Training Program

A Better Way’s Training Programs provide hundreds of courses free of cost for our community each year. Courses are available in person or online to meet your training needs. Cultural humility and social justice perspectives are woven throughout curriculum to support awareness and action uplifting the lives of community we serve. Continuing Education credit is available for select courses.

Courses for:

  • Social Services Professionals

  • Resource Families/Foster Families

  • Parents and Caregivers

  • Mental Health Clinicians

  • System-involved children, youth & families

  • Youth impacted by Juvenile Justice

  • Community members & professionals supporting groups listed above

  • Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Certification

Courses are open to the community. Priority registration is reserved for our primary intended audience: caregivers and professionals who are - or plan to be - involved in lives of court dependent children and youth.

Visit our Course Calendar for upcoming educational opportunities (NOTE: account Sign In is required to view calendar and register). Contact us to have a course sponsored and facilitated exclusively for your agency, or group of six or more people. Curriculum can be adapted to fit the needs of your specific groups or organizations.

Training Program Partnerships
A Better Way
Alameda County
Alameda County Behavioral Health
Chabot-Las Positas Community College District
Solano County Child Welfare Services

​Courses that are co-sponsored with Chabot Los Positas Community College District and Alameda County / Solano County Child Welfare Services are funded by Federal Title IV-E funding. Title IV-E trainings are intended for providers, families, and community members that support the lives of children and families who are involved in child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

Continuing Education: A Better Way is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT) to sponsor Continuing Education for LCSW, LMFT, LPCC, LEP (62361) and the California Psychological Association (CPA) to sponsor Continuing Education for PhD, PsyD (ABE010). The California Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS) recognizes CAMFT and CPA Continuing Education credit for license renewal. A Better Way maintains responsibility for our programs/courses and their content. Not all courses provide CE credit. Select courses only provide doctorate level CE credit. Contact the training department for details on a specific course.

Questions, comments, grievances? Trainings@abetterwayinc.net

More information about A Better Way’s Training programs

  • Create an account here to register for courses: https://training.abetterwayinc.net

  • ​Strengthening Families, Parent Education and Family Relationships
    ​Child Development
    Fostering the Family to Improve Outcomes for Children
    Developing Healthy Family Attachments
    Strengthening Your Family
    Creating Structure & Routines
    Praise and Encouragement
    Raising Responsible Children
    Conflict resolution
    Sibling Rivalry
    Misbehavior & Discipline
    Effectively Handling the Power Struggle
    Separate Household – Bridging the Parenting Gap Between Homes
    ​Understanding the Challenges of Kinship Care Relationships
    Disaster preparedness and crisis safety
    ​Understanding the impact of multiple placements for youth
    Boundaries and good practice with youth
    Communicating with youth
    Developing Effective Helping Relationships
    Health and nutrition for youth in foster care
    Adolescence 101 - Parenting a Pre-teen/Teen
    Helping youth problem solve
    Promoting pro-social behavior
    Supervision skills for caregivers of foster care youth
    Pre-teen Development
    The Transition to Adulthood
    Personal rights of youth in care
    Emancipation

    ​Mental Health, Trauma and Special Needs
    ​Adolescent Mental Health Issues
    Adolescent Substance Abuse
    Depression and Bipolar Disorders
    Preventing Self Destructive Behaviors
    ADHD, ODD and Conduct Disorder
    Managing Anger and Aggression
    PTSD and Anxiety Disorders
    Psychotic Disorders
    How youth respond to conflict
    Microaggressions and their impact on youth in care
    Challenging Behavior Management
    Crisis Intervention
    Understanding Grief & Loss (Separation & Abandonment)
    The Impact of Trauma on Child Development and Learning
    Child Sexual Abuse: The Trauma and Impacts
    Understanding child abuse and caregiver reporting requirements
    The Abuse Spectrum
    Child Prostitution
    Helping To Heal Childhood Wounds
    Parents and Children of Addiction
    How Trauma Affects Separation and Attachment Milestones
    ​Unconditional Parenting: Managing the Unique Challenges of Severely Troubled Children
    Communication skills for young people with disabilities
    Conflict resolution with youth with developmental disabilities
    Identifying and meeting needs in work with youth with developmental disabilities
    Interdependence - Integrating youth with developmental disabilities into community
    Personal rights of youth with developmental disabilities in care
    Team building in work with youth with developmental disabilities
    The importance of supervision skills for youth with disabilities
    Understanding Autism


    ​Staff Development and Support
    ​Liability Issues and Reporting Requirements
    Legal and Ethical Issues
    Boundaries and Good Practice
    Stress Management for Youth Care Providers
    Time Management
    Team Building
    Creating a Positive Program Environment
    Communication Skills Working with Youth
    Using Strengths Based Approaches with Youth
    Behavioral Interventions with Youth
    Improving Education Outcomes with Youth
    Behavior modification with youth
    Community resources for foster youth
    Creating fun activities for youth in care
    Engaging reluctant families
    Identifying and meeting needs in work with youth
    Helping children with birth family connections
    Leadership skills in work with youth
    Supervising youth in group home settings
    Supporting Young People with Developmental Disabilities in the California Service System
    Transition and permanency planning for older youth
    Training for Trainers in Cultural Humility
    Working with:
    -Developmentally disabled youth in care
    -LGBTQ youth
    -Low functioning and difficult parents
    -Multi-generational teams
    -Special Needs Youth
    -Youth who run away from out of home placements
    Home Visiting for Home Visitors, Peer Mentors and Family Advocates
    Developing Effective Partnerships
    Outreach and Engagement to Hard-to-Reach Families
    External Stressors of Families of Origin

    For the Caregiver
    ​Compassion Fatigue : The Importance of Self-Care
    Understanding and Supporting the Process Of Grief and Loss in Children, Youth and Ourselves
    Stress Reduction Techniques for Caregivers of Foster Care Youth
    Integrating Nature Awareness into Programming for At-Risk Youth
    Inner Life Skills
    Self-Care Tools
    Breath-based Interventions
    Reading Body Language
    Movement and Balance as Interventions
    How My Buttons Get Pushed
    Preventing Burnout
    Secondary Trauma Parts 1 & 2


    ​Sexuality, LGBTQ and Cultural Issues
    ​Adolescent Sexuality Issues
    Creating supportive living environments for transgender youth
    Cycle of Oppression
    Cultural humility in any of the following topic areas:
    -Disability
    -Age
    -Religious faith
    -Social class
    -Sexual orientation
    -Sex and gender
    -Race
    -Ethnicity and culture of origin
    -Systemic oppression
    Human sexuality
    Human sexuality for youth with disabilities
    Multiculturalism
    Improving Services for LGBTQ Families of Color
    Teen Culture