Foster and Kinship Care: Cultural Competency and Humility-An Overview. (4 hours)

This course is designed to provide foster and adoptive parents with information and skills that will enable them to parent children from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Our basic assumption is that culture and ethnicity will predispose us to behave in specific ways.  In order to provide for the children in our care, we must understand specific concepts, some of the differences that manifest as a result of the social environment, including culture, ethnicity, economics, and language.  We must also be willing to look at ourselves from a cultural perspective to embrace the culture of others.   Despite how we look, every individual present with a personal history, a unique personality, and a way of being in the world.  Children in foster care are no exception to this rule and because of this, it is important that caretakers be willing to explore the varying possibilities.  This includes but is not limited to sexual orientation, physical and emotional disabilities, mixed race heritage, religious orientation, and other individual factors that define the children in our care.

Instructor: Rochelle Bard, L.C.S.W.