Course Benefits

What You Will Learn

  • Better understanding of the challenges that come with shared parenting

What You Will Get

  • Ways to develop empathy towards the biological family of the child you care for
  • Practical tools and tips to improve shared parenting

Course Curriculum

    1. Biblical Basis

      FREE PREVIEW
    1. Benefits for Birth Family

    2. Benefits for the Foster child

    3. Benefits for Foster Parents

    4. What Do You Think?

    1. Conflict Between Parents

    2. Lack of Bio Parent Involvement

    3. Developing Empathy

    1. Final thoughts

    2. Our Contributors

    3. Final Assesment

    4. End of Course Evaluation

About this course

  • $20.00
  • 12 lessons
  • 1 hour of video content

Meet Your Instructors

Michelle Lunka

MS, LAMFT, TBRI® Practitioner

Michelle currently serves as the Family Services Director for Christian Family Care. Michelle is also a trainer and Child & Family Therapist with CFC. She has a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy and is a TBRI Practitioner. Michelle has worked in foster care and adoption for over 10 years. She has been a foster parent for several years as well.

Shelly Utzke

Foster Care Program Manager

Before becoming the Statewide Director of Foster Care, Shelly served as a Foster Family Specialist, Coordinator, Supervisor, and then the Program Manager at Christian Family Care. Before her employment with CFC, she spent 14 years at A New Leaf serving youth and families. Shelly and her husband fostered children for 25 years and have adopted two children. Shelly earned her associate’s in Early Childhood Development, a bachelor’s in Psychology, and is close to completing her Master’s in Management.

What People Are Saying

“I loved how this training included professional workers who are also foster parents. It was nice to hear their experience as they have seen both sides with working with families and being in the midst of it themselves.”

“I LOVE this course! I'm always told by people that I do too much for my previous foster baby’s family. It was refreshing to hear about how Christians approach foster care and see others who go above and beyond like I do. I don't feel like an anomaly in the foster community after going through this course.”

“I loved Shelly and Michelle's personal stories. This course was done very well.”

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Who should take this course?

    This course is for caregivers who desire to build strong and lasting relationships with the biological parents of the children they care for. If you are struggling at working with the birth family of your child or are just beginning this relationship, then this is the perfect course for you.

    Please note that there is a companion course called “Creating a Ministry to Bio Families” that goes more in-depth and provides additional practical tools.

  • Will I receive a certificate of completion for the course?

    Yes! Every course comes with a certificate of completion that has been approved by the Arizona Department of Child Safety when the last lesson is reached. This certificate will have the learner's name, the title of the course, the credit hours, and the date of completion.

  • Can I watch the courses together with my spouse or do we each have to have our own log in?

    Just like our in-person courses, the pricing is based per participant. Each purchase should be logged under an individual’s name, and only that name will be tied to the proof of participation.

  • What is the format of the course content?

    Each of the courses are made up of a variety of modules with lessons within each. These lessons are made up of short videos to watch. Learners must complete the video before they can advance to the next lesson. There is also a variety of “process questions” throughout each lesson to help learners apply lessons from the videos. Each learner must also complete a final assessment quiz to receive a certificate.

  • Can I interact with other people/instructors in the course?

    Yes! Each lesson has a forum where learners can either post or answer a question for discussion to keep the learning going.