Ky.gov
Effective: 7/2/2024

12.15 Ongoing Training

Legal Authority

Introduction

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Practice Guidance

​​Prior to or during the second anniversary month of a non-familial foster or adoptive parent's initial approval, all foster or adoptive parents are required to complete a minimum of thirty (30) hours of training in the following areas:​1

  • Trauma-informed care curriculum provided or approved by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS/Cabinet) - twelve (12) hours; 
  • Psychotropic medications curriculum provided by the Cabinet - one (1) hour; 
  • Sexual abuse curriculum provided by the Cabinet - four (4) hours; and 
  • Behavior management and skill development - seven (7) hours.​
  • Court advocacy, and self-care provided by the Cabinet-four (4) hours
  • Effective Communication, Maintaining Connections and Culture provided by Cabinet- two (2) hours.

The annual ongoing training requirements for a non-familiar  foster or adoptive home's subsequent anniversary are:2

  1. ​Basic-ten (10) hours, including awaiting adoptive homes; 
  2. Care plus–ten (10) hours of training to meet basic requirements plus an additional twelve (12) hours to meet care plus requirements, for a total of twenty two (22) hours annually.​​ ​​
    1. Twelve (12) hours of Cabinet-sponsored training or training approved in advance by the Cabinet shall include the following topic areas for initial approval: 
      1. Specific requirement and responsibilities of a care plus foster home; 
      2. Crisis intervention and behavior management; De-escalation techniques; 
      3. Communication skills; 
      4. Skill development; 
      5. Cultural competency; 
      6. The dynamics of a child who has experienced sexual abuse or human trafficking; and 
      7. The effect of substance use, abuse, or dependency by either the child or the child's biological parent(s). 
  3. Medically complex - twelve (12) hours of ongoing Cabinet approved training related to the care of a child with medical complexity and an additional ten (10) hours of Cabinet sponsored training or training approved in advance by designated Cabinet staff; 
    1. Medically complex foster and adoptive homes must maintain certification in infant, child, and adult CPR and first aid;
    2. Degreed specialized medically complex-professional experience related to the care of a child with medical complexity substitutes for the initial and annual medically complex training requirements if approved by the Division of Protection and Permanency (DPP) director or designee, and the foster or adoptive parent(s): 
      1. Is a registered nurse, nurse practitioner, physician's assistant, or physician; 
      2. Is certified in infant, child, and adult CPR and first aid; and 
      3. Has completed twelve (12) hours of continuing education focusing on pediatrics within the past year that will assist the parent(s) in the care of a child with medical complexity.
  • In order to be approved as a non-familial and relative/fictive medically complex foster or adoptive home, the foster or adoptive family must complete both the medically complex online orientation and the initial Join Hands Together Training​. Health care professionals are required to attend and may receive continuing education credit if applicable. 
  • Non-familial and relative/fictive medically complex foster or adoptive parents are required to obtain their annual training at the Cabinet sponsored medically complex conferences, which are offered twice per year. 
  • The infant, child, and adult CPR/first aid certification requirement is not a part of the medically complex training conferences and must be maintained separately. Online certification provided by the American Red Cross or the American Heart Association is acceptable if there is no training available. It is recommended that this be completed in a group setting when possible. 
  • Non-familial and relative/fictive medically complex training is to be completed by the month of the Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) foster or adoptive parent’s original approval, not their medically complex date of approval. 
  • Medically complex foster or adoptive homes may receive the specialized medically complex rate if they are caring for a child who has been deemed specialized by the medical support section. Specialized rates are only available to advanced or degreed medically complex homes. 
  • Mandatory training, including, but not limited to, child sexual abuse, psychotropic medications, behavioral management, and trauma-informed care may be taken by non-familial foster parents once every five (5) years, unless a foster home review or specific placement challenge is specified and approved by the recruitment and certification (R&C) FSOS. 
  • Non-mandatory ongoing training may be taken by non-familial foster parents once every two (2) years unless a foster home review or specific placement challenge is specified and approved by the R&C FSOS.
  • Care plus initial training can only count for an initial training credit and not for ongoing training credit hours. Care plus initial training may not be required again within five (5) years if a foster parent has a change in approval status. 
  • Non-familial and fictive/relative foster or adoptive home parents will initially complete the Cabinet-approved pediatric abusive head trauma training. Thereafter, the foster or adoptive parent(s) will complete the training one (1) time every five (5) years. 
  • A web-based training (WBT) curriculum has been developed to educate the foster and adoptive parent(s) on medication administration. This training must be completed prior to approval as a foster or adoptive parent. It is recommended that this training be completed every two (2) years. Assistance accessing the online training can be provided by the R&C worker. 
  • A WBT curriculum has been developed to educate the foster and adoptive parent(s) on non-certified first aid and universal precautions. This training must be completed prior to approval as a foster or adoptive parent. It is recommended that this training be completed every two (2) years. Assistance accessing the online training can be provided by the R&C worker. If the foster or adoptive parent is certified in first aid, they must provide proof of the certification to the R&C worker so that credit can be given in the Training Records Information System (TRIS) and they will not be required to take the non-certified online first aid training offered by the Cabinet. 
  • Other than medically complex training, the Cabinet may provide training or training may be provided through community resources, such as colleges and universities, adult education centers, comprehensive care centers, county agencies, hospitals, and libraries. 
  • Training may include: 
    • Participation in support groups or other associations related to foster care and adoption and approved in advance by the Out-of-Home Care (OOHC) Branch; 
    • Individualized professional training in the field from which the child needs specialized care, with prior approval of the OOHC Branch; 
    • Workshops that are relevant to foster care or adoption (with prior approval by the OOHC Branch, provided proof of attendance is given to the R&C worker; 
    • Those necessary to maintain certifications for CPR and first aid as required for medically complex and specialized medically complex foster or adoptive homes; and 
    • Credit for learning courses related to foster/adoptive children and parenting with prior approval by the OOHC Branch. 
  • If the foster or adoptive parent(s) requests to attend training and is denied, the Cabinet provides written notice of the foster or adoptive parent’s right to a fair hearing and a copy of the DPP-154 Protection and Permanency Service Appeal. 
  • Training provided by Adoption Support for Kentucky (ASK) or Kentucky Foster and Adoptive Parent Training Support Network​ is pre-approved for training hours. 
  • Just in Time Kentucky​  offers foster families online training opportunities, which have been pre-approved for training credit. Upon successful completion of the quiz, the certificate is sent to TRIS for credit to be assigned to the participant's training record. 
  • If a non-familial or relative/fictive foster/adoptive parent completes more training than required during the annual period, the additional hours will not transfer to the next approval year.​​

Procedure

The R&C Worker:
  1. Verifies that the training requirements are completed annually prior to or during the month of the original approval; 
  2. Submits training completed by the non-familial or relative/fictive foster or adoptive parent(s) into the online TRIS within five (5) working days of completion; 
  3. Does not count the following toward the required training hours: 
    1. Attendance at the child’s case planning conference; 
    2. School conferences; and 
    3. Other child-specific activity that does not meet the ongoing training requirement; 
  4. Completes a corrective action plan if the foster or adoptive home fails to meet the ongoing training requirements for the home’s approval type (please refer to SOP 12.17 Foster and Adoptive Home Reviews).
The FSOS:
  1. Approves reimbursement, to the extent funds are available, of a foster or adoptive home parent who is participating in ongoing Cabinet-sponsored or Cabinet approved training for the following expenses: 
    1. Mileage at current reimbursement rate; 
    2. Babysitting for the foster child, not to exceed the child’s per diem rates; 
    3. Lodging, if training extends to the next day; and 
    4. Meals are reimbursed at state employee travel regulation rates provided the training requires an overnight stay. No receipts are required. 1 
  2. Reduces the foster or adoptive home’s reimbursement rate for medically complex or care plus homes if the foster or adoptive home fails to meet the ongoing training requirements for their approval type and does not comply with the action plan. 
The SRA:
  1. Considers the following when approving or denying these requests: 
    1. If the requested training is not otherwise included or provided in any Cabinet sponsored training; and 
    2. If the training is specifically related to a medical or behavioral condition of a child placed in the foster or adoptive home. Tuition or fees may be approved up to the amount of: 
      1. One hundred dollars ($100) per family per year; or 
      2. Two hundred dollars ($200) per year for a medically complex, specialized medically complex, or care plus home; 
  2. ​Provides prior approval for all requests for reimbursement to a foster or adoptive home for tuition/fees incurred for non-Cabinet sponsored training before payment may be authorized; 
  3. Or designee is permitted to grant an exception to closure for a foster or adoptive home whose parent(s) did not meet annual training requirements where the child in their care has developed significant emotional attachment to the foster or adoptive home parent(s) and whose best interest is served by preserving the placement. 
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Footnotes

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  1. Relative and fictive parents are not required to complete the thirty (30) hours of training within their second anniversary month. Relative and fictive parents who are medically complex will be required to attend the twelve (12) hour annual med complex training and keep a current certification in CPR and first aid. ​They may not be required to complete the additional ten (10) ongoing hours. Relative and Fictive parents with a Care Plus status may only be required to complete twelve (12) hours of training per year in the areas previously listed.  They will not be required to attend the additional ten (10) hours of training.  

  2. Relative and fictive parents will not be required to complete yearly ongoing training unless they are medically complex or care-plus.

  3. The Cabinet will only reimburse foster or adoptive homes pre-finalization of the adoption. 
  4. In these instances, the foster or adoptive home’s rate reverts to the regular basic or advanced rate per 922 KAR 1:350 (13)​ if the family fails to resolve the deficient training hours. Prior to decreasing the per diem, the family is provided with written notice via a DPP-154A​ of their foster/adoptive home type changing. A new DPP-111 ​​​​is completed and the ongoing recommendation screen is updated in TWIST to match the change in home type. 
  5. ​​​The Cabinet does not reimburse families who have finalized adoptions. In such circumstances, additional children are not to be placed in the home until the training requirement has been satisfactorily met.

Documents

Revisions

​7/25/2022 Added: Non-mandatory ongoing trainings may be taken by foster parents once every two (2) years, unless a foster home review or specific placement challenge is specified and approved by the R&C FSOS.

Deleted:  

At least fifty percent (50%) of all training must be in a group setting.  One (1)-on-one (1) Training provided by Adoption Support for Kentucky (ASK) or Kentucky Foster and Adoptive Parent Training Support Network instructor using a DCBS approved curriculum is pre-approved for training hours. is included as a group setting.  An individualized curriculum may be developed for a foster or adoptive parent who is unable to participate in annual group training because of employment or other circumstances.  The service region administrator (SRA) or designee may approve such arrangements.

Up to fifty percent (50%) of training may be taken online.

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7/2/2024

Non-familial added

  • Sexual abuse curriculum provided by the Cabinet - four (4) twelve (12) hours; and 
  • Behavior management and skill development - seven (7) five (5) hours.​
  • Court advocacy, and self-care provided by the Cabinet-four (4) hours
  • Effective Communication, Maintaining Connections and Culture provided by Cabinet- two (2) hours.
  • Care plus initial training can only count for an initial training credit and not for ongoing training credit hours. Care plus initial training may not be required again within five (5) years if a foster parent has a change in approval status. 
​5.  Completes the DPP 175 Waiver of Training for Relatives or Fictive Kin of Child-Specific Foster Home ​form and submits to FSOS for applicants who are seeking ongoing approval as a child-specific foster home.
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5   .The Cabinet does not reimburse families who have finalized adoptions. In such circumstances, additional children are not to be placed in the home until the training requirement has been satisfactorily met.