FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC)
About This Program
Target Population: Resource parents (foster, adoptive, and kinship) of children ages 0-18; can be used by social workers and other professionals who are new to working directly with resource parents
For parents/caregivers of children ages: 0 – 18
Program Overview
FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC) is an online training venue for foster, adoptive, and kinship parents. Interactive multimedia courses, offered 24/7 through the site, provide both pre-service and in-service training on clinical aspects of and parent interventions for children's problematic behaviors. Instructional content is based on social learning theory and attachment theory. As of January 2024, there are 51 self-paced FPC online courses available in English, 22 of which are also available in Spanish. Included are 6 advanced parenting workshops (in English only) that provide in-depth training on specific behavioral and emotional problems utilizing discussion boards and individualized assignments. FPC courses can be taken individually via the internet using a mobile device or a computer. A strategic partnership with the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA) integrates FPC pre-service courses within the CWLA New Generation of PRIDE Model of Practice using a blended approach to pre-service training, which is also highlighted on the CEBC at this link.
Program Goals
The goals of FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC) are:
- Learn how to address specific parenting and behavioral challenges through electronic media
- Become more confident in handling problematic behaviors
- Change attitudes toward the children in their care to become more positive and reduce victim blaming
- Learn how to help children in their care reach their full potential
- Develop a common, strength-based language to communicate with others in the field
Logic Model
View the Logic Model for FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC).
Essential Components
The essential components of FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC) include:
- Individual, self-paced courses available 24/7 on FPC:
- Interactive and engaging, using an audiovisual multimedia learning format
- Taught by child welfare professionals, medical doctors, and psychologists who are acknowledged as leaders in their fields
- “Lived” experiences, often former foster youth describing their experiences while in care, are integrated into some trainings
- Include a summary, a review questionnaire with interactive responses as a teaching component at the end, and a certificate of completion; most include supplementary printable handouts
- Agency management system (no cost) to register resource parents, monitor progress, and obtain global activity reports
- Resource parents' training records are stored, viewable by sponsoring agencies, and transferable (they follow resource parents when they change agencies)
- Available for pre-service training, or in-service on either specific behavioral and emotional problems or parenting strategies
- Suggested pre-service training courses (available in both Spanish and English):
- Caring for Children Who Have Been Sexually Abused
- Child Abuse and Neglect
- Child Development
- The Child Welfare Team
- Children Entering Care: Mental Health Issues
- Children Entering Care: Physical Health Issues
- Cultural Issues in Parenting
- Foster Care to Adoption
- The Impact of Fostering on Birth Children
- Parent-Child Attachment
- Reducing Family Stress
- Supporting Normalcy
- Trauma-Informed Parenting
- Understanding Behavior in Foster Children
- Working Together with Primary Families
- In-service training is available as topic-specific survey courses or a higher level of training in the Advanced Parenting Workshop series. Note: Courses available in both English and Spanish are indicated with an asterisk.
- Survey courses on caregiving issues include:
- Anger Pie
- Autism: A Strength-Based Approach
- Children Entering Care: Mental Health Issues*
- Children Entering Care: Physical Health Issues*
- Could It Be FASD?*
- Eating & Food Issues
- Escalating Behavior Unwrapped*
- Fire Play and Fire Setting
- Lying (2nd Edition)
- Noncompliance and Defiance
- Running Away
- Sleep Problems (2nd Edition)
- Taking Things – Stealing
- Understanding Sex Trafficking*
- Survey courses on parenting strategies include:
- Building Trust, Motivating Change
- Caring for Children Who Have Been Sexually Abused*
- Child Abuse & Neglect*
- Child Development*
- Child Safety and Supervision
- The Child Welfare Team*
- Cultural Issues in Parenting*
- Foster Care to Adoption*
- The Foster Home Investigation Process
- Grief and Loss in the Care System*
- Healthy Sexual Development
- House Safety
- The Impact of Fostering on Birth Children*
- It’s My Marriage!
- Kinship Care
- Parent-Child Attachment*
- Parenting a Child Who Was Substance Exposed
- Positive Parenting 1
- Positive Parenting 2
- Preparing Teens for Postsecondary Education*
- Reducing Family Stress*
- The Role of Mandated Child Abuse Reporters*
- Substance-Exposed Infants*
- Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth in Care
- Supporting Normalcy*
- Trauma-Informed Parenting*
- Understanding Behavior in Foster Children*
- Understanding Birth Family Relationships
- Working Together with Primary Families*
- Working with Birth Parents: Visitation
- Working with Schools
- Addresses a specific, difficult child behavior or parenting challenge; topics include:
- Lying
- Taking things without permission
- Understanding noncompliance
- Self-injury
- Social and physical aggression
- Problematic sexual behaviors
- Involves collaboration with others via a discussion board to solve the particular behavior problem
- Includes individualized assignments
- Is available 24/7 and can be started at any time
- Develop a better understanding of the issues facing resource parents
- Use strength-based language
Program Delivery
Parent/Caregiver Services
FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC) directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:
- Resource parents of children with the following behavioral issues and emotional disorders: Trauma aftereffects, anger, aggression, autism, escalating behavior, taking things, running away, problematic sexual behavior, sleep problems, lying, fire setting, eating issues, self-injury, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), noncompliance, and sex trafficking
Recommended Intensity:
The average time it takes to complete an individual self-paced course, including completion of interactive exercises, reading handouts, and completing a review questionnaire, is 1-2 hours. The average time it takes to complete an Advanced Parenting Workshop, including completion of interactive exercises and homework assignments, reading handouts, and completing the review questionnaire, is 4-6 hours.
Recommended Duration:
Each self-paced course can be completed in 1-2 hours; Advanced Parenting Workshops take from 4-6 hours to complete. Courses need not be completed in one session, but most people complete them in 1 or 2 days. Once begun, self-paced courses and Advanced Parenting Workshops are available to individuals for 30 days.
Delivery Setting
This program is typically conducted in a(n):
- Virtual (Online, Telephone, Video, Zoom, etc.)
Homework
FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC) includes a homework component:
Individuals taking self-paced courses are expected to complete online interactive exercises and read printable handouts on the website. Advanced Parenting Workshop participants are expected to complete up to 9 homework assignments and participate in the discussion board.
Languages
FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC) has materials available in a language other than English:
Spanish
For information on which materials are available in this language, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed at the bottom of this page).
Resources Needed to Run Program
The typical resources for implementing the program are:
Individuals taking either the self-paced online courses or the Advanced Parenting Workshops need a mobile device or computer with high-speed internet access.
Manuals and Training
Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications
Practitioners accessing the online courses need to have minimal computer skills.
Manual Information
There is not a manual that describes how to deliver this program.
Training Information
There is training available for this program.
Training Contacts:
- FPC Support Staff
fpc@northwestmedia.com
phone: (541) 343-6636 - Liz Brooks, Co-Director
Northwest Media, Inc.
liz@northwestmedia.com
phone: (541) 343-6636
Training Type/Location:
Initial basic training support is done by phone and computer during business hours. Regular staff training webinars are provided at no cost for the online management system of FPC.
For more information, go to www.FosterParentCollege.com and select “Help” or use the “Chat” pop-up.
Number of days/hours:
One hour to learn the management system
Additional Resources:
There currently are additional qualified resources for training:
Northwest Media staff people can be contacted for basic training from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm (Pacific Time).
There are also scheduled one-hour webinars that provide training for agencies on using the site's management system.
Generally, agencies assign an employee to become a trainer for the website and provide in-agency training to other staff and support parents.
Implementation Information
Pre-Implementation Materials
There are pre-implementation materials to measure organizational or provider readiness for FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC) as listed below:
A custom pre-implementation plan can be provided by contacting Liz Brooks, see training section above for her contact information.
Formal Support for Implementation
There is formal support available for implementation of FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC) as listed below:
FPC provides individual agency and parent support throughout the use of the website. FPC provides help to the agency during the implementation period with both agency management configuration and outreach to staff/agencies. Additionally, implementation materials for staff and parents are provided. FPC provides scheduled webinars for staff training purposes for new staff members and website updates.
Fidelity Measures
There are no fidelity measures for FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC).
Implementation Guides or Manuals
There are implementation guides or manuals for FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC) as listed below:
Support information is embedded throughout the website and courses to guide parents and staff through the process of viewing the training. The FPC training is self-paced and automated for the parents to progress through the courses on their own.
Implementation Cost
There are no studies of the costs of FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC).
Research on How to Implement the Program
Research has not been conducted on how to implement FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC).
Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research
Child Welfare Outcome: Child/Family Well-Being
Pacifici, C., Delaney, R., White, L., Cummings, K., & Nelson, C. (2005). Foster Parent College: Interactive multimedia training for foster parents. Social Work Research, 29(4), 243-251.
Type of Study:
Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants:
74 parents
Population:
- Age — Parents: Mean=46 years, Children: Mean=10 years
- Race/Ethnicity — 80% White, 20% Other than White
- Gender — Parents: 92% Female, Children: 57% Male
- Status — Participants were foster parents currently providing care, recruited from foster parenting associations.
Location/Institution: U.S.
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a DVD course [now called FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC)]. Participants were randomly assigned to FPC or to a control group. Measures utilized include a questionnaire on parenting knowledge and on parents' self-perceptions regarding their children's angry outbursts. Results showed higher performance scores in knowledge and perception for the FPC group. Limitations included lack of validated measures, small sample size, and lack of follow-up.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.
Pacifici, C., Delany, R., White, L., Nelson, C., & Cummings, K. (2006). Web-based training for foster, adoptive and kinship parents. Children and Youth Services Review, 28, 1329-1343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2006.02.003
Type of Study:
Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants:
97 parents
Population:
- Age — Parent: Mean=47.84 years, Child: Mean=7.76 years
- Race/Ethnicity — 75.3% White or Hispanic, 10.3% African American, 2.1% American Indian, 5.2% Asian or multiracial, 6.2% Other, and 1.0% Unknown
- Gender — Parents: 69% Female; Children: 47% Female
- Status — Participants were foster parents recruited through a community college training program.
Location/Institution: California
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC) on lying and sexualized behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to receive FPC or to a control group. Measures utilized assessed knowledge and parent self-perceptions regarding lying and sexualized behavior. Results indicate that parent knowledge on both topics was significantly greater for the intervention groups than for the control group parents who had not yet received that course content. Parents in the intervention group on lying also scored higher on the perception test than did the control group. Groups did not differ on perception scores for sexualized behavior. Limitations of the current study lack of validated measures, small sample size, and lack of follow-up.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.
Delaney, R., Nelson C., Pacifici, C., White, L., & Smalley, B. K. (2012). Web-enhanced pre-service training for prospective resource parents: A randomized trial of effectiveness and user satisfaction. Journal of Social Service Research, 38(4), 503-514. https://doi.org/10.1080/01488376.2012.696416
Type of Study:
Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants:
92
Population:
- Age — Mean=38.6 years
- Race/Ethnicity — 89% White, 7% Black or African American, 10% Hispanic or Latino, and 4% Biracial
- Gender — 60% Female
- Status — Participants were prospective foster, kinship, and adoptive parents.
Location/Institution: Utah and Wisconsin
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
This study compares the effectiveness of online and classroom versions of one session from a preservice training program [FosterParentCollege.com®(FPC)]. Individuals enrolled in the program in two states viewed an online version of the class on child abuse and neglect or took the same class in person. Written questionnaires were completed before and after the class. Measures utilized include the Knowledge of Child Abuse and Neglect (KCAN), Empathy & Perspective Questionnaire, and the User Satisfaction Questionnaire. Results showed the online training was more effective than the live training at increasing knowledge. Results on empathy were not significant but trended toward greater empathy for the online group. Feedback indicated high satisfaction with the online course. Limitations include lack of follow-up and parent or child behavioral outcomes measures.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: None.
White, L., Delaney, R., Pacifici, C., Nelson, C., Dickinson, S. L., & Golzarri-Arroyo, L. (2019). Understanding and parenting children's noncompliant behavior: The efficacy of an online training workshop for resource parents. Children and Youth Services Review, 99, 246-256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.01.045
Type of Study:
Randomized controlled trial
Number of Participants:
82
Population:
- Age — Mean=42.9 years
- Race/Ethnicity — 70.7% White, 12.2% Black or African American, 2.4% American Indian or Alaska Native, 2.4% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 12.2% Multiracial
- Gender — 82.9% Female and 17.1% Male
- Status — Participants were foster, kinship, and adoptive parents.
Location/Institution: Not Specified
Summary:
(To include basic study design, measures, results, and notable limitations)
The current study examined the effectiveness of FosterParentCollege.com on parenting children's noncompliant behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to a treatment or waitlist control group. Measures utilized include the Practice-Plus Parenting Questionnaire (PPPQ), Parent Report, and the User Satisfaction Questionnaire. Results indicated that group differences at posttest were significant for parents' reports of children's positive behavior and parent knowledge related to children's noncompliant behavior. Only parents in the treatment group showed significant improvement from pretest to posttest on several other outcome measures of parenting noncompliant behavior. Satisfaction with the online workshop at posttest was very high. Results at the 3-month follow-up assessment showed significant group differences only for parents' knowledge about children's noncompliant behavior. Feedback on the workshop remained positive, with treatment group parents indicating that they felt the workshop had beneficially impacted their parenting and their children's behavior. Limitations include small participant size, reliance on self-reported measures, and length of follow-up.
Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 3 months.
The following studies were not included in rating FPC on the Scientific Rating Scale...
White, L., Delaney, R., Pacifici, C., Nelson, C., Whitkin, J., Lovejoy, M., & Smalley, B. K. (2016). Efficacy of blended preservice training for resource parents. Child Welfare, 93(6), 45-72.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new way of meeting the growing demand for training prospective resource parents. Participants were randomized to either a treatment group that received a modified Blended version of the FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC) training (4 in-person sessions and 10 online courses) or a comparison group that received the state standard in-person Foundations training. Measures include questionnaires that assessed knowledge awareness, user satisfaction with overall training and usability satisfaction with online training. Results indicate significantly greater gains in knowledge for the blended approach over the classroom-only approach. The blended approach also produced a dramatically lower dropout rate during preservice training. Both groups made significant gains in parenting awareness from pretest to posttest, but those gains were greater for the classroom-only approach. Satisfaction with training was comparably high for both groups. Gains in knowledge and awareness were sustained at a 3-month follow-up assessment for both groups. Limitations include that randomization was not used for all subjects, due to dropout in the comparison group. In addition, the sample was more homogeneous and less representative of the national population than expected; in particular, African Americans and Hispanics were underrepresented. The psychometric properties of the measures utilized were limited. Finally, due to the blending of online and in-person sessions, this study cannot be used for the rating of the standard version of FPC, which consists of solely on-line courses.
Additional References
No reference materials are currently available for FosterParentCollege.com® (FPC).
Contact Information
- Lee White, BA
- Title: Co-Director
- Agency/Affiliation: Northwest Media, Inc.
- Website: www.FosterParentCollege.com
- Email: research@northwestmedia.com
- Phone: (541) 343-6636 x102
Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed by CEBC: September 2021
Date Program Content Last Reviewed by Program Staff: November 2023
Date Program Originally Loaded onto CEBC: March 2009
