DENVER (Feb. 21, 2019) — The Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) is one of eight sites across the nation selected to partner with the National Training and Development Curriculum for Foster and Adoptive Parents (NTDC). CDHS will partner with the NTDC team to develop and evaluate a state-of-the-art foster and adoptive parent training program to include intensive preparation and on-going development components that reflect the capacities required of successful foster and adoptive parents.
Once piloted and evaluated, the NTDC program will be available to all states, counties, tribes, territories, and private agencies to prepare, train, and develop foster and adoptive parents. The NTDC will be designed for families who are fostering or adopting children through the public child welfare system, kinship caregivers, American Indian/Alaskan Native tribal systems, and those adopting through an intercountry or private domestic process.
As a pilot site, CDHS will have the opportunity to shape the development of the curriculum, attend “train the trainer” sessions, and receive technical assistance and guidance from the NTDC partnership team that includes Spaulding for Children, the Child Trauma Academy, the Center for Adoption Support and Education, the North American Council on Adoptable Children, National Council For Adoption, and the University of Washington.
Providing prospective foster and adoptive parents with the competencies, skills, and support they need to effectively parent children and youth who have experienced separation, loss, and grief can be paramount in successful fostering and adoption.
"Colorado's kinship and foster care families deserve high-quality training and ongoing support. As a pilot site in the NTDC project, Colorado will be in a unique position to inform and be on the cutting edge of a new national curriculum," said Minna Castillo Cohen, Director of the Office of Children, Youth and Families with CDHS.