Understand the importance of attachment in parenting both for the children and parents who are fostering or adopting; recognize the impact of fractured attachments/lack of attachments on children’s ability to attach; can identify strategies to develop healthy attachment bonds, developing trust and developing children’s sense of connectedness and belonging; know how to be attuned to children; recognizing and honoring children’s primary attachment to their families

• Identify caregiver behaviors that enhance and strengthen relationships.
• Understand the importance of parent’s own attachment history and style in developing and maintaining relationships with children.
• Describe the relationship between attachment, safety, attunement, and relationships.
• Define the impact of fractured attachment/lack of stable relationships on children’s ability to connect to others.
• Understand the importance of supporting children’s primary attachments to their families in order for them to connect to others.

• Willing to accept the idea that children may have difficulty in relationships due to previous circumstances.
• Willing to work on the development of healthy relationships with children over an extended period of time.
• Willing to commit the time needed to be attuned and present for children.
• Willing to support the concept that children are expanding family versus replacing their  families.

• Demonstrate how to discipline in ways that protect and/or build the parent-child relationship.