Offered by the Family Training and Development Project, Iowa State University Extension to Families
This comprehensive training and development program uses an empowerment approach to provide front-line workers with basic skills and competencies to help families identify and reach their goals.
FOCUS on what is strong with families rather than on what is wrong with them.
LEARN to value the diversity of families.
BUILD the skills to put an empowerment approach into practice.
EARN certification, with options to receive undergraduate or graduate college credits, Social Work Hours, or ISU CEUs.
DEVELOP empathic, nurturing communication skills to establish mutually respectful relationships in home visitations.
"This course was a milestone for me personally and career-wise. It helped form my philosophy toward families and our work. It was a deeply emotional experience--one which I will never forget...nor the people with whom I formed bonds." - past participant
Who Should Attend?
- Family development specialists (FaDSS)
- Social Workers
- Head Start professionals
- Public health nurses
- Anyone interested in the well-being of Iowa families
- Department of Human Service/Promise Jobs professionals
- Community action agency staff or any staff making home visits
Acquire the skills and knowledge to meet the state standards specified by the FaDSS (Family Development Self-Sufficiency) Council.
Objectives
Review the list of session-by-session learning objectives to learn more about the Family Development Certification Training.
Schedule
Face-to-Face
Fall 2009/Winter 2010 - Hiawatha, Iowa
November 18, 19, December 8, 9, dates for January/February 2010 to be announced
Online registration now available!
Winter/Spring 2010 - Altoona, Iowa
February 23, 24, March 10, 23, April 7, May 5, 18, 19
Online registration now available!
Registration options:
- Non-credit (for ISU Continuing Education Units/Certification): $600, or
- Credit (for 3 ISU undergraduate or graduate credit hours and Certification): $300 plus tuition is billed
FDCT Online
February 8 - May 28, 2010 - completely online
Online registration now available!
Registration options:
- Non-credit (for ISU Continuing Education Units/Certification): $600, or
- Credit (for 4 ISU undergraduate or graduate credit hours): $300 plus tuition is billed
For more information, contact: Jeanne Warning, Interim Director, Extension to Families, (515) 294-6622, jwarning@iastate.edu.
Also available Winter/Spring 2010 -- Family Development Certification (FDCT) and Partnering with Parents (PWP) Training. This opportunity focuses on core competencies identified for family support workers, including those needed for parenting education. For more information, visit the combined training Web page.
Training Manual
"Empowerment Skills for Family Workers" (A Worker Handbook) by Claire Forest, Cornell Empowering Families Project
Additional Participant Comments
"I try to listen better, avoid communication blockers, try to let families set their goals (their own) rather than jumping in too quickly with my own ideas/options of what I think their goals should be."
"Immediately I realized that I did not work with families in a strong strengths-based sense. I walked into homes looking for/wondering what I needed to "fix". This training helped me re-center myself."
"Facilitators are informative, helpful, insightful, resourceful, sensitive to others, supportive...realistic training."
"Comprehensive, concise, user-friendly resource manual..."
"I learned more during this training session than I learned in four years of college."
"I've learned how to empower the families that I work with, instead of using power over them, in other words, I've learned to respect them more for where they are rather than where I think they should be."
"I am more open-minded towards different family structures. I now ask open-ended questions to get a family thinking about what they might do to become self-reliant and not rely on programs month after month to "bail" them out. I help them look for solutions to problems. I don't do everything for them. We solve problems together."