Education and Training
With a balanced perspective, based on a combination of academic, field, and personal experience, the Office of Foster Care and Adoption provides customized training programs for everyone from social workers, medical students, and health care professionals to teachers and parents.
Presenting concrete tools for addressing foster care and adoption issues, our team creates a mutually respectful atmosphere during training sessions. We recognize the value of listening to the challenges participants face as they work to support children who are living in out-of-home care — such as foster care, group homes, or residential settings — or who have been adopted.
We report those concerns and experiences to our colleagues in other UMass Medical School departments to make sure they understand the concerns of the many families formed through adoption or foster care — and the professionals who work with them. This unique relationship also enables us to incorporate our colleagues' latest research findings in our training programs.
Curriculum Offerings
We offer a full range of educational opportunities for professionals and families interested in issues that surround foster care and adoption — both before and after a child's placement.
Adoption and Foster Care
Learn the basics of adoption and foster care with this overview. Our team also offers individualized consultation for those interested in adopting.
Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths
Our large-scale training capabilities are highlighted by our redesign of the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths tool, which we followed up by training and certifying thousands of Massachusetts behavioral health clinicians serving children with Medicaid as their health insurer.
STEPS Program
We help child welfare professionals, and others who serve children, to facilitate permanency and healthy development for the youth they serve through our Strategic Training to Enhance Permanency Solutions (STEPS) program.
Genetic Counseling and Adoption
This training program for genetic counselors ensures that counselors are as knowledgeable about the alternative of adoption as they are about pregnancy termination and about parenting a child with special needs or health considerations.
For Health Professionals
UMass Medical School is the only medical school in the world to offer a comprehensive course on foster care and adoption.
Book a Speaker
Our experts are available to address any adoption or foster care topic for your organization.