STATE OF NEVADA - Division of Child and Family Services

Figure 16: Percentage of Foster and Adoptive Parents Receiving Basic Training in SFY 2010
Percentage of Foster and Adoptive Parents Receiving Basic Training in SFY 2010
DCFS - Rural Region
32%
Clark County
51%
Washoe County
17%
Source: Child Welfare Agency Reports for July 1, 2009 - May 31, 2010
The agencies initiated several projects over the past year related to foster and adoptive parent training and collaboration
with external agencies has improved training opportunities. For example, WCDSS is beginning to utilize youth who have
aged out of the system to assist in training new foster parents and foster parent co-trainers. In addition, they are working
collaboratively with community members to provide advanced foster parent trainings in the areas of substance abuse,
child development, age specific issues in parenting, providing training in English and Spanish where available, and
additional disability specific coursework. The DCFS – Rural Region has also been able to increase the number of
licensed foster homes in the rural areas through a IV-B subgrant with the Sierra Association of Foster Families (SAFF).
SAFF instructors provide initial PRIDE training of foster and adoptive families. CCDFS has also held a wide variety of
advanced trainings, but these have been mostly offered through their in-house training unit. Table 37 shows the total
number of trainings offered by topic followed by the number of participants who have taken the course over the past year.
Other initiatives include Clark County’s focus on implementing a field training team and preparation of a comprehensive
agency training plan and Washoe County’s caregiver newsletter. The Clark County Training Plan includes Staff
Development Training, Field Training, Advanced Caregiver Training, Parenting Project Training and PS-MAPP Foster
Parent Training. A particular strength of this process is that it builds on the system that was implemented in 2007. As the
training team members are integrated into the CCDFS system, they are aware of the strengths and weaknesses in the
system. Each member of the training team possesses specific knowledge from curriculum development to past field (CPS
and Permanency) experience. The ability of CCDFS trainers to meet the needs of foster parents and staff is evident in
the number of trainings offered in the past fiscal year. WCDSS also provides its foster parents with a newsletter every two
months which provides information about social service issues that impact foster families and training tips, as well as
featuring children waiting for adoption or who need concurrent families. Flyers are also mailed each time and advanced
training is available.
The child welfare agencies experience some challenges regarding training. For example, WCDSS has found that
providing training on specialized care, such as specific high medical needs can be limiting. They find that it is also difficult
to ensure proper screening through the training and licensure process to assist individuals and families that find out late in
the process that fostering is not a good fit for them. CCDFS has found challenges due to budget constraints. Despite the
success in implementing the Field Training Unit, this unit was dissolved in May 2010 due to lack of available funds and
new hires. CCDFS has been unable to hire new people due to a hiring freeze since August 2008.
Nevada APSR – SFY 2010
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