Signal Mountain Bible Church is offering an opportunity on the mountain for people to take the Tennessee Department of Children's Services' Parents as Tender Healers program, which potential foster parents must attend in order to become certified through the state.
The seven-week class will be held at the church Tuesdays starting Feb. 7 from 6-9 p.m., aside from March 7 and 14, when the class will run from 5:30-9:30 p.m.
The idea to host the class came following SMBC's first Give Love Foster and Adoption Conference last March, when the church hosted representatives from foster care and adoption agencies to answer common questions people have when considering fostering or adopting a child. The goal was to provide people interested in fostering or adopting with the information necessary to take the next step, said teaching pastor Louis Belva, who had recently fostered and adopted a daughter with wife Kasey.
The conference was a success, drawing about 75 attendees, including at least three families who left wanting to foster children, Kasey Belva said. But each of the interested families have other children, and the required Parents as Tender Healers classes aren't appropriate for children.
Since no child care is offered for class participants at the Chambliss Center for Children, where the class is typically held, the church contacted DCS to arrange for a special class to be offered on the mountain, she said.
"As Christians, we're called to take care of vulnerable children, and the church feels very passionate about that," Kasey Belva said, as to why the church wanted to host the class. "We want to make the path to becoming a foster parent as easy as possible."
Topics to be covered include the child welfare system, the impact of trauma, CPR, first aid, effective discipline and administering medication.
She said the class is not the only requirement to become a certified foster parent; the process also involves an interview and home study by DCS.
The deadline to register for the class is Feb. 6, but walk-ins may be accepted depending on space. People who want to take advantage of the child care during the class must register separately with Amy Graves, church secretary, at 886-1981.
Attendees must bring the names, addresses and phone numbers of five references to the first class, as well as the Social Security numbers of everyone in the household, including children.
Signal Mountain Bible Church is at 4872 Shackleford Ridge Road. To register for the class, email inserviceregistration@harmonyfamilycenter.org or call 844-728-4486.
Email Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com.