When you become a foster care parent with The Children's Guild, you will embark on a three-phase professional development and training experience that is both comprehensive and life-enhancing. Parents first learn and master our educational philosophy, Transformation Education, then build skills for being a successful treatment foster parent. Finally, parents participate in a home audit to ensure their readiness for foster parenting.

Phase I: Foundations

In this phase, treatment foster care parents will be introduced to and demonstrate competency in the philosophy of Transformation Education, or TranZed, and the practices of that philosophy at The Children's Guild. This phase includes completion of the Pre-Service Training Program for foster parents; study of the book "The Upside Down Organization;" and successful completion of a competency test, demonstrating mastery of the material covered in these programs.

Phase II: Essential Skills

This phase focuses on building the necessary skills to succeed as a TranZed foster parent. Foster parents will participate in training and receive certification as a child and youth care professional through the National Resource Center for Youth Services. Foster parents also will be trained and certified in complex problem-solving and behavior-motivation techniques through the Therapeutic Options program. Finally, foster parents will learn how to structure and operate their homes in a transformational way through learning and implementing the practices contained in the Transformation Education Group and Home Care Manual.

Phase III: Certification

In this final phase, foster parents demonstrate the knowledge and skills learned in all previous trainings by participating in the TranZed home audit. The audit helps foster parents evaluate the level of TranZed being implemented through their daily routines, behavior practices, application of strength-based approaches, and use of community and cultural resources. After successfully completing the audit, foster parents are certified as a Transformation Education Foster Home.

Following the initial certification as a Transformation Education Foster Home, foster parents receive annual TranZed home audits and participate in 40 hours of continued training each year.