Every Moment Matters

The Residential Child Care Project has developed a new training program for foster parents, birth parents, and the staff who work with them. 

This new training program is designed to help foster parents, foster care staff, and parents create conditions where children can heal, grow, and thrive. The in-person group format allows for an enriching learning experience where participants will learn and practice a wide variety of concepts, skills, and strategies including:

• the power of human connection,

• the importance of birth families and the process of shared parenting,

• the impact of trauma and how to respond in ways that help children heal, and

• how to respond to children in distress.

Participants in the training will learn skills to assess and respond to children in distress along with effective tools for strengthening relationships and supporting children's social-emotional development. This new training will also focus on developmental trauma and how to maintain family and cultural connections that support children's healing.  Topic areas include, but are not limited to:

• The role of adults in providing healing experiences and achieving positive outcomes for children.

• Emotional competence.

• The importance of working collaboratively with birth families.

• The importance of relationships and developmental interactions.

• Listening to understand and attuned responsiveness.

• Creating conditions for calm in the home.

• Trauma and its effect on the brain.

• Assessment skills.

• The Stress Gauge (understanding a child’s behavior and what is driving it).

• SUPPORT (a universal set of principles and strategies for effective co-regulation).

• LEARN (a relational conversation for growth and learning

WANT MORE INFO?

Please contact Richard Heresniak at rh232@cornell.edu.

EMM has been developed as part of a project between the Residential Child Care Project (RCCP) at Cornell University and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Every Moment Matters Train the Trainer (EMM TxT)

The EMM program is offered through a Train-the Trainer (TxT) model that allows agencies to maintain the ability to train families and staff affiliated with their own agency.

• Two trainers are recommended when facilitating EMM.
• Course fees and hotel costs (for those unable to commute daily) are currently covered through SAMHSA grant funding.
  

We have the following courses scheduled:    

July 20-24, 2026, in Clarksburg, WV
August 24-28, 2026, in Ithaca, NY

Please click here to submit an application for available EMM TxT dates.

Additional dates and locations to be announced on the RCCP website at https://rccp.cornell.edu

Questions regarding EMM TxT registration?

• Please contact Alissa Medero at ab358@cornell.edu.