By Sarah Pritchett
A shortage of trained and certified foster parents has developed in West Virginia as the number of children entering the foster care system continues to rise. This growing need for foster parents in the state has promoted Concord University and Raleigh General Hospital (RGH) to form a partnership to provide foster and adoptive care training.
RGH is providing the training facilities for West Virginia Foster and Adoptive Care Training (WVFACT) through Concord University’s Department of Social Work and Sociology to provide mandated training to potential foster and adoptive parents in order for them to become certified as a foster family.
The objective of the partnership, which began on July 1, is to increase the number of individuals who are trained and certified to be foster parents. According to Beth Sizemore, project assistant administrator with the department of social work and sociology, the need is great due to the fact that West Virginia has the most children per capita in foster care of any state in the nation. Several factors contribute to this ranking, including the prevalence of opioid abuse in the Mountain State.
“The opioid epidemic has escalated these numbers,” says Sizemore. “Children in homes with opioid abuse are in more imminent danger, as parents cannot feed, clothe and keep their children safe. They have to be removed.”
West Virginia’s foster care numbers are also impacted by mandated reporters who suspect child abuse or neglect. With such a critical shortage of foster parents, administrators of both institutions are excited about this valuable partnership.
“We are grateful that Raleigh General Hospital shares a strong commitment to our community, including our foster/adoptive families,” says Dr. Scott Inghram, Concord University assistant professor and MSW program director. “This is evidenced though our new partnership, which I am confident will be fruitful for many years to come.”
Matt Roberts, CEO of RGH, is pleased with the opportunity to provide a location for training as well as with how participating in this important endeavor ties in with the hospital’s mission of making communities healthier. The training will take place in the RGH’s training center, which is located behind the main hospital building. Joyce Pitsenbarger, RN, education instructor and training center coordinator, is assisting Concord University with scheduling classroom space to provide a safe and comfortable place for training the foster parents in the region.
“Our partnership helps us provide a healing environment,” she says. “We can serve others by being a part of the community, and this allows us to respond to needs as they arise. High-quality patient care is at the heart of our service standard. There is a huge need in our community, and we want to help meet that need.
According to Pitsenbarger, two classrooms will be used. One of these will comfortably accommodate 60 or more people, with the second smaller room being an adequate size for 25 students. The site is a perfect match due to it already being set up as classroom space and available parking.
As the most populous county in its region, Raleigh County is the site of six annual pre-service training series. Each series or round of training is made up of seven, three-hour classes for a total of 21 hours of training. While some of the trainings are held at the Raleigh County Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), RHG’s training center will serve as the secondary site. Having another location for training will provide an opportunity to get more people trained and certified to provide a safe, nurturing environment for children who have suffered trauma.
This training utilizes a curriculum developed by the Child Welfare League of America, referred to as PRIDE, or Parent Resources for Information, Development and Education. Successfully completing PRIDE training is the first step to becoming a foster or adoptive parent. Several of the topics covered in the pre-service training are what to expect with a new child placement, discipline, DHHR rules, behaviors and what they mean, resources available to families and how to work with schools.
Training sessions involve instruction from professionals in the social work field and co-trainers who are either currently foster parents or have been foster parents. Among the instructors will be individuals with master’s degrees in social work and Concord faculty and adjunct faculty.
Along with providing pre-service training, WVFACT also offers in-service training for families to ensure children are in a safe and healthy environment. Among the topics covered with in-service training are self-care, promoting positive self-esteem, fetal alcohol syndrome and neo-natal abstinence syndrome. Trauma-informed care—understanding the trauma these children have been through—is also part of the in-service training.
WVFACT provides trainings across the region. Along with Beckley, other locations include Welch, Princeton, Summersville, Lewisburg, Pineville and Sutton. For additional information about the partnership, please contact Dr. Scott Inghram at inghramcs@concord.edu or (304) 384-5215. Those who are interested in learning more about becoming foster and/or adoptive parents should visit www.WVFACT.com or call (304) 716-4998.
About the Author
Sarah Pritchett holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from West Virginia University. An award-winning journalist, she has been honored by the West Virginia Press Association and the West Virginia Press Women. She has worked as a medical writer, coordinator of a nonprofit ophthalmic foundation and news editor of a weekly newspaper. Pritchett is currently the staff writer in Concord University’s Office of Advancement.
