Wyoming PRIDE Training in Rural Districts: What to Do When the Next Cohort Is Months Away

If you've decided to become a foster parent in Wyoming, completed the DFS orientation, and are now trying to figure out when the PRIDE training happens — and you can't find a clear answer — that is not a sign that you missed something. It is the normal experience for prospective Wyoming foster parents, and it has a name: the PRIDE gap. This page explains why PRIDE training scheduling is opaque in rural Wyoming, what the actual options are, and what you can do today to avoid a months-long delay that has nothing to do with your qualifications.

What Is the PRIDE Gap?

PRIDE (Parents Resource for Information, Development, and Education) is Wyoming's mandatory pre-service foster care training. It is a 30-hour curriculum delivered across multiple sessions, covering trauma-informed parenting, attachment and separation, family systems, and working as a member of a professional team with DFS and the courts. Completing PRIDE is a licensing requirement — you cannot be certified without it.

In urban areas of larger states, PRIDE cohorts run monthly. In Wyoming's rural DFS districts, cohorts run when there are enough applicants to fill one — which typically means two or three times per year. A family in Sublette County, Campbell County, or Uinta County who starts their application in January may find that the next available PRIDE training in their district begins in April at the earliest, or not until September.

This is not a policy failure or a bureaucratic error. It is a population reality. Wyoming is the least populous state in the country, spread across nearly 98,000 square miles. There are not enough prospective foster families in any given rural district to fill a PRIDE cohort every month. DFS runs cohorts when they have enough registrants to make the training viable.

The result is a predictable delay that catches families off guard. They've completed the orientation. They've gotten on the application. They're motivated and ready. And then they find out they need to wait four months for a training that only runs twice a year — and nobody told them upfront, because the DFS website doesn't publish a district-by-district PRIDE calendar.

How to Find Out When PRIDE Runs in Your District

The right move is to contact your DFS district office directly and ask: "When is the next PRIDE cohort in this district, and how do I get on the waitlist?"

This call should happen in the first week of your application process — ideally before or on the same day you submit your initial application packet. The PRIDE calendar is not publicly posted. The scheduling is managed at the district level by the Foster Care Coordinator or the licensing staff for your district. The only way to get the information is to ask for it.

Wyoming's DFS district offices include: Cheyenne, Casper, Gillette, Sheridan, Laramie, Rock Springs, Jackson, Riverton, Lander, and Worland. Each district serves multiple counties. Know which district serves your county before you call — this information is on the DFS website.

When you call, ask specifically:

• When is the next scheduled PRIDE cohort?
• How many spots are currently open?
• What do I need to have submitted to be eligible to register?
• Is there a virtual option available?

Getting on the waitlist early is the most direct way to reduce the PRIDE gap. If the next cohort starts in eight weeks and you get on the waitlist immediately, you are in. If you wait six weeks to make the call, you may miss that cohort and wait for the next one.

The Virtual VILT Option

Wyoming DFS now offers a virtual instructor-led training (VILT) option for PRIDE. This is significant for rural families, because it eliminates the need to travel to a district office for each session.

Virtual PRIDE operates on the same 30-hour curriculum as in-person training, delivered over video conferencing (typically Zoom). Sessions are generally spread over two to three weeks to avoid virtual fatigue while maintaining engagement. The virtual option is instructor-led — it is not a self-paced online course — which means it still runs on a schedule, with the same cohort dynamics and trainer evaluation as in-person sessions.

Not every DFS district offers VILT at every cohort cycle. Ask your district office specifically: "Do you offer virtual PRIDE sessions, and if so, when is the next one?" For families in remote counties where getting to the nearest district office requires a three-hour round trip, the VILT option can mean the difference between a manageable process and a logistically burdensome one.

Foster Parent College: Supplemental Online Training

Foster Parent College is an online training resource that Wyoming DFS approves for certain supplemental and continuing education purposes. It is not a substitute for PRIDE — it does not fulfill the pre-service training requirement. But it is relevant in two ways:

First, completing Foster Parent College modules before and during your PRIDE training gives you a stronger foundation for the PRIDE sessions themselves. If you're sitting in a PRIDE session on trauma-informed discipline, having already worked through related modules online means you're engaging with the material at a deeper level rather than encountering it for the first time.

Second, after you are licensed, Foster Parent College is an approved source for the 18–24 hours of annual in-service training required for Wyoming license renewal. This is important for rural families who may not have easy access to in-person continuing education events. Knowing that online options count toward your annual requirement reduces the ongoing logistical burden of maintaining your license.

What Happens During PRIDE: The 30-Hour Curriculum

PRIDE is organized around five core competencies that Wyoming DFS expects from licensed foster parents:

1. Protecting and nurturing children — physical and emotional safety, age-appropriate expectations
2. Meeting children's developmental needs — understanding developmental disruption from trauma and neglect
3. Supporting children's relationships with their birth families — the foster parent's role in reunification
4. Connecting children to safe, lasting relationships — when reunification doesn't occur, what permanency looks like
5. Working as a member of a professional team — the MDT structure, your role with DFS, the courts, and other service providers

Sessions typically include group discussion, case scenarios, and direct skill-building exercises. Trainers are evaluating participants throughout — not to fail people, but to identify where more support or preparation is needed before a placement is made. Going into PRIDE having already thought about these five competencies in your own family context makes the sessions more productive.

Specific topics across the session sequence include: attachment and connection; loss and grief for children removed from their homes; the impact of abuse and neglect on development; trauma-informed discipline; substance use and its effects on children; and cultural sensitivity and ICWA for children with tribal eligibility.

Planning Your Application Timeline Around PRIDE

The strategic approach to PRIDE scheduling:

Week 1: Contact your DFS district office. Ask about the next PRIDE cohort and the VILT option. Get on the waitlist.

Weeks 1–4: Initiate your DCI fingerprint background check at the same time. The 31-to-60-day FBI processing window runs while you're on the PRIDE waitlist and while you're completing other application steps. The fingerprint check is the longest single processing step in the application — starting it early means it doesn't become the final bottleneck.

Weeks 4–12: Complete PRIDE training when your cohort runs. During the same period, gather your five references, write your autobiographical statement, and schedule your home inspection.

Post-PRIDE: Your DFS licensing worker will schedule the home study interviews once PRIDE is complete and background checks have returned. With all components moving in parallel, the total timeline from application to licensure runs three to six months. Applicants who wait to start PRIDE until they've completed other steps add that waiting time to the end of their timeline.

Who This Is For

• Prospective foster parents in rural Wyoming districts who want to understand when PRIDE runs and how to get a spot
• Families who have started their application but can't find clear information about training availability
• Families who want to know whether a virtual option exists so they don't have to drive to the district office for every session
• Families who want to understand what PRIDE covers so they can prepare and engage with the material effectively

Who This Is NOT For

• Licensed foster parents who have already completed PRIDE and are looking for renewal training resources
• Families seeking adoption-specific training (PRIDE is the pre-service requirement for foster care licensing; adoption has separate training components)
• Applicants in Cheyenne, Casper, or other population centers where cohorts run more frequently — the PRIDE gap is primarily a rural district challenge

Tradeoffs: Virtual vs. In-Person PRIDE

In-person PRIDE:

• Richer group dynamic — you meet other prospective foster families who become a local support network
• Easier trainer observation and real-time skill practice
• Requires travel to district office for each session — logistically difficult for families more than 90 minutes from the office
• Cohort scheduling is tied to district staffing and applicant volume

Virtual PRIDE (VILT):

• Accessible from home — eliminates multi-hour round trips
• Same curriculum and trainer-led format as in-person
• Less spontaneous group connection (manageable, but different)
• Not available at every cohort cycle — confirm availability with your district

For most rural Wyoming families, the VILT option removes the primary practical barrier to completing PRIDE. The 30 hours of curriculum are the same; the outcome is the same. The difference is that you don't have to arrange childcare and drive four hours for each session.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I find the PRIDE training schedule on the DFS website?

DFS does not publish a centralized, public PRIDE calendar. Training schedules are managed at the district level and are responsive to applicant volume — cohorts form when there are enough registrants, not on a fixed monthly cycle. The only way to get accurate scheduling information is to call your district office directly and ask about the next cohort and waitlist procedures.

How long is each PRIDE session, and how many are there?

The total PRIDE requirement is 30 hours, typically delivered across five to seven sessions. Session length varies by district and delivery format — in-person sessions are often three to four hours each, with multiple sessions per week or week-long intensive formats. Virtual sessions may be structured differently to reduce screen fatigue. Your district office can tell you the specific session structure for the upcoming cohort.

Can my co-applicant and I attend different cohorts?

No. Both applicants in a two-adult household must complete PRIDE. In most cases, both applicants attend the same cohort together. Some districts may accommodate situations where co-applicants attend separate cohorts (for scheduling reasons), but this is not standard practice and requires DFS approval. Assume you and your co-applicant will attend the same cohort when planning your schedule.

Does PRIDE training expire if I don't complete the rest of the application?

Wyoming DFS PRIDE completion is generally valid for a defined period within the licensing process. If you complete PRIDE and then delay the rest of your application for an extended period (typically more than a year), you may be required to repeat training. Avoid the PRIDE gap for this reason too: once you complete training, complete the rest of the licensing process without extended interruption.

What if I don't pass PRIDE?

PRIDE is not a pass/fail exam. Trainers assess whether participants are engaging with the material and developing the core competencies — they are looking for readiness, not perfection. In rare cases, a trainer may identify significant concerns about a family's preparedness and share that assessment with DFS. This is an unusual outcome. The overwhelming majority of families who complete PRIDE do so successfully. If a trainer raises questions about your readiness, treat it as feedback rather than rejection — it may result in additional preparation or training rather than disqualification.

The Wyoming Foster Care Licensing Guide covers the PRIDE curriculum in detail — session by session — including the virtual VILT option for rural families, a PRIDE Session Tracker worksheet, and guidance on continuing education requirements for annual license renewal.

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