Foster Stars/Adopt Stars is a curriculum of pre-service training, assessment, selection of prospective foster parents and adoptive parents and in-service training. The curriculum philosophy: foster parents should be qualified, developed and licensed to work as team members whose goal is to protect and nurture children and strengthen families. Homework and at-home family consultation meetings are conducted during the 30 hour training period. Twelve additional hours are provided for adoptive parents. In Adopt Stars, focus is given to the realities of adopting children who have been abused, neglected or abandoned and have lived in the child welfare system.

There are competencies (knowledge and skills) that foster and adoptive parents must have as a condition of licensing before children are placed with them. These are addressed in the training sessions. Competencies for foster parents include:

* Protecting and nurturing children

* Meeting developmental needs and addressing developmental delays

* Supporting relationships between children and their families

* Connecting children with safe and nurturing relationships intended to last a lifetime

* Working as a member of a professional team

Adoptive competencies include:

* Knowing how adoptive families are unique

* Understanding the importance of separation, loss and grief in the adoption process

* Anticipating and managing challenges as an adoptive family

* Making a lifelong commitment to a child

The curriculum is structured to enhance participant knowledge and skills. By learning how children are referred for services, an opportunity is provided to explore challenges and rewards.

In discussion, participants learn it is important to preserve connections and provide continuity for the child through times of change. The importance of family relationships and how families support a child’s identity and self-esteem are covered.

The impact of placement on a child’s self-esteem, physical and cultural identity is discussed. Participants learn ways to strengthen connections for children in foster care. Understanding the importance of visits with a child’s biological family are developed.

Foster Stars/Adopt Stars reflect Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) standards for Family Foster Care as well as CWLA standards for Adoption Services. Foster/Adoptive parent pre-service training and foster parent in-service training was developed by CWLA in collaboration with Illinois, Missouri and several other states. Adoption training was developed by the Spaulding National Resource Center for Special Needs Adoption.

This program is intended to supply foster and adoptive parents with the knowledge, skills and supports essential to work with children and families who are facing enormous stresses. Groups are taught the difference between foster care, adoption services, separation, loss and attachment. How to parent a child born to someone else and the importance of birth families to children are issues discussed, as is physical or sexual abuse and neglect. How to transition a child to an adoptive family and the impact fostering and adopting has one oneself, family, work and finances are also covered.

In-service competencies are skills learned after a foster parent is licensed and a child placed. An example is learning how to recognize and accept feelings and help children express themselves. Modules for in-service training build on competencies learned at each sessions. Foster parents must be able to recognize indicators of a child’s emotional disturbance and resulting problem behaviors. In-service training builds on competencies learned so foster parents can help children cope with sadness, anxiety, anger and guilt resulting from separation, loss and placement. Effective communications skills help foster and adoptive parents build self-esteem, addressing ways foster parents can help children express themselves.

Part of the training is devoted to knowing how sexual abuse affects a child’s growth and development; recognizing signs and symptoms, and knowing how to intervene to care for sexually abused children.

Many emotionally charged issues must be managed in the delivery of family foster care and adoption. These issues include emotional maltreatment; parenting; lifestyles; foster parent abuse allegations; regulations; reunifications; infertility; disruptions; HIV/AIDS and chemical dependency.

Often prospective foster and adoptive parents have an idealized view of their role and how they may "look" in it. Pre-service training gives them the opportunity to "try on" roles prior to making a decision. The goal is to strengthen families, whether families of origin, blended families, extended or kinship families, foster families, adoptive families or members of a tribe or clan. The provision of a standardized, structured framework for competency-based preparation and selection of foster/adoptive parents should aid in efforts to give children a family who can meet their needs.

It is through the interest and effort of foster and adoptive parents in their work with children, birth families and the Division of Family Services, that permanency can be achieve and sustained.

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