Approved for 0.50 General CEUs.

Family Preservation Team Meetings (FPTM) are a core strategy to engage family and community members in safety and placement-related decision making, a critical aspect of child welfare work. These meetings aim to improve the agency’s decision-making process; to encourage the support and “buy-in” of the family, extended family and community; and to develop specific, individualized interventions to meet the unique needs of older youth.

Family Preservation Team Meetings bring youth, family and community members to the table together with the professionals when the agency is considering removal of a youth from the home. The meetings focus on whether removal is warranted and, if so, where the youth would go. Facilitated by non-case carrying, experienced child welfare staff, the goal is to seek consensus on a plan that protects the youth and preserves family relationships.

Today, more teens are coming into care for reasons not directly related to abuse and neglect. They are landing in child welfare placements because of parent-child conflict that threatens the youth’s safety and well-being. Because the family dynamics are not necessarily directly related to maltreatment, it suggests that an in-home or community-based response may be more appropriate in such cases.

Target Audience and Training Design

This 30 minute Webex is designed to prepare front-line DCFS workers and supervisors for their role and participation in Family Preservation Team Meetings. Staff will become familiar with the FPTM stages and process and will explore their role before, during and after the Meeting. The session emphasizes the values and benefits of engaging the family’s natural networks as resources for safety planning and when necessary, placement. 

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will be able to demonstrate and/or describe:
• The goals of a Family Preservation Team Meeting and why DCFS is implementing FPTM
• Case circumstances that would require or trigger an FPTM and how to make a referral
• The 6 stage meeting structure and process
• The roles and responsibilities of the DCFS worker and supervisor, before, during and after the Meeting

Permanency is an essential need for children in care. It creates a sense of belonging and helps children develop healthy emotional and psychological attachments as they grow. In this course, participants will learn how pursuing timely permanency in cases is critical to the safety and well-being of children in care. Participants will also learn best practices for developing permanent relationships between children and caregivers. Obstacles to planning timely permanency for children will also be addressed in this course.

The sole purpose of this training is to educate caregivers about water safety measures, to reduce the incidence of water-related injury and death. Children of all ages, adults, and especially caregivers can practice the basic water safety measures outlined in this training to reduce the chances of a tragedy around water. Crystal Pichon, CEO of The Safety Place, reviews Louisiana laws and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) policies pertaining to water safety and identifies the multiple layers of safety to utilize while in or around water. Note: this training is not a substitute for hands-on swim lessons, safety practices, active supervision, and the use of personal flotation devices. 

0.75 Training Hours

This course is designed to educate foster parents how to properly install rear facing and forward facing car seats, proper belt positioning on booster seats, vehicle car seats and installing child safety seats with the overall goal of improving child safety and preventing injury. Installation and best practices are reviewed.