Foster Parent Training in Oregon: The RAFT Curriculum Explained

Oregon replaced its older PRIDE training model with a newer curriculum called RAFT — Resource and Adoptive Family Training. If you have been reading about foster care in Oregon for any length of time, you may have encountered references to "Foundations training" as well — this is the same curriculum, sometimes referred to by both names in ODHS communications.

What you need to know is that RAFT is mandatory, free, and more substantive than most pre-service training programs in other states. Here is what it covers and how to navigate it.

What RAFT Is and Why It Replaced PRIDE

The PRIDE curriculum (Parent Resources for Information, Development, and Education) was the national standard for many years. Oregon moved to RAFT because the state wanted training that reflected its specific child welfare context — the disproportionate representation of children from substance-affected families, the LGBTQ+ affirmation mandate, the Oregon Indian Child Welfare Act, and the emphasis on trauma-informed care that characterizes the state's "Vision for Transformation."

RAFT is not a generic overview of foster care. It is designed specifically for what Oregon resource parents will encounter.

The Nine Sessions

RAFT consists of nine sessions totaling 27 hours of training. Sessions are delivered by ODHS staff or contracted trainers and are available in virtual, in-person, or hybrid formats depending on your district.

Session 1 — Introduction: Overview of the Oregon child welfare system, the role of the resource parent within the professional team, and what certification looks like in practice. This session sets the tone: you are a partner in the system, not a service provider outside of it.

Session 2 — Attachment: Oregon uses Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) as its framework for understanding how trauma affects attachment. The "4 S's" of secure attachment — Seen, Safe, Soothed, Secure — form the core conceptual vocabulary you will use throughout your caregiving. This session is foundational for everything that follows.

Session 3 — LGBTQ+ Affirmation: Oregon law requires resource parents to provide an affirming environment for children regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. This session is mandatory, not optional, and it covers the specific OAR (OAR 413-200-0308) that codifies the affirmation standard. It also addresses the statistical reality that approximately 40% of youth in Oregon foster care identify as LGBTQ+ or non-binary — a disproportionate figure that reflects the connection between family rejection and system involvement.

Session 4 — Grief and Trauma: Addresses ambiguous loss — the particular kind of grief that children in foster care experience when a parent is alive but absent, when a family exists but cannot be lived in. This session covers the long-term developmental impact of complex childhood trauma and what resource parents can do to support healing without inadvertently retraumatizing.

Session 5 — Safety and Reporting: Oregon's mandatory reporting laws under ORS 419B.010. Resource parents are mandated reporters from the moment of certification. This session covers what constitutes reportable abuse or neglect, how to report to the ODHS child abuse hotline (1-855-503-SAFE), and what happens after a report is made. It also covers home safety management and the practical implications of OAR 413-200.

Session 6 — Sibling Bonds: Oregon's child welfare system takes sibling attachment seriously. This session covers the Sibling Bill of Rights, how placement decisions regarding sibling groups are made, and what resource parents can do to maintain sibling connections when children are placed separately.

Session 7 — Reunification: This is the session that surprises most applicants. It covers how to build a functional, professional relationship with the birth parents of children in your care — not just how to tolerate visitation, but how to actively support the reunification that Oregon law treats as the primary permanency goal. Resource parents who complete this session with genuine engagement rather than resistance consistently report better outcomes for children and for themselves.

Session 8 — Cultural Identity: Transracial and transcultural placements require specific attention. This session covers the legal framework of ICWA and ORICWA, the ethical responsibilities of resource parents in maintaining a child's cultural connections, and practical strategies for supporting a child's racial and cultural identity in the home.

Session 9 — Permanence: Therapeutic life story work — helping a child build a coherent narrative of their own history — and preparation for adoption or guardianship when reunification is not achieved. This session brings the concurrent planning framework into practical application.

How to Register

You register for RAFT through a Workday Learning account, which is the ODHS training management system. Your certifier will help you set up this account during the early stages of your application. The account tracks your session completion throughout your certification process and records your ongoing training hours after you are licensed.

What Happens If You Miss a Session

RAFT sessions are not interchangeable. If you miss a specific session, you generally must wait for the next available cohort that includes that module before your training completion can be certified. In practice, this can delay your certification by weeks or months, depending on how frequently cohorts run in your district.

The exception is rural eastern Oregon, where ODHS has made "Just-in-Time" on-demand training modules available to bridge gaps in cohort scheduling. If you are in a district where sessions run infrequently, ask your certifier about on-demand options early.

Ongoing Training Requirements After Certification

Initial RAFT completion certifies you for your first two-year certification period. After that, Oregon requires 30 hours of continuing education every two-year cycle to maintain your certificate.

Acceptable continuing education topics include advanced trauma management, cultural competency and ICWA, age-specific developmental training, therapeutic parenting strategies, and other ODHS-approved content. All hours must be logged in your Workday Learning account.

The Oregon Post Adoption Resource Center (ORPARC) offers a substantial library of continuing education modules that count toward this requirement and are available to foster and adoptive families statewide.

Relative and Kinship Caregiver Training

RAFT is mandatory for non-relative applicants and strongly recommended — but not identically required — for relative caregivers. Kinship families typically follow a modified process under OAR Division 203, but they are expected to complete safety-focused training and may be required to complete specific RAFT sessions depending on the district and the child's needs.

For a session-by-session breakdown of the RAFT curriculum including what to expect from each module, how to fit the 27 hours into a working professional's schedule, and what continuing education options ORPARC offers, see the Oregon Foster Care Licensing Guide.

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