Dr. Crumbley's Supporting Kinship Caregivers Training Series
As the number of kinship caregivers increases for children in foster care and more child welfare jurisdictions adopt a “kin first” placement practice, the need to provide specialized support for relatives is becoming even more crucial.
Training series one and two were produced by The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Series one is geared towards professionals and is entitled, “Engaging Kinship Caregivers: Managing Risk Factors in Kinship Care”. Series two is geared towards caregivers and is entitled “Coping with the Unique Challenges of Kinship Care”. Each includes a discussion guide to help program directors, supervisors and trainers lead group sessions to deepen the learning experience.
Training series three and four were produced by the PA KinConnector navigation, information, referral and education program for kinship caregivers in Pennsylvania. Series three is geared towards caregivers and is entitled, “Kinship Family Training”. Series four is geared towards professionals and is entitled “Family Care Professionals Training”.
Training series five, entitled, “Kinship Care”, was produced by Northwest Media.
Training Series One
ENGAGING KINSHIP CAREGIVERS
Produced by The Annie E. Casey Foundation
http://www.aecf.org/blog/engaging-kinship-caregivers-with-joseph-crumbley/
Accessible online at The University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work Continuing Education Program offering continue education units.
https://www.sp2.upenn.edu/academics/opensp2/
Click on module title to view video
This module explores how to manage the understandable feelings of guilt that relative caregivers may experience as a result of changing family dynamics and loyalties.
This module explores how kinship care creates interruptions of the caregiver’s plans, priorities, space and privacy and how these can contribute to feelings of loss and ambivalence for the relative caregiver. It is critical to understand how these feelings can become risk factors to permanency planning.
This module explores projection and transference, which are psychological terms about unconscious processes where we redirect our emotions from one person to another. They are frequently observed in families and are not inherently bad. But, they can become a risk factor in kinship care when negative feelings about the birth parents are transferred to the child in care, leading to “re-creating the monster” and “self-fulfilling prophecies.”
This module explores how one person’s hope can be another person’s denial. Understanding how important hope is for family members is critical to empathetically working with caregivers in maintaining their hopes while making alternative plans if hopes aren’t realized.
This module explores how to assist caregivers in prioritizing their dual loyalties between the birth parent and child; and manage their feelings of betrayal.
Training Series Two
COPING WITH THE CHALLENGES OF KINSHIP CARE
Produced by The Annie E. Casey Foundation
https://www.aecf.org/blog/training-series-coping-with-the-unique-challenges-of-kinship-care/
Click on module title to view video
This module explores how kinship care can interrupt relative caregivers’ plans, priorities, space and privacy—and how this can contribute to their feelings of loss and ambivalence.
This module focuses on how relative caregivers can manage their understandable feelings of guilt because of changing loyalties, roles and relationship with birth parent and child.
This module asks, when can hope become a problem? The answer: When relative caregivers cannot implement safety plans or develop permanency plans for the sake of children in their care.
This module allows you to listen to questions from caregivers on multiple topics—and hear Dr.Crumbley’s recommendations and responses.
Training Series Three
KINSHIP FAMILY TRAINING
Produced by PA KinConnector
https://cwray7.wixsite.com/kinconnectorsv2/kinship-families
Click on module title to view video
This module discusses two questions with caregivers: 1) how does kinship care change their roles, relationships and interactions between family members and 2) how do caregivers adjust and prepare their family for these changes?
This module discusses two topics with caregivers:1) why and when caregivers may ask the question “Should I and Can I Continue Being a Caregiver?” and 2) what are the steps and sources of information to answer that question.
The focus of this module is for caregivers to: 1) identify when and what “triggers” their feelings of guilt 2) develop strategies for managing and coping with their guilt and 3) understand how their guilt can impact their ability to provide permanence, safety and well-being of the child in their care.
Caregivers will be asked to discuss:1) when does hope become denial 2) how and why is it necessary to recognize the difference between the two and 2) why is it necessary to maintain hope.
Three topics will be discussed with caregivers: 1) what pre-requisites birth parents and caregivers should meet in order to engage in co-parenting 2) what are the various roles for birth parents with their children and 3) what guidelines are necessary for positive engagement and shared parenting of the birth child
Training Series Four
FAMILY CARE PROFESSIONALS TRAINING
Produced by PA KinConnector
https://cwray7.wixsite.com/kinconnectorsv2/childcare-professionals
Click on module title to view video
Three topics will be discussed in this module:1) how kinship care changes family dynamics in kinship families 2) how may these changes impact a caregiver’s ability to provide permanency, safety and well-being of the children in their care 3) what implications do these changes in family dynamics have for engaging and practice with kinship families.
Professionals will be provided approaches to assist caregivers in:1) developing a process and criteria for determining “IF I Can or Should I Continue Being A Caregiver” when experiencing feelings of loss and ambivalence and 2) developing strategies for coping with these feelings.
This module will provide professionals:1) sources of guilt and cues to assess if or when a caregiver is experiencing guilt 2) explanations for how guilt can impact a caregiver’s ability to provide safety and permanency 3) strategies to assist caregivers in recognizing their “guilt triggers” and manage their guilt.
This module will focus on 1) how a caregiver’s feelings about the birth child’s parents can impact their ability to parent, attach, nurture and protect 2) strategies and cues to assess projections and transference 3) approaches to provide caregivers in recognizing and managing their own projections and transference.
Professionals will be provided 1) criteria for assessing when a caregiver is in denial 2) the stages of how hope can transition and evolve into denial and 3) criteria caregiver’s can be given to determine when their hopes are placing a child’s safety , permanency and well-being at risk.
This module explores how to assist caregivers in prioritizing their dual loyalties between the birth parent and child; and manage their feelings of betrayal. Also highlighted is how to assess pre-exiting attachments and relationships that may cause dual loyalties and feelings of betrayal.
This module will: 1) provide a listing and comparison of differences between kinship and non- kinship foster/adoptive families and 2) what implications these differences have on practice with kinship families.
Training Series Five
KINSHIP CARE
Produced by Northwest Media
www.fosterparentcollege.com/course-info/kinship
Joseph Crumbley, D.S.W. explores issues specific to kinship care. The course focuses on some of the unique problems and stressors related to this type of care. Dr. Crumbley offers caregivers insights and steps on kinship parenting, and he provides general steps for parents to consider when parenting these special foster children.