PRIDE Training in New Hampshire: What Foster Parents Need to Know

When people search for "PRIDE training New Hampshire," they're typically looking for one of two things: either they've heard the term from a DCYF worker and want to know what they've signed up for, or they're deep in the application process and trying to figure out how to schedule 23 hours of required training around a full-time job and existing family obligations. This post answers both.

What New Hampshire Actually Uses: The CWEP Curriculum

New Hampshire previously used the PRIDE (Parent Resources for Information, Development, and Education) framework developed by CWLA. While the term "PRIDE training" still circulates in informal usage — you'll hear it from experienced foster parents and even from some district office staff — New Hampshire's current pre-service training is delivered through the Child Welfare Education Partnership (CWEP), operated through the University of New Hampshire.

The CWEP curriculum is the state's official pre-service training for all prospective foster and adoptive parents. It covers similar competency areas to PRIDE but is tailored to New Hampshire's specific legal framework, DCYF policies, and the demographic realities of the state's foster care population.

If someone tells you to "sign up for PRIDE training," they mean: register for the CWEP pre-service training cohort.

The 23-Hour Requirement: How It Breaks Down

Total pre-service training: 23 hours

The training is delivered in a hybrid format:

Self-Paced Online Modules (2 hours): Two 1-hour modules that you complete independently before your live sessions begin. These introduce the child welfare system, DCYF's organizational structure, and the legal framework for foster care in New Hampshire. You can complete these on your own schedule once you're registered.

Live Online Sessions (21 hours): Seven 3-hour sessions held via Zoom or Canvas, conducted in a cohort format with a trained facilitator. These are the substantive training sessions — they are not something you can watch on your own time. Attendance is required. Sessions are typically scheduled across several weeks, often on weekday evenings or Saturdays to accommodate working adults.

Basic Medication Overview: A mandatory separate course on safe medication administration for children in care. This is typically shorter and handled separately from the main 23-hour curriculum.

All pre-service training is free of charge.

What the Training Modules Cover

The live sessions are organized around the core competencies DCYF expects of licensed foster parents:

1. Overview of Child Welfare — The history and purpose of the child welfare system, DCYF's role, how the courts interact with DCYF, and where foster parents fit in the larger system

2. Reunification and Family Support — Working with birth parents, what "Family Time" (visitation) looks like, understanding concurrent planning (the simultaneous pursuit of reunification and a backup permanency goal), and how to maintain a constructive relationship with a child's biological family

3. Attachment and Child Development — How trauma disrupts healthy attachment, what developmental regression looks like in children who've experienced neglect or abuse, and practical strategies for building trust with a child who may have learned that adults are unsafe

4. Separation, Grief, and Loss — How children process the trauma of removal, what grief looks like at different developmental stages, and how to support a child in maintaining community connections (school, friends, activities) through placement

5. Sexual Trauma and Identity — Understanding and responding to sexualized behaviors in children who've experienced abuse, as well as supporting diverse social identities and the specific needs of LGBTQ+ youth in care

6. Parenting Paradigm and Trauma Behaviors — Adapting standard parenting approaches to children with trauma histories; behavior management strategies that recognize the role of trauma rather than attributing all difficult behavior to defiance

7. Safe Environment and Accessing Services — New Hampshire-specific home safety standards (He-C 6446), how to access support services, and the network of resources available to licensed foster families

Registration: The Destiny One System

As of 2024, all caregiver training registration in New Hampshire is processed through the Destiny One platform, which manages CWEP's registration and enrollment. If you've searched for registration links and hit dead ends or outdated pages, that's because the transition to Destiny One created a period of broken links and outdated information across both state and university websites. Contact your DCYF Resource Worker or reach out to CWEP directly through UNH to get the current registration link and the next cohort schedule.

The Cohort Format: Why Missing Sessions Is a Problem

This is the piece that trips up the most applicants. Because the live sessions are facilitated in a cohort — a group of families moving through the curriculum together — missing one session can knock you out of your cohort. If you miss a session, you must make it up before the training can be considered complete. Depending on availability, that makeup might be in the next cohort cycle, which could start weeks later. A single missed session can push your licensing date back by an entire training cycle.

Mitigation strategies:

• Choose a cohort schedule that realistically fits your calendar before registering
• Use Saturday options if weekday evening sessions conflict with work commitments
• Notify your facilitator as early as possible if a conflict arises — makeup options exist but are not guaranteed
• The hybrid virtual format reduces commute burden, but the live attendance requirement remains

Ongoing Training After Licensure

Pre-service training gets you licensed. Keeping your license requires ongoing annual training:

• General Care license: 8 hours per year (16 hours per 2-year renewal cycle)
• Specialized Care license: 12 hours per year (24 hours per 2-year cycle)

Ongoing training topics must cover child development, household management, or specialized medical care. CWEP continues to offer training options for licensed foster parents through the UNH platform.

Your annual training hours are documented on the Foster Parent Training Log (Form 2365), which you submit with your license renewal application every two years.

What Training Doesn't Prepare You For

The CWEP curriculum is substantive and genuinely useful. It will give you a framework for understanding trauma, a better sense of how DCYF operates, and practical language for the conversations you'll have with caseworkers and birth families.

What it cannot fully prepare you for is the specific texture of your first placement: a four-year-old who screams through the night because every previous placement has ended without warning, or a teenager who tests every boundary to see if you'll give up on them the way everyone else has. The classroom content is the foundation; the experience itself is where fostering actually gets learned.

The New Hampshire Foster Care Licensing Guide includes guidance on training scheduling, the Destiny One registration process, and what to do if you've missed a cohort session — written from the perspective of what actually slows families down, not just what the rules say.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is PRIDE training still the name used in New Hampshire?

Informally, yes — many foster parents, caseworkers, and agency staff still refer to pre-service training as "PRIDE training." Officially, New Hampshire uses the CWEP curriculum delivered through UNH. When you hear "PRIDE training" in the context of NH foster care, it means the same 23-hour pre-service training requirement.

Can I complete the training online?

The two self-paced introductory modules are fully online and completed independently. The seven 3-hour live sessions are conducted via web conferencing (Zoom/Canvas) but require real-time attendance with a facilitator and cohort — they cannot be watched on demand.

How long does the training take from start to finish?

The self-paced modules can be done in a day or two. The seven live sessions are spread across several weeks depending on the cohort schedule, typically 6-8 weeks total. You can complete the training concurrently with background checks and the home study — these phases run in parallel.

Is pre-service training free?

Yes. Pre-service training is provided free of charge to all prospective foster parents in New Hampshire.

Do kinship caregivers have to complete the training?

Kinship caregivers pursuing full licensure must complete the same pre-service training as non-relative applicants, subject to potential waiver of non-safety-related requirements through the DCYF Director. Contact your Resource Worker about the kinship licensing track and waiver eligibility.

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