All kinship providers are welcome to attend with an emphasis on supporting families providing care who are not involved with the formal foster care system.
Addiction affects the entire family system. Children growing up exposed to addiction are more likely than others to abuse substances themselves, engage in relationships with people who have addictions or have other chronic emotional, psychological or physical disorders. To break the cycle, children need to learn about the addiction as a disease and the effects of trauma in an age-appropriate way.
The educational group will provide a safe environment for children to talk about what has happened to them, express their feelings and have confirmation that they did not cause the family disruption. The design of the educational group will also support Kinship caregivers as they learn how to support the child and give language to what has happened to the family, allowing healing to take place. Modeling and assistance in talking about difficult topics will be provided for the children and their caregivers.
The first 45-minutes of the program will have the children meet with their peer group and facilitator to follow SAMHSA’s Opening Format Primary Activity to teach the key concept and discussion on the topic. During this time, the Kinship providers will meet separately with another facilitator and be introduced to the same key concept but focus on how the whole family system has been affected by trauma. After a short break, the caregivers will join the children’s group for a family based activity to practice skills learned from that session.
Below is a list of sessions that are planned to take place.
October 25 – Addiction:
November 29 – Feelings:
December 27 – Problem Solving: s.
January 24 – Treatment and Recovery:
February 28 – Safe People:
March 28 – Coping:
April 25 – Stages of Change:
May 23 – Self-Care Plans:
June 27 – Grief and Loss:
July 25 – Emotional Management:
August 29 – Trauma Reenactments:
September 26 – Exploring the Family’s Future: