For over two decades, the PRIDE (Parent Resources for Information, Development, and Education) program has stood as a cornerstone in child welfare, offering agencies a robust and standardized framework. This model is designed to elevate the recruitment, preparation, assessment, and ongoing development of foster and adoptive parents, also known as resource parents. The PRIDE Model of Practice is not just a theoretical concept; it’s a practical, competency-based system implemented in various forms across the United States and in over 25 countries globally.
This comprehensive 14-step model is strategically crafted to nurture and support foster and adoptive families, recognizing them as integral team members in ensuring child protection and delivering trauma-informed care. By implementing the PRIDE program, agencies can significantly strengthen the quality of family foster care and adoption services through several key actions:
- Defining the Role of Resource Families: Clearly establishing resource families as vital components of the agency’s vision and mission, and as indispensable members of the team.
- Community Education: Raising public awareness about the critical importance of resource families in the child welfare system.
- Strengths-Based Recruitment: Employing a targeted recruitment strategy that focuses on the strengths and needs of families to create a comprehensive support network.
- Comprehensive Pre-Service Training: Delivering both in-person and hybrid training models that build essential skills and knowledge around Five Core Competencies.
- Integrated Assessment Process: Seamlessly incorporating pre-service training into the family assessment (home study) process, ensuring a holistic evaluation.
- Competency-Based Selection: Selecting resource families based on demonstrated proficiency in the Five Core Competencies.
- Effective Child Matching: Strategically matching children with suitable licensed, approved, or certified resource families to ensure the best possible placements.
- Family Development Plans: Creating personalized development plans to guide the ongoing professional growth of foster parents.
- Continuous Support and Training: Providing in-service training and other crucial support systems to resource families.
- Quality Assurance in Family Transitions: Managing the conclusion of relationships with resource families with a strengths-based approach and a robust quality assurance process.
By embracing the PRIDE Model of Practice, child welfare agencies are empowered to cultivate an environment where both staff and resource families are deeply committed to the agency’s core values, vision, and mission. This model ensures that all stakeholders operate with complementary, competency-based roles, utilize strengths-based communication, implement culturally sensitive best practices, and consistently strive for outcomes that prioritize the safety, well-being, and permanency of children under care.
The Five Core Competencies of PRIDE
At the heart of the PRIDE Model of Practice lie five core competency categories, meticulously developed through extensive role analysis. These competencies are fundamental to effective foster and adoptive parenting:
- Protecting and Nurturing Children: Ensuring the safety and well-being of children in care, providing a nurturing and stable environment.
- Meeting Developmental Needs and Addressing Delays: Recognizing and responding to children’s unique developmental needs, including addressing any existing delays or challenges.
- Supporting Relationships with Birth Families: Facilitating and supporting positive connections between children and their birth families, whenever appropriate and safe.
- Connecting Children to Permanency: Working towards establishing lasting, secure relationships for children, aiming for permanency through reunification, adoption, or other long-term solutions.
- Functioning as Part of a Professional Team: Collaborating effectively with child welfare professionals, social workers, and other team members to provide comprehensive care and support.
PRIDE Resources, Licensing, Training, and Consultation
The PRIDE Model of Practice is accessible through both fully in-person and hybrid in-person/online formats, catering to the diverse needs of families and agency resources. It is essential to note that all materials associated with the CWLA (Child Welfare League of America) are copyrighted. Agencies seeking to utilize the PRIDE model extensively can benefit from a license program, which grants permission to make unlimited copies of CWLA-produced PRIDE Model resource materials.
CWLA provides comprehensive training and consultation services to assist agencies in effectively implementing the PRIDE Model of Practice. These services are typically delivered in two primary formats:
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On-site Agency Consultation and Training: CWLA experts visit licensed agencies to work directly with staff involved in family foster care and adoption services. This consultation begins with agency leadership to ensure that training is aligned with agency policy and supervisory practices. Training is provided for staff across various roles, including recruitment, family assessment, pre-service training, selection of foster and adoptive parents, and in-service training for current foster parents. Foster and adoptive parents serving as co-trainers are also included, as well as staff responsible for matching and placing children. This approach is highly recommended as it ensures a unified understanding of values and practices across the entire agency team.
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Open Enrollment Training: CWLA also offers open enrollment training sessions across the country, designed for licensed agency staff working with foster and adoptive parents. This option is particularly beneficial for agencies already utilizing PRIDE who need to train new staff members in the PRIDE Model of Practice.
For further information and assistance regarding the PRIDE Model of Practice, please reach out to Marcus Stallworth, LMSW, Director, Training and Implementation at [email protected] or Gaelle Augustin, Training and Administration Associate at [email protected].
