Nevada
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Pre-Service Training

Foster and adoptive parents are required to complete pre-service training. The Nevada Division of Child & Family Services is the licensing agency for 15 rural counties, and families complete eight hours of online pre-service training. Clark County Family Services has responsibility for the licensing of foster parents for Clark County residents and contracts with Raise the Future to provide pre-service training curriculum to prospective foster parents. Clark County encourages prospective foster parents to complete a 24-hour training based on the Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI®) model, provided by Raise the Future. Washoe County requires completion of the 18-hour Have a Heart pre-service training.  

Statewide, relatives licensed as foster or adoptive parents complete the 15-hour Caring for Own training offered by Foster Kinship. Kinship providers can be licensed after completing the first 8 hours in the rural counties and after 9 hours in Washoe County.

Services Offered Through the State’s Post-Permanency Support Program

The Nevada Division of Child & Family Services contracts with Foster Kinship and Raise the Future to provide post-permanency services for families in Nevada. Clark County also contracts with both Foster Kinship and Raise the Future to enhance the post-permanency supports available in that county. Washoe County contracts with Raise the Future for TBRI® training.  

In Washoe County and the rural counties, public agency staff also provide post-permanency services directly. 

Foster Kinship operates the Thriving After program to offer post-permanency services for adoptive and guardianship families statewide.

Services include:

Thriving After can arrange for a local therapy provider to conduct a mental/behavioral health assessment for the child, parent(s), or both. Assessments are done in the Thriving After office or by telehealth. If the assessment shows that therapy is needed, the provider will help the families access the appropriate services in the community.

Thriving After staff provide one–on–one support for families as they work toward goals identified during the assessment. Staff assist with linking families to appropriate resources. The services listed below, other than support groups and information and referral, are available only to families receiving case management services. 

The program offers a variety of support groups including in-person groups for relative caregivers, Spanish-speaking families, and adoptive and guardianship parents, plus a support group for children and teens and an advocacy group for teens. Two groups—one on managing difficult behaviors and one on trauma-informed parenting—are more psychoeducational and led by a Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®) practitioner. Support groups are in person, virtual, or hybrid. The program also offers two private Facebook support groups. 

Families have access to four hours of respite every month. In Clark County, respite is provided by Foster Kinship’s trauma-informed child care staff and is scheduled at families’ convenience when the center is open (Tuesday to Friday evenings until 9 pm and on Saturdays). Families can choose to have care provided one-on-one or in a group with other children. Outside Clark County, families receive respite vouchers.

Thriving After’s helpline provides information, support, and referrals to families. The program offers free consultations with TBRI® practitioners who assist in identifying resources in the community based on the child’s needs, as well as training on trauma-informed parenting techniques. It also provides community support and navigational resources for children with autism and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Staff can provide assistance in helping families navigate the Medicaid, TANF, and SNAP programs. 

A variety of training opportunities are available including TBRI® trainings, other topic-based trainings, and an annual conference. 

The program hosts casual meet-ups for families in the Las Vegas area to meet and network with others.  

For more information, visit 

https://www.fosterkinship.org/thriving-after-post-permanency-program/  

Raise the Future provides the following post-permanency supports using the TBRI® model to adoptive families, guardianship families, kinship families, and reunified biological families. Services can be offered before adoption or guardianship finalization.  

Families and professionals can attend various TBRI® trainings in person, in home, or online. Classes include the six-hour TBRI® Introduction and Overview training plus an additional 21 hours of Principal classes. The TBRI® Conversations video series is available online to support continued learning and implementation of TBRI® following completion of the TBRI® Caregiver Training Series. Raise the Future also offers an extensive library of recorded classes on topics such as permanency, trauma, attachment, behavioral and developmental challenges, and educational needs.

After completion of the TBRI® Caregiver training, families in Clark County are encouraged to participate in monthly Implementation and Connection Groups, facilitated by TBRI® practitioners, to ensure they receive ongoing support, training, and coaching in the group setting. Connection Groups are designed for the whole family, so both children and caregivers can build connections and support with other families.

After completion of the TBRI® training, caregivers are eligible for coaching services through which caregivers are provided guidance and support on how to implement TBRI® principles. Coaching schedule, goals, and format are customized to the family and their needs. Caregivers can also receive TBRI® training on an individualized one-on-one basis. In Clark County, the coaching program is provided in person at the caregiver’s home. For rural counties and Washoe, the coaching program is provided virtually.

Staff connect families to community resources, including mental health, special education resources, child development, behavioral health services, and support groups. A lending library is available to parents and professionals with free shipping. Families also can receive a monthly newsletter with information about family support workshops, service availability, and training schedule.

For more information, visit https://www.raisethefuture.org/family-support/nevada.

Post-permanency services in Washoe County include the following: 

County clinical staff conduct an in-person child or family assessment when there is a crisis or a serious need for support. 

Families who need post-permanency supports can receive case management services to help them access services from the county or in the community. Services can include child and family team meetings. Support may be provided in the home until the family is connected to community-based services. 

Clinical services can be provided in home or virtually.  

The county’s clinical team offers therapeutic supports for families in crisis.  

The county offers clinical support groups for parents and children. 

Families receive a quarterly post-adoption newsletter. Staff are also available to make recommendations for community-based services.

In the rural counties, services include: 

The clinical team can work with families to conduct an assessment of the child’s and family’s needs.

Clinical staff provide counseling to the adoptive or guardianship family. When necessary, support services can be provided in the family’s home. 

Staff provide families with answers to questions and referrals to community-based services. 

In fiscal year 2024, the Thriving After program provided case management services to 665 families, most from Clark County. Washoe County served about 30 to 40 families during that time.  

Geographic Area Covered

There are three service regions in Nevada: Clark County, Washoe County, and the rural counties, comprised of the remaining counties in the state. As noted above, Washoe and the rural counties offer their own post-permanency supports in addition to those provided by the contracted private agencies.  

The two private agencies’ services are available statewide, except Raise the Future’s support groups, which are available only in Clark County. The agency’s parent coaching is available in home only in Clark County and is virtual elsewhere. Raise the Future has staff who work remotely around the state and other staff who travel to provide training, and provides some services virtually to reach the entire state.  

Thriving After has offices in Clark County and in Washoe County, and some services are provided virtually outside Clark County. 

Eligible Population for the Overall Post-Permanency Program

  • All families who adopted from the state’s foster care system

  • All families who adopted from foster care in other states, territories, or tribes 

  • All families who adopted through intercountry adoption 

  • All families who adopted through private adoption 

  • All families who have guardianship of a child from foster care  

Variations in Eligibility for the Post-Permanency Program

Raise the Future also serves kinship caregivers and reunified biological families.   

Foster Kinship provides support to other kinship families and to adoptive and guardianship families before finalization, but through other programs and funding sources. 

 

Accessibility

Washoe County and the rural counties use a language line or bilingual staff to serve families whose primary language is not English. Staff consider the family’s culture when providing services. When serving interracial families, they offer resources that are tailored to these families or for children of color.  

The contracts with the private agencies require the provision of culturally responsive services to diverse families.  

The Thriving After program offers all services in English and Spanish, and uses interpreters as needed if families speak other languages. The majority of the program staff are bilingual and many have lived expertise as kinship caregivers and foster/adoptive parents. They offer support groups and other services focused on the needs of relative caregiving families. They also offer a support group in Spanish. The agency is certified through the Human Rights Campaign’s All Children-All Families initiative to provide inclusive services to the LGBTQ2S+ community, and all staff are skilled at serving the community. 

Raise the Future offers training and services in English and Spanish, using Spanish-speaking staff. The agency is certified by the Human Rights Campaign’s All Children-All Families initiative to provide inclusive services to the LGBTQ2S+ community. All Raise the Future staff attend yearly training and are skilled at serving the community. Raise the Future provides a training session on placement stability for all prospective foster parents and addresses ways to support children and youth by honoring and learning about their culture, traditions, and heritage.  

 

Outreach and Engagement

Clark County shares information about post-permanency services through email, social media, and a caregiver newsletter. When they send the subsidy agreement to the family, they include a letter and a flyer that provides information about Foster Kinship’s Thriving After program. The county also provides support information in an annual letter.  

Washoe County provides information about available services within six months of finalization.  They also share information through a quarterly post-adoption newsletter and an annual letter.  

In the rural counties, families receive information through an annual letter.   

Both Raise the Future and Foster Kinship do their own outreach to families. Raise the Future meets with county staff monthly to talk about the program. They exhibit at community events and share information through partnerships with children’s organizations. Foster Kinship uses social media and community events for outreach. In addition, they receive contact information from Clark County on all families as they finalize adoptions or guardianships, and they send a gift card to congratulate them and to share information about the Thriving After program. They follow up with email and phone calls.  

How the Post-Permanency Program Is Operated

  • Through contracts or grants with multiple private agencies offering different services 

  • By specialized county post-permanency support workers 

  • By other state staff

Notes About Who Provides Which Service(s)

The State of Nevada and Clark County contract with two organizations—Foster Kinship and Raise the Future—to provide the post-permanency services described above. Washoe County also contracts with Raise the Future to provide TBRI® training. 

Clark County staff provide information and referral. Washoe County has specialized post-permanency staff members who provide services directly. Supports in the rural counties are provided by a state DFS staff member with support from other clinical team members. 

Adoption/Guardianship Assistance/Subsidy Review and Changes

The adoption subsidy and guardianship KinGAP assistance must be reviewed at least annually or when the child/family’s circumstances change. Annual contact with the family is required to verify the child remains in the home and the family continues to support the child. In addition, a determination is made that the subsidy meets the needs of the child.  

Adoptive parents and guardians may request a change in the assistance agreement whenever there is a change in the family’s circumstances or the child’s needs. Modifications to the agreement can be made at any time or at the annual review. Parents must submit a written request on the annual assistance review form sent to the family. If the change is needed at a time other than at the annual review, families may contact their adoption/guardianship assistance worker to request a form. Written explanation of the change in the family’s circumstances or documentation of child’s needs must accompany the review form. A worker will contact the family to discuss the request, negotiate payment amounts, and address any other service-related needs.  

Tracking Adoption/Guardianship Discontinuity

Tracking is done differently for each of the three areas of the state. In Washoe County, a team uses a spreadsheet to track re-entries. The team analyzes the data periodically to identify populations with higher risks and often seeks to implement services to address those risks, such as adding new training for families of adolescents. 

For the rural counties, state staff track data on discontinuity on a spreadsheet. They determine if some jurisdictions have higher rates of instability than others and seek to understand and address the causes. For specific cases, they bring together leaders from the area where the discontinuity occurred to discuss and assess if there were any concerns before adoption and if there were reports after adoption. The goal is to evaluate if resources could have prevented the disruption or dissolution.   

In Clark County, Foster Kinship reports to county staff when families are struggling. County staff also track if an adoption subsidy terminates.  

 

Post-Permanency Program Spending (FY 2023)

Information not available.

Funding Sources for the Post-Permanency Program (FY 2023)

  • Title IV-B, Part 1 (Child Welfare Services/CWS) 
  • Title IV-B, Part 2 (Promoting Safe and Stable Families/PSSF)
  • Adoption savings (reported on CB 496 Part 4 – Annual Adoption Savings Report) 
  • Adoption/Guardianship Incentive Program Payments (AIPP) 
  • Title XX, Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) 
  • Title IV-A, TANF 
  • Other state funds
  • County funds
  • Other (listed below):
    • Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funds 

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