Introductory Training to Better Equip Foster Families

The FFARIQ is enthusiastic about its participation in the Working Group on Introductory Training for Foster Parents in Youth Protection. The FFARIQ sees this as the beginning of a response to its repeated requests to better prepare foster families before the arrival of a first child.

Created in the spring of 2023 by the Institut universitaire jeune en difficulté (IUJD) and the Équipe de recherche sur le placement et l'adoption en contexte de protection de la jeunesse (ERPAPJ), this group brings together representatives from five CISSS/CIUSSS (Montreal, Quebec, Mauricie-Centre-du-Québec, Lanaudière and Montérégie), foster parents from representative associations (including the FFARIQ), as well as researchers and students.The FFARIQ is enthusiastic about its participation in the Working Group on Introductory Training for Foster Parents in Youth Protection. The FFARIQ sees this as the beginning of a response to its repeated requests to better prepare foster families before the arrival of a first child.

The group will focus on:

The early stages of the training process;

• Recent knowledge in andragogy (adult education) to support reflection;
• The use of the Attachment-Regulation-Competence model and trauma-sensitive approaches as a structuring approach to align training with the challenges of foster families;
• Standardizing training across regions;
• Finding ways to stimulate foster parents' interest in training;
• Developing a concerted action plan to bring foster families together.

Over the next year, the working group will produce:

• A skills reference framework to structure and guide the initial training of foster parents;
• A frame of reference with indications on how to implement training to achieve the best possible results.

In 2024, a provincial day will be organized to present the results of this work.

To find out more, consult the statement of principles:

Read the statement of principle