Presented by Foster and Kinship Care Education
Instructor: Lori Switanowski
In recognition of October as National Bullying Awareness & Prevention Month, we are excited to introduce a new class for our county! While we advocate for stability in the lives of abused and neglected children, it’s crucial to address the emotional and physical abuse that can happen not only at home but also among peers. This workshop will help you identify signs that your child may be experiencing bullying and offer strategies for handling these situations. Caregivers will gain tools to assist children in navigating peer interactions and understanding the emotions at play for all involved.
Your Instructor: Lori Switanowski has been a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist for over 30 years! She is an adoptive mom, an FKCE Program Director alumni and founder of Our Family Comes First, specializing in working with traumatized children and their families. She teaches parenting classes throughout the state of California and Texas. She brings a wealth of both personal and professional experience with her.

CE Hours: 3

Presented by Greater Richmond SCAN Community Programs
This training will provide a brief review of trauma and its impacts as well as introduce the 6 Principles of a Trauma-Informed Approach. Using these principles, participants will learn strategies for creating physical & psychological safety, developing collaborative & supportive relationships, empowering others through voice & choice, and addressing systems of oppression.

CE Hours: 2

Presented by Greater Richmond SCAN Community Programs
This training provides a foundational learning experience around the topics of trauma and trauma-informed care. We will define trauma, discuss the many types of trauma/adversity, explore the impact of trauma on the brain and behavior, introduce resilience, and discuss SAMHSA’s 4 Rs of trauma-informed care. Throughout the presentation, we will share useful tools and techniques.

CE Hours: 2

Location: Webinar
Presented by John Burton Advocates for Youth
Foster youth continue to lag far behind their peers when it comes to college completion, and college affordability has long been cited as the most common barrier that foster youth face. In recognition of the multitude of disadvantages that these students often confront, Senator Angelique Ashby championed legislation in 2023 that successfully expanded the Middle Class Scholarship (MCS) for current and former foster youth pursuing a bachelor’s degree at a CSU, UC or California community college. This webinar will highlight exciting new findings from a soon to be released report from the Urban Institute, Paying for College as a Student with Foster Care History, which analyzed the usage of this expanded aid across the 2023-24 academic year and shed light on the impact that has been realized as a result of this expansion. In addition, this webinar will reveal new insights from thirteen focus groups with students who were eligible to receive MCS funding to better understand the impact of financial aid in their postsecondary educational journey, from their decision to enroll and their perceptions of affordability to the impact it makes on their current college experience. Attendees will hear from JBAY, Senator Ashby, the Urban Institute and a student with lived experience about the realities students with foster care experience face paying for college and recommendations to ensure that all foster youth have a fair shot at pursuing their educational goals.

CE Hours: 1.5