ACT Facilitator Training
In response to concerns about the explosion of violence in neighborhoods across the country, John F. Kennedy University has partnered with the American Psychological Association (APA) to train facilitators of the APA’s Adults and Children Together (ACT) Raising Safe Kids program. JFK University is one of five APA Regional Training Centers for the ACT program and serves Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.
What is ACT Raising Safe Kids?
The mission of ACT is to educate and mobilize families, professionals, and communities to prevent violence against young children before it starts. The ACT Raising Safe Kids evidence-informed* curriculum is an eight-week education program that teaches caregivers from diverse backgrounds about basic child development, positive age-appropriate discipline, parenting styles, anger management skills, conflict resolution, media safety and other topics relevant to violence-prevention with children from birth to age 8.
Parents and caregivers who complete the ACT Raising Safe Kids program are equipped with the knowledge and skills to support young children in developing the mental and emotional resiliency they need to help protect them from violence in the world. The ACT Facilitator Training is a highly interactive and dynamic two-day workshop that prepares you to teach the ACT Raising Safe Kids program in your own community.
When I first came to the ACT Raising Safe Kids program, I thought my children were misbehaving to make my life more difficult. Now I know it is normal for children to misbehave because they are learning how to understand the world and relate to others and they don’t behave like adults, and it is easier for me to calm down and teach them how they should behave. - Father, after taking the ACT Raising Safe Kids program
Why Become an ACT Facilitator?
Becoming a facilitator for the ACT Raising Safe Kids program is an effective way to:
Who Should Attend this Training?
Anyone interested in helping to prevent violence against young children from birth to age 8 will benefit from becoming an ACT Facilitator. This includes social workers and case managers; counselors, therapists and psychologists; childcare workers, school counselors and teachers; law enforcement personnel; medical practitioners; and clergy. Parents and caregivers who are passionate about raising children safely also make wonderful ACT Facilitators.
What Do Participants Learn?
Through short lectures, group discussions, videos and experiential activities, participants learn:
Who Are the Facilitator Trainers?
The ACT facilitator trainers are JFK University faculty or professionals with advanced degrees who are actively working in the field of violence-prevention. Each is a Certified ACT Raising Safe Kids Program Facilitator and has taught the program in their own community.
14 Hours of CE Credit
Participants who complete the ACT Facilitator Training are eligible for 14 hours of CE credit for the APA and, in California, for the BBS and the BRN. Therapists-in training may also attend and should contact their state jurisdiction about counting hours toward their licensure. Members of other professions should save their course outline and certificate of completion and contact their own board or licensing organization to get their specific Continuing Education Credit filing requirements.
Upcoming Training Dates
The following ACT Facilitator Trainings are scheduled for 2011. Additional dates may be scheduled. Call (925) 969-3131 for details.
July 13-14, 2012 - Pleasant Hill, CA
November 9-10, 2012 - Pleasant Hill, CA
The Training begins at 9 a.m. and concludes at 5 p.m. each day.
To register for these workshops, please see the links on the right side of the page. For airport and hotel information, email actprograms@jfku.edu
For further information about the ACT Raising Safe Kids program or Facilitator Training, please contact:
Della Combs
Director, ACT Western Region Training Center
dcombs@jfku.edu
(925) 969-3400
The ACT Program is supported by grants from The Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation and the American Psychological Association.
* Research funded by the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and conducted in 2010 by the Battelle Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation in Baltimore, MD, indicates that the ACT Raising Safe Kids Program is a successful model and curriculum to prepare professionals and other adults to disseminate early violence-prevention knowledge and skills.