Their Culture Comes With Them: Race, Culture and Connection in Foster and Kin Care
Plain-spoken training for foster and kin caregivers raising a child whose race or background is different from their own. A 2-hour training with a certificate.
What this course is
This is the fourth course in the Family Who Stepped In series. It's for foster parents, kinship families and guardians caring for a child of another race or culture. That might be a Black, Latino, Native American, Asian or multiracial child, or a child who grew up with a different faith or language. It's taught by Michael Gaither, a Black adoptee raised by a white family in Nebraska who spent 30 years in education. The course takes about two hours, and it comes with quizzes, a written plan and a certificate you can give your agency.
What you'll be able to do
- Talk openly about your child's race and culture instead of trying not to see it.
- Care for your child's hair and skin, and find people from their community who can teach you.
- Keep your child's language, food, faith and traditions part of daily life in your home.
- Find mentors, barbers, stylists and community groups who share your child's background.
- Respond when your child runs into racism, and keep them tied to family and community wherever they go next.
How the certificate works
- Take the opening quiz as a warm-up. It doesn't count toward your certificate.
- Work through the six lessons in order. Each one comes with a printable page you can fill in and keep.
- Type your plan right into the course, one line at a time. Each line comes with an example to help you.
- Pass the final quiz with at least 8 out of 10. You can retake it as many times as you need.
- Answer a short evaluation, and your certificate unlocks for 2 training hours.
Please check with your licensing worker or agency about how many hours they accept for self-paced training.
For agencies
Agencies can license this course for all of their foster and kin families. You can set that up by emailing hello@beyondthemomentadoptionstudio.com.
About your instructor
Michael Gaither is an adult adoptee. He was born in Syracuse, New York, and spent about eighteen months in foster care before he was adopted. He grew up with a white family in Lincoln, Nebraska, and met his birth family in person for the first time at forty-nine.
He spent 30 years in education as a teacher and a principal, and 13 of those years running his own executive leadership coaching business for school principals. His book, I Was Your Black Child: What White Parents Raising Black Children Need to Hear Before It's Too Late, tells the story of growing up Black in a white household. Through Beyond the Moment Adoption Studio, he helps adoptive and foster families understand what their children may be carrying.
Course curriculum
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1Start Here
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2The Six Lessons
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3Finish and Get Your Certificate