The National Training and Development Curriculum (NTDC): Curriculum Components, Resources, and New Enhancements

Developed With Your Agency in Mind

After reviewing academic scholarship and existing curricula, interviewing parents and young adults, and working with content specialists, NTDC was developed. This curriculum was piloted in seven states, one tribe, and a few private adoption agencies.

From the beginning, NTDC materials were designed to be relevant for private domestic and intercountry adoption and can even be used to meet many of the federal requirements for Hague-compliant adoptions. Learn more about NTDC’s focus on private adoption here.

The National Training and Development Curriculum was created utilizing robust social science application in partnership with the nation’s leading content experts. The curriculum was informed by a variety of methods, including:

• A comprehensive systematic literature review to determine factors that promote successful foster and adoptive parenting.
• A review of existing training materials for prospective foster or adoptive parents, and analysis of best practices used in implementing these trainings.
• A survey of state child welfare officials to determine essential training topics for parents interested in fostering or adopting; identify topics currently included in trainings; identify parent training topics required by policy or law; and gather feedback on how to improve training for parents interested in fostering or adopting.
• Individual interviews with stakeholders, including seasoned foster and adoptive parents, young adults with lived experience in the foster care system, and adult adoptees. These interviews helped identify what foster and adoptive parents wish they had known when they were preparing for their parenting role, and what young adults wish their foster or adoptive parents had known.
• A review of expert opinions of more than 200 professionals and parents nationwide, regarding topics that should be included in a curriculum for parents interested in fostering or adopting.

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The National Training and Development Curriculum was created utilizing robust social science application in partnership with the nation’s leading content experts.

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Data gathered through these various sources were compiled into a list of topic areas and themes. That list was then provided to a panel of national experts who rated the listed items in terms of priority for inclusion in a curriculum that could be delivered in approximately 27 hours of training. This rating process (also known as the Delphi process) was used to reach consensus around the final topics selected for inclusion in NTDC.

An Evidence-Based Curriculum: Evaluations of NTDC

NTDC is the most extensively studied curriculum that trains foster and adoptive parents in the nation. It has been rigorously evaluated during the last five years for satisfaction, knowledge gain, and effectiveness. NTDC has also been recognized by the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse with a scientific rating of 3.

Getting a rating in the California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare (CEBC) means that NTDC has been reviewed and assessed for its effectiveness in addressing gaps in foster parent preparation that can lead to increases in foster parent retention and more stable placements for older children, children of color, and children struggling with behavioral challenges based on scientific research.[4] NTDC’s rating in the CEBC signifies that NTDC has been vetted and recognized as a valuable resource for public child welfare agencies and their private contractors seeking to implement an effective foster and adoptive parent training intervention in their communities.

Evaluation Details

Evaluation of the NTDC involves three primary evaluation methods: process, outcome, and cost.

• Process: Examines each step of the implementation process across pilot sites to determine each site’s fidelity to the curriculum model and to identify any implementation barriers related to content and delivery.
• Outcome: Assesses everything from parents’ growth in knowledge gains and attitude shifts to the effect of the NTDC curriculum on placement stability, permanency rates, child well-being, and caregiver health and well-being.
• Cost: Evaluates the total costs of implementation of NTDC and the cost-benefit of NTDC as compared with sites’ current training models.

Some evaluation highlights are listed below. Please review the resources at the end of this article for a full list of evaluation reports, literature reviews, and general resources.

Evaluation Highlights

Classroom-Based Training Results

• Participant competency gains are high
  • Participants showed improvement in 100% of the themes, with significant increases from pre- to post-test. Highest improvements: mental health considerations (48% increase), trauma related behaviors (43% increase), and impact of substance use (24% increase)
• Participant satisfaction is high
  • Overall satisfaction was 5.3 out of 6. Participants rated the pace of the training 5.3 out of 6 as well
  • Participants cited most liking videos, engagement, lived experience stories, resources, and class discussion
• Participants feel the skills being taught are important
  • Participants rated the importance of the content a 9.7 out of 10. Participants were very likely to use skills gained, rating on average a 9.4 out of 10
• Participants feel confident
  • Participants scored confidence 9 out of 10

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Participants showed improvement in 100% of the themes, with significant increases from pre- to post-test.

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Right-Time Training Results

• Participant competency gains are high
• Participant satisfaction is high
• Participants feel confident

Implementation Results

• Facilitators report completing an average of 93% of curriculum activities
• Facilitators feel confident in their ability to train the main objective of NTDC, rating themselves an average of 4.4 out of 5
• Facilitators feel strongly about the benefits of NTDC as a comprehensive, trauma informed curriculum
• Participants experiences with the online setting are positive
  • Average reported 5.6 out of 6

The NTDC Curriculum: Key Components

NTDC has three components all of which are equally important in supporting families in gaining the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need to effectively parent children who have experienced trauma, separation, and loss. These components include a Self-Assessment, Classroom-Based Training, and Right-Time Training.

 

 

Self-Assessment

NTDC’s Self-Assessment is a self-discovery tool that provides families who are preparing to become foster, kinship, or adoptive parents the opportunity to learn more about themselves as they consider the characteristics and competencies that are important when parenting children with histories of trauma, separation, and loss. It is designed to be self-administered, which allows participants to recognize and build on their areas of strength, explore areas that would benefit from additional support and information, and identify areas that may cause the most challenges when parenting a child/youth. The Self-Assessment characteristics and competencies are highlighted throughout the curriculum, which supports the continuation of learning beyond the self-assessment.

 

 

Completing the Self-Assessment: Families can take the Self-Assessment using pen and paper[5] or they can complete it virtually on the Self-Assessment Portal.[6]

Self-Assessment Guide for Families:[7]  This guide includes instructions for completing the Self-Assessment survey and translating survey responses into scores and provides recommendations on how to increase knowledge and competence for those competencies and characteristics that have been identified as important when caring for children who have experienced trauma, separation, and loss.

Self-Assessment Guide for Professionals:[8] This guide describes the development and uses of the Self-Assessment and helps professionals better understand what families will experience when they complete the Self-Assessment. It includes the Self-Assessment survey instrument, instructions on how to complete the survey, a scoring guide that offers guidance on how to calculate the scores, and recommendations on how participants can increase their sense of competence for those competencies and characteristics that have been identified as important when caring for adopted children.

Classroom-Based Training

The Classroom-Based Training themes provide a framework to build a strong foundation for parenting children who have experienced trauma, separation, and loss. Parenting children with such experiences requires a wide range of competencies and characteristics, which can be enhanced or built. Through shared learning with others who are parenting through foster care or adoption, and with the facilitation of an experienced professional and parent team, families can provide the healing environment children need. Each Classroom-Based Training theme has clearly delineated competencies. The training provides concrete information on the roles and responsibilities of parents who foster and/or adopt as well as the knowledge, skills, and attitudes they need in order to effectively parent children with histories of trauma and loss.

Completing the Classroom-Based Trainings: NTDC classroom-based sessions are designed to be delivered locally by agency trainers. Families can also complete adoption-specific e-learning versions of these trainings in NCFA’s Adoption Learning Hub.[9]

For trainers: Downloadable materials are available for each theme, including PowerPoint presentations, handouts, videos, evaluation tools, and resources for participants to extend their learning. A Facilitator Classroom Guide is also provided for each theme which contains details about how to use the curriculum materials for that theme. For some themes, a one-hour recorded Train-the-Trainer session and instructional videos for facilitating activities are also available. View the facilitator training materials.[10]

Right-Time Training

Right-Time Trainings are an online component of NTDC that provide ongoing virtual learning to help parents meet their family’s changing needs. Adults learn best when information is applicable to their own situation, and parents who are fostering and adopting need trainings that are easily accessible and available when they need them. As families have children move into their homes, as children go through different developmental stages, and as families encounter new challenges, they need to have a way to access information and tools.

NTDC’s e-learning courses provide foster, adoptive and kinship caregivers with information and resources through the right training at just the right time. Whether you need information to respond to a child in crisis or adjust to new family dynamics, these courses are available to guide you. The Right-Time trainings were designed to meet these needs. They are not intended to replace in-person training and seminars but should supplement this information and provide families with an accessible training tool.

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Whether you need information to respond to a child in crisis or adjust to new family dynamics, these courses are available to guide you.

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In each interactive course, through videos and podcasts, participants will hear from child welfare professionals, foster and adoptive parents, and young adults with lived expertise. The e-learning versions will allow complete interactive activities and quizzes that will help you apply what you hear and learn to your individual experience. Each course will also give you suggestions for additional resources you can use to enhance your ongoing exploration of this topic.

Completing the Right-Time Trainings: Families can complete these courses from their mobile phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop computer at any time and place that is convenient using the e-learning platform[11] and through NCFA’s Adoption Learning Hub.[12]

For trainers: Downloadable materials are available for each training, including videos, podcasts, articles, and resources for additional learning. View the facilitator training materials.[13]

The Content

NTDC’s content provides foster and adoptive families with knowledge and skills that will help them to provide a loving, supportive home for their child. The curriculum is designed in a manner that provides agencies with flexibility in what themes are provided to families. NTDC’s modular framework allows each of the one- to two-hour themes to be conducted on their own or stacked with other themes. In addition, the curriculum:

• Includes up-to-date information on trauma, separation, and attachment.
• Uses a layered content learning approach and incorporates the best principles of adult learning by using podcasts, videos, and experiential activities to practice and develop essential skills.
• Features the voices of parents, professionals, and youth.
• Offers comprehensive training for prospective adoptive parents and provides ongoing skill development that parents can access independently throughout their journey.

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The curriculum incorporates the best principles of adult learning by using podcasts, videos, and experiential activities to practice and develop essential skills.

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NTDC is a comprehensive no-cost curriculum that tackles separation, loss, grief, and trauma in adoption and foster care. This cutting-edge resource offers adoptive, kinship, and foster parents flexible education to empower them over the course of time and at the right time. There are “key messages” that set NTDC apart:

1. Expands the parenting paradigm: NTDC is expanding the parenting paradigm for foster, adoptive, and kinship parents by offering transformational training experiences that help families understand their role in caring for children and help them build new and necessary parenting skills.
2. Relatable for families: Understanding and relating to others is a key element in helping foster, kinship, and adoptive parents effectively promote healthy development for children exposed to trauma, separation, and loss. Informed by the personal experiences of members of foster, adoptive, and kinship families, NTDC content ensures that parenting strategies are practical, relevant, and relatable.
3. Trauma informed: Understanding trauma and its impact on children is vital for foster, adoptive, and kinship families to have the tools they need. NTDC’s curriculum focuses on providing the tools families need to provide a nurturing environment and promote healthy child development for children with histories of trauma, separation, and loss. NTDC’s Trauma-Informed training was created in partnership with The ChildTrauma Academy and features Dr. Bruce Perry. The focus on trauma throughout the curriculum makes trauma-informed parenting a realistic and achievable goal.
4. Flexible and multi-use: NTDC’s comprehensive yet flexible design allows systems to adapt the curriculum to meet the unique needs of families. From podcasts to videos to classroom and Right-Time training, NTDC has a balance of structure and quality content that allows professionals to confidently deliver complex subject matter and tools for practical problem-solving.
5. Current and modern: Foster, adoptive, and kinship families need specific support and services that meet them where they are. NTDC’s multimedia content addresses present day needs of families through a combination of self-assessment, facilitated training, and 24/7 access to asynchronous content. Packaged for various adult learning styles and available for parents whether they need detailed explanations on subjects or a quick refresher, the combination of NTDC’s classroom based training, podcasts, and videos “on demand” offer tools for parents that are always right on time.
6. Hague compliant: The federal government has regulations (22 CFR § 96.48) requiring prospective adoptive parents to have training on specific topics. NTDC is designed to be compliant with these federal regulations, aside from any child-specific and country specific requirements.

 

Meeting the Needs of All Families

Spanish language translation: The NTDC curriculum and the associated supplemental guides and resources are now available in Spanish, funded by a donation from Spaulding for Children. These materials were professionally translated from English to Spanish in collaboration with a translation service provider. The translation aimed to use a more neutral or “universal” Spanish to ensure accessibility for Spanish-speaking audiences across the country.

Translation is available for the three curriculum components: classroom-based themes, right time trainings, and self-assessment. This includes PowerPoint presentations, handouts, evaluation tools, and some resources for ongoing learning. Training videos are available with Spanish subtitles. The NTDC website has also been translated, so Spanish-speaking families and trainers can locate and navigate curriculum resources. Spanish facilitator materials can be accessed in the same places as the English versions, and Spanish participant materials are available on the Spanish version of the NTDC website, linked below.

Please note: Resources developed by external sources have not been translated, including documentary clips and some supplementary articles. Additionally, the interactive self-assessment is only available in English.