Substance Abuse/HIV Infant Program
The SA/HIV Infant Program is supported and funded by the State of California. The series of training opportunities for care providers and children with special needs.
Program goals include:
● Providing an overview of many of the aspects of caring for fragile and special needs infants/children;
● Connecting care providers to important community services that will support their work with the children;
● To promote & provide permanency;
● To increase the pool of trained providers (Resource Families, Reunifying birth parents and Respite Providers) who are willing to care for these complex children now or in the future.
Trainings and Education include:
● The impact of prematurity, in-utero substance exposure, or chronic illness or fragility on children and their care providers
● Specific common areas of vulnerability: neurological, gastroenterological, pulmonary, infectious diseases, genetics, endocrine & cardiac issues, and more…
● Working collaboratively with reunifying birth families to enhance long-term success
● Long-term services and follow-up for families with children with special needs
Trainers include individuals drawn from many subspecialties, experienced care providers, and a wide range of service providers from many different disciplines within the San Francisco community. Training cycles are held on Saturdays and/or weekday evenings to accommodate different schedules. In addition to these training sessions, a monthly support group for both English and Spanish Resource Families are available along with other opportunities for extended learning.
A Certificate of Completion and credit hours are open to resource families, respite providers & reunifying birth families who attend the training. All classes are FREE and Participants are encouraged to attend ALL of the sessions to earn credit and become certified; and fully benefit from this unique learning opportunity.
The 12 Session training series is mandatory for all resource families who will be providing care to foster children ages 0-3 after completion of Pre-Service Training. You are encouraged to complete the 12 Session training series within 6 months after the completion of Pre-Service. SF Relatives have a year from first day of placement.
For more information contact:
Diana Venegas-Sanchez, SA/HIV Infant Program Public Health Nurse Tel:415-713-1703 or email: Diana.venegas@sfdph.org