Assessing Foster/Adoptive Parent Training Curriculum's Improvement of Resource Parent Knowledge and Skills

Abstract

Purpose Caregiving for children in foster, kinship, and adoptive placements (hereon referred to as resource parenting) is a challenging role that requires unique knowledge and skills, but there is limited evidence for currently available trainings. The National Training and Development Curriculum for Foster and Adoptive Parents (NTDC) was recently developed with support from the US Children's Bureau. Methods Baseline and 6-month follow-up surveys from 540 resource parents receiving NTDC training and 409 receiving training-as-usual (propensity score matched; group assignment based on location) were compared on a variety of knowledge types and skills. Results NTDC parents had larger growth in trauma-informed parenting, potential to promote positive child development, and key resource parent knowledge from baseline to post-training. NTDC parent growth in receptivity to working with biological parents approached but did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions NTDC offers promise as a new training resource for improving resource parent knowledge and skills.