We are working to streamline paperwork for your quarterly visits to make the process smoother for both the worker and the resource parent.

Quarterly visits should be conversational allowing for the sharing of concerns as well as accomplishments and development of a mutual relationship of trust. The visits are to be used as a prompt to have meaningful conversations about pertinent issues and assure compliance with licensing requirements. In addition, the visits are an opportunity to identify resources for you such as support groups, to have discussions about respite care, and meeting your own needs. Discussions about training needs and any behaviors of the child(ren) that may need addressing shall occur as well. 

We hope the new process will allow more time for this important conversation between you and your licensing worker.  

Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) is an attachment-based, trauma-informed intervention that is designed to meet the complex needs of vulnerable children. TBRI uses Empowering Principles to address physical needs, Connecting Principles to address attachment needs, and Correcting Principles to disarm fear-based behaviors. This training will be virtual and will take place over the course of 9 separate sessions that build on each other. To register, please contact Tiffany DaVault at 573-842-7668 or Tiffany.R.Davault@dss.mo.gov prior to the date indicated for the session you would like to attend.

This 9 week course is worth 18 in-service hours and will be offered 3 times: 

• Winter TBRI - January 11 - March 8, 6pm to 8pm each Tuesday
• Spring TBRI - March 5 - May 7, 9am to 11am each Saturday
• Fall TBRI - September 20 - November 15, 6pm to 8pm each Tuesday

Virtual – MPACT will be presenting Disagreement Resolution on Wednesday, January 12 from 11am-12:30pm. Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to prevent it in the first place. Through this training you will learn strategies to prevent problems from arising in the first place through documentation and letter writing. Also covered are the resolution processes included in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act as well as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 

Virtual – The National Institute of Mental Health will be presenting School-based Suicide Prevention: Promising Approaches and Opportunities for Research on Friday, January 14 from 1pm-2:30pm. This NIMH-hosted webinar will provide an opportunity for diverse stakeholders, including school administrators, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and funders, to learn about new and innovative practices in school-based suicide prevention. There will be a particular focus on identifying and supporting high-risk youth, as well as opportunities for evaluating these efforts. 

Virtual – 2 part class - Raise the Future will be presenting The Hierarchy of Racial and Cultural Needs of Transracial Adoptees and Fosterees: A Two-Part Webinar Series on Tuesday, January 18 & January 25 from 12:30pm-1:30pm. Join Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker (psychologist, transracial adoptee of color, and transracially adoptive parent) as she guides participants through the nuanced aspects of raising a child of color in a multiracial family. Using her proprietary adapted model of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, she will provide insight into your child's physiological, safety, interpersonal, emotional, and achievement-based needs in relation to their racial and cultural identity. Dr. Wirta-Leiker will also offer practical tools for building environments and relationships that facilitate racial and cultural identity development in a healthy, effective, and supportive manner.