Annual Training Courses

Build Trauma-Informed Care Skills

Children in foster care may have experienced trauma, stress, grief, separation, or other adverse childhood experiences. These courses help caregivers understand trauma-informed responses and supportive caregiving strategies.

Recommended courses:

• Trauma-Sensitive Care: Supporting Young Children with Empathy – 2 Hours
• ACEs and Resilience in Child Care – 3 Hours
• Children's Keepers: Building Childhood Resilience – 3 Hours
• Healing Young Hearts: Stress and Grief – 2 Hours
• Supporting Little Hearts: Divorce and Separation in the Child Care Setting – 2 Hours

Support Positive Behavior and Emotional Wellness

Foster parents often need practical strategies for supporting children’s behavior, emotions, anxiety, conflict, and social-emotional development. These courses focus on guidance, mental health, conflict resolution, and supportive caregiving.

Recommended courses:

• Viewing Guidance in a Positive Light – 3 Hours
• A Thoughtful Approach to Children's Mental Health – 3 Hours
• Mental Health in Early Childhood – 3 Hours
• Anxiety: Signs & Strategies – 2 Hours
• Conduct Disorders in Early Childhood – 2 Hours
• You're Not My Friend Anymore: Learning Conflict Resolution – 2 Hours
• Be Loud, No Bullying Allowed – 2 Hours

Understand Abuse, Neglect, and Mandated Reporting

Foster parents and caregivers benefit from ongoing training in recognizing signs of abuse and neglect, understanding reporting responsibilities, and supporting child safety.

Recommended courses:

• 1-Hour Abuse and Neglect Training – 1 Hour
• Abuse and Neglect: Signs and Reporting – 2 Hours
• Mandated Reporters – 2 Hours

Support Children with Special Needs and Developmental Differences

Foster and kinship caregivers may care for children with developmental delays, disabilities, autism, ADHD, IEPs, IFSPs, or other individual needs. These courses help caregivers build inclusive, responsive, and #developmentally-appropriate support strategies.

Recommended courses:

• Access for All: Inclusion and the ADA – 2 Hours
• A Great Place for Education Includes All ONLINE – 3 Hours
• Understanding Developmental Disabilities – 2 Hours
• Autism Awareness in Child Care – 2 Hours
• Identifying ADHD in Child Care – 2 Hours
• IEPs and IFSPs in Family Child Care – 2 Hours
• The Science of Growing Up: Typical and Atypical Development – 6 Hours

Complete Health, Safety, and Emergency Preparedness Training

Health and safety training may be required or recommended for foster/resource parents depending on state and agency rules. These courses support safe caregiving practices, medication awareness, #emergency preparedness, transportation safety, safe sleep, and supervision.

Recommended courses:

• Allergies and Medication in Childcare – 2 Hours
• Prevention of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Use of Safe Sleep Practices – 1 Hour
• Responding to Emergencies – 2 Hours
• Transportation Safety – 2 Hours
• Everyday Safety: Creating Healthy Environments – 6 Hours

Important Approval Reminder

Foster parent training requirements are set by each state, county, licensing agency, or child-placing agency. ChildCareEd courses may be accepted for annual foster/resource parent training when approved by the caregiver’s licensing worker or agency.

Before enrolling, foster parents should confirm:

• Required annual training hours
• Approved topics
• Whether online self-paced training is accepted
• Whether the certificate must include specific wording
• Whether the course must be pre-approved by the agency

Start Foster Parent Annual Training