Introduction to Children's Residential Svcs. (DLS A101)
Spring 2008 sections have already started, please check back for updates on future course section offerings.
Who should take this course?
- New employees working in children's services or other provider organizations.
- Supervisors.
- Students working toward the Occupational Endorsement in Children's Residential Services.
- Direct service professionals wanting to improve their abilities to contribute to treatment teams.
- Students wanting to decide if working in children's services is the right career choice.
- Staff members interested in an introduction to childhood development, complex trauma, developmental disabilities, and medication management.
Course description:
This course is intended to provide basic information for direct service professionals working with children and youth who have challenging behaviors or mental heath diagnoses. Concepts introduced will include treatment environments; typical and atypical development; legal and ethical issues, and factors in a youth’s history that may affect treatment outcomes. Includes a 30-hour practicum.
Course Objectives:
By the end of this course students will be able to:
- Develop an understanding of the characteristics of children’s services continuum of care and expectations of paraprofessionals who work there.
- Describe characteristics of successful treatment environments and identify tools used to support youth in those environments.
- Discuss key elements of wraparound service planning.
- Understand physiological needs and developmental tasks, applying that information to identify interventions or supports.
- Outline social and emotional needs of children at typical developmental stages.
- Describe the essential tasks of adolescence, challenges experienced by adolescents in residential care, and strategies to support healthy transitions to adulthood.
- Identify a range of strategies to assist youth in maintaining healthy and appropriate relationships with families.
- Introduce legal and ethical responsibilities of paraprofessionals working in youth residential care settings.
- Introduce factors that may influence a child’s behavior and response to treatment processes including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, trauma, attachment disorders, and fundamental concepts of pharmacology related to psychotropic medications.
