Resource Parent Training is the only free, online educational service provided in the state.
Vera Lloyd Presbyterian Family Services’ Resource Parent Training Program provides continuing education classes for foster and adoptive parents across the state. Classes are offered free of charge to any interested foster or adoptive parent. Participating parents have shared that these classes are a lifeline for them.
Many Arkansas foster and adoptive parents live in rural areas with very limited local support group or training options, so the classes are offered on Zoom to allow parents from all over the state to receive the education and support they desperately need.
The most popular classes offered are TBRI Caregiver Training classes, which Megan offers twice a year. TBRI is Trust-Based Relational Intervention, which is an evidence-based, trauma-informed caregiving model. Through this series of eight classes, parents receive education about the effects of trauma on a developing child, as well as practical help with discipline and meeting the unique needs of children who have experienced trauma. Parents have shared that the information they learned in TBRI Caregiver Training has helped them change the way they parent and helped their children go from struggling at school, at home, and in the community to thriving.
The program is led by Megan Greenwood. Megan is a Licensed Professional Counselor, adoptive parent, and former foster parent. She has over a decade of experience serving adoptive and foster families. In her classes, Megan provides support and education to parents serving some of Arkansas’s most vulnerable children who have entered their families through adoption or the foster care system. Between classes, Megan is available to support parents by finding resources and local services for both parents and their children.
Training classes cover a variety of pracitcal, therapeutic topics including: