Resource Parent Curriculum (RPC)

Foster, adoptive, and kinship caregivers of children or adolescents of all ages (0-21 years)

For parents/caregivers of children ages: 0 - 21

The Resource Parent Curriculum (RPC) (officially titled Caring for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma: A Workshop for Resource Parents) is an eight-module workshop designed to educate resource parents on the effects of trauma on the children in their care. The workshop is led by a professional facilitator and a co-facilitator with lived experience as a resource parent. The RPC features activities in each module where caregivers apply the concepts learned to a child currently placed in their home. Each module also includes interactive group activities and discussions to promote shared learning.

The content of RPC is centered on nine Essential Elements of Trauma-Informed Parenting. The Essential Elements are centered around recognizing trauma’s impact, understanding and providing physical and psychological safety, understanding and managing difficult behaviors and emotions, respecting and promoting relationships, developing a strengths-based life story, practicing advocacy, promoting trauma-informed services, and practicing parent self-care.

Nicholas Tise
National Center for Child Traumatic Stress

• https://www.nctsn.org/resources/resource-parent-curriculum-rpc-online
• Email: info@nctsn.org
• Phone: (919) 682-1552

The goals of the Resource Parent Curriculum (RPC) are:

• Increase knowledge and beliefs related to trauma-informed parenting; i.e., viewing their children’s behaviors through the lens of their difficult past experiences and responding to challenging behaviors and emotions in a way that promotes healing
• Increase ability to tolerate challenging behaviors, and as a result, maintain stable placements for children in foster, adoptive, and kinship care
• Increase feelings of efficacy about ability to parent a child who has experienced trauma
• Become more aware of the importance of self-care and connect with other resource parents as a support network

The essential components of the Resource Parent Curriculum (RPC) include:

• Delivered in group setting (recommended group size of 8-30) in various locations (usually office-based or in other training/community venues)
• Delivered to resource parents (foster, adoptive, kinship caregivers) with children currently placed in their home (i.e., in-service training rather than pre-service)
• Led equally by two facilitators:
• a mental health/child welfare provider with expertise in child traumatic stress, child development, and behavior management
• an individual with lived experience as a resource parent
• Contains eight modules to be conducted across multiple sessions. The topics of the eight modules are as follows:
• Module1: Welcome & Introductions
• Module 2: Trauma 101
• Module 3: Understanding Trauma’s Effects
• Module 4: Building a Safe Place
• Module 5: Dealing with Feelings and Behaviors
• Module 6: Connections and Healing
• Module 7: Becoming an Advocate
• Module 8: Taking Care of Yourself
• Includes interactive activities and discussions to promote social learning/group support and enhance application of content to child in home (e.g., “My Child Worksheet” activity in each module)
• Specifically focuses on trauma-informed parenting

Parent/Caregiver Services

Resource Parent Curriculum (RPC) directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:

• Resource parents needing understanding of the impact of trauma on development, including symptoms of traumatic stress, difficulties in regulating emotions, challenging behaviors, difficulty in forming relationships, and other functional impairments (e.g., school problems); parents experiencing caregiver stress including secondary traumatic stress and compassion fatigue

Recommended Intensity

The format of the curriculum allows for flexible administration; however, guidelines suggest it is best delivered over the course of multiple weeks in order to allow for application of content. The recommended total amount of instructional time is 12 to 16 hours. If administered weekly, sessions may last 1.5-2.5 hours.

Recommended Duration

Recommended duration is 4-8 weeks, although duration is intended to be flexible based on program need.

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Community Daily Living Setting
• Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
• Outpatient Clinic

Homework

Resource parents are encouraged to apply “Big Ideas” from each module with their children at home between each session. Individual facilitators may assign additional homework assignments.

Languages

Resource Parent Curriculum (RPC) has materials available in the following languages 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 in this page).

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

A computer that can display a PowerPoint presentation, projector, a marker board or flipchart, supplies for specific activities as listed in the manual (e.g., index cards, sandwich bags), room space to comfortably accommodate participants, and possibly the ability to provide meals and childcare to promote parent engagement

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

Staff facilitators – a Master’s degree or higher in Social Work, Psychology, or a related field is preferred. Facilitators may be mental health clinicians, child welfare workers (including, but not limited to, foster care licensing and child protection services), or therapeutic foster care workers. Facilitators should have sound knowledge base of child traumatic stress and will find it helpful to have experience either providing or participating in providing evidence-based trauma-informed treatment with children and families exposed to trauma, including trauma-informed psychoeducation to parents.

Family partner co-facilitators should have lived experience as a resource parent. There are no specific educational requirements, although they should be comfortable sharing their personal experiences with a group, and have a trauma-informed perspective.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Program Manual(s)

Manual details:

• Grillo, C. A., Lott, D.A., Foster Care Subcommittee of the Child Welfare Committee, National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (2010). Caring for children who have experienced trauma: A workshop for resource parents—Facilitator’s guide. National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.

• Grillo, C. A., Lott, D.A., Foster Care Subcommittee of the Child Welfare Committee, National Child Traumatic Stress Network. (2010). Caring for children who have experienced trauma: A workshop for resource parents—Participant handbook. National Center for Child Traumatic Stress.

The facilitator’s guide and participant handbook are available for free with registration at the NCTSN Learning Center website: https://learn.nctsn.org/index.php?

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact

Training Type/Location:

Training can be obtained in a variety of ways, depending on the needs and experience of the prospective facilitator. Some states and regions have formal training programs and state-wide requirements in place and some do not. For more information about this, contact the NCTSN at training@nctsn.org.

Number of days/hours:

There are no specific requirements regarding number of days or hours of training. Depending on the format of training, hours may vary widely. Training activities may include a combination of the following: observation of a workshop led by experienced facilitator/co-facilitator, didactic instruction, coaching during practice sessions or following live workshops, consultation, and independent study. The NCTSN hosts monthly free consultation calls with experienced facilitators see https://learn.nctsn.org/RPC for additional information about dates, times and selected topics. Please contact the NCTSN at training@nctsn.org with additional questions.

Pre-Implementation Materials

There are no pre-implementation materials to measure organizational or provider readiness for Resource Parent Curriculum.

Formal Support for Implementation

There is no formal support available for implementation of Resource Parent Curriculum.

Fidelity Measures

There are no fidelity measures for Resource Parent Curriculum.

Established Psychometrics

There are no established psychometrics for Resource Parent Curriculum.

Fidelity Measures Required

No fidelity measures are required for Resource Parent Curriculum.

Implementation Guides or Manuals

There are no implementation guides or manuals for Resource Parent Curriculum.

Implementation Cost

There are no studies of the costs of Resource Parent Curriculum.

Research on How to Implement the Program

Research has not been conducted on how to implement Resource Parent Curriculum.

“What is included in the Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research section?”

• Angelöw, A., Niwhede, V., & Psouni, E. (2023). Angelöw, A., Niwhede, V., & Psouni, E. (2023). Evaluating trauma-informed training for foster parents—A controlled pilot study of the Resource Parent Curriculum in Sweden. Children and Youth Services Review, 148, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.106891

  Type of Study: Pretest–posttest study with a nonequivalent control group (Quasi-experimental)

  Number of participants: 44

  Population:

  • Age — Mean=49.3 years
  • Race/Ethnicity — 82% Swedish and 16% Other (Finnish, Dari, Farsi, Hungarian, English, and Mandinka)
  • Gender — 50% Female and 41% Male
  • Status —

    Participants were foster parents.

  Location/Institution: Sweden

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to investigate the effect of the Resource Parent Curriculum (RPC) on parenting efficacy, tolerance for the child’s behavior and trauma-informed parenting, and on the foster parents’ perceptions of their children’s behavior. Participants were allocated to either the RPC or a waitlist control group. Measures utilized include the Resource Parents Knowledge and Belief Survey (KBS), Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), Trauma Informed Parenting (TIP), Efficacy in Parenting (EFF), and Tolerance of Misbehavior (TOM). Results indicate that RPC has an effect, assessed immediately after training completion, on foster parents’ trauma-informed parenting behaviors and parenting efficacy, but these effects diminished rapidly. No effect on perceived child behavior was observed. Limitations include a lack of randomization; reliance on self-report measures; a high attrition rate; KBS being a relatively new measure that necessitates further validation; and finally, while RPC positively influences foster parents’ attitudes, its effects may not persist or consistently lead to trauma-informed behaviors and improved child outcomes.

  Length of controlled postintervention follow-up: 2 months.

• Note: The following studies were not included in rating Resource Parent Curriculum on the Scientific Rating Scale.

  Sullivan, K. M., Murray, K. J., & Ake, G. S. (2016). Trauma-informed care for children in the child welfare system: An initial evaluation of a trauma-informed parenting workshop. Child Maltreatment, 21(2), 147–155. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559515615961

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to examine participant acceptance and satisfaction and changes in caregiver knowledge and beliefs related to trauma-informed parenting in Caring for Children who Have Experienced Trauma, [now called Resource Parent Curriculum (RPC)]. Measures utilized include self-report on basic demographic information about themselves and the children in their care, the Resource Parent Knowledge and Beliefs Survey, Trauma-Informed Parenting (TIP) Scale, the Tolerance of Misbehavior (TOM), the Parenting Self-Agency Measure (PSAM), the Postworkshop satisfaction Survey (PWSS), and the Module Evaluations. Results indicate that kinship and nonkinship caregivers showed significant increases in their knowledge of trauma-informed parenting and their perceived self-efficacy parenting a child who experienced trauma. Nonkinship caregivers increased on their willingness to tolerate difficult child behaviors, whereas kinship caregivers did not show a significant change. Participants also demonstrated high levels of satisfaction with the workshop. Limitations include the lack of a control group, lack of randomization of participants, and lack of follow-up. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to the lack of a control group.

• Note: The following studies were not included in rating Resource Parent Curriculum on the Scientific Rating Scale.

  Gigengack, M. R., Hein, I. M., Lindeboom, R., & Lindauer, R. J. L. (2017). Increasing resource parents’ sensitivity towards child posttraumatic stress symptoms: A descriptive study on a trauma-informed resource parent training. Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma, 12(1), 23–29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-017-0162-z

  Summary:

  The purpose of the study was to examine resource parents’ perceived upbringing stress in caring for their foster child, and child posttraumatic stress syndrome (PTSS) before entering the Resource Parent Curriculum (RPC), after completing the RPC, and at six-month follow-up. Measures utilized include self-report on basic demographic information about themselves and the children in their care, the Burden of Upbringing Questionnaire (OBVL), and the Children’s Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES) parental version. Results indicate that there is an increase in recognition of child PTSS and a decrease in resource parents’ experienced upbringing stress and child PTSS over time. Limitations include the lack of a control group, lack of randomization of participants, and small sample size. Note: This article was not used in the rating process due to the lack of a control group.

• Sullivan, K., Murray, K., Ake, G., Kane, N., & Priesler, J. (n.d.). Everything you need to know before implementing RPC. Retrieved from https://www.ccfhnc.org/programs_66_2274227261.pdf

• UNC-CH School of Social Work, Family and Children's Resource Program. (2013). Trauma-informed parenting: What you should know. Fostering Perspectives, 18(1). Retrieved from http://fosteringperspectives.org/fpv18n1/know.htm