Foster Care and Adoption provides a variety of trainings and conferences for licensed Fairfax County foster parents occurring in 2025. Dates are subject to change, so check back often.
Note: Some trainings may require attendance for multiple dates.
Kinship Care Symposium! Promoting Kinship Bonds for Youth: Foster Care & Beyond
Thursday, September 25, 2025
9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Hyatt Regency Crystal City
2799 Richmond Hwy
Arlington, VA 22202
Continental breakfast provided! Panel moderated by Chauncey Strong, MSW Strong Training & Consulting. The keynote speaker is Terry Harrak, Youth Law Center CLE’s and CEU’s available. Register online.
Mastering VEMAT
Thursday, October 16, 2025
6-7:30 p.m.
Virtual via Zoom
This training will teach resource parents about the Virginia Enhanced Maintenance Assessment Tool (VEMAT), how to navigate a VEMAT, and how the score is used to determine maintenance payments for youth in foster care. The link will be sent to you after registration. Register online by Oct. 10.
Foster Parent College (FPC) is a great way to obtain training on key topics from the comfort of your home. FPC provides newly approved and seasoned foster parents with a curriculum designed to build new skills and reinforce information acquired from New Generation PRIDE (formerly PRIDE). As approved foster parents with Fairfax County, all classes are free and available to you 24/7. You may choose to take any class you believe will be helpful for your own personal growth and development. This month’s featured training is Understanding Birth Family Relationships.
Training Title: Understanding Birth Family Relationships
Description: Parents can ensure their children's well-being by communicating with them openly about their biological family, facilitating contact, and helping them find closure. This class explores the range of openness in adoption, the birth connection, and birth relationships
*The training will take approximately 1.0 hours to complete and fulfills 2.0 hours of on-line in-service training. You may take the class at your own pace.
To register please visit: www.fosterparentcollege.com
Log In with your log in credentials.
Scroll and select the course titled – Understanding Birth Family Relationships (In the Parenting Strategies Category)
Select Enroll to begin the course.
If you have questions or need additional support, please reach out to one of the in-service trainers; Neda Ghodsi and Jennifer Woods. You may also contact FPC at 541-343-6636 or toll free at 1-800-777-6636, (PT) for technical difficulties. As always, once a class is completed, please email the certificate to Neda Ghodsi.
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