Family Focus Adoptions Services
Welcoming All Families

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FOSTER CARE / ADOPTION ORIENTATION AND TRAINING SCHEDULE

Training Course for Foster Care and Foster Care Adoption
(For Newborn or International Home Studies, click "Our Programs" above)


NTDC Course for Foster Care and Fostering-to-Adopt

Family Focus offers certification in the New York State-approved national training for foster and adoptive parents, called National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC). Because we are an adoption agency, we have enhanced this training with some of our adoption-specific philosophies. This certification should be recognized by your own home county Department of Social Services as meeting the training requirement for foster care and pre-adoptive foster care licensing, but please confirm this with them first, as it is a very new training and some NY counties may not be using it yet. Our training is offered virtually through live Zoom group meetings.


PLEASE NOTE - THE CHILDREN WE PLACE
Family Focus does not have our own children, so we do not
automatically offer placement of children for adoption after you receive your NTDC certificate. The pre-adoptive placements Family Focus does are from a very small pool of children. These are specifically New York children who are already in foster care and freed to be adopted (all parental rights have been ended), but their own agency hasn’t found a family that will commit to them. These "Priority 1 Children" are in institutional settings such as therapeutic group homes or residential facilities where they are receiving intensive support and supervision. They are older than 10, and in fact almost all are young teens. We place them by first contracting with their home agencies to work with these children on adoption readiness, so we have access to only the children in our pre-adoptive programs.

Families who are genuinely interested in the Priority 1 children must complete NTDC, and then also complete Family Focus’s additional certification in our specialized adoption training, Beyond The Culture (BTC). BTC is offered by invitation, after an evaluation at the conclusion of NTDC training, to families who are committed to adopting only Priority 1 Children. If you wish to be considered for BTC certification and placement of children through our agency, you can discuss that with the trainers during the NTDC Course.


Orientation - Adopting from Foster Care

Attending an Orientation is the required first step for families who wish complete NTDC training. Family Focus includes the prerequisites to NTDC in our Orientation, as well as an introduction to information about adopting from foster care. You must attend an Orientation before you can take the NTDC Course, and we offer several opportunities to do so before each new course begins. If adopting as a couple, both applicants must attend Orientation. To make a reservation or to ask questions, complete the form at the bottom of the page.


OUR ORIENTATION AND TRAINING ARE PRESENTED VIA ZOOM VIDEO CONFERENCING.

IF YOU WISH TO ATTEND YOU MUST HAVE A ZOOM ACCOUNT.

PLEASE GO TO WWW.ZOOM.US AND SIGN UP - YOU CAN GET AN ACCOUNT FOR FREE. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO USE ZOOM, THEN WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO YOU AT THIS TIME.

Orientation Calendar

You must attend an Orientation before beginning the NTDC Course

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED, COMPLETE THE FORM BELOW
Orientations are presented on TUESDAY nights from 6:30 - 9:00 PM VIA ZOOM VIDEO CONFERENCING.
(This schedule is subject to change)


2024 Orientation Dates

February 20

March 5

April 2

May 14

June 11

July 3

August 6

September 3

October 1

November 12

December 10



NTDC Course Calendar

You must attend an Orientation (see above) before you can attend an NTDC Course.

Classes are presented on WEDNESDAY nights from 6:30 - 9:00 PM VIA ZOOM VIDEO CONFERENCING.


2024 Training Dates

March 13 through June 12

September 4 through December 11



ORIENTATION IS FOR FOSTER CARE/FOSTER-TO-ADOPT OF OLDER CHILDREN ONLY - SEE ABOVE

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