With Father’s Day this weekend, there are some taking classes to learn how to become very special kind of father…foster parents. Des Moines Area Community College continuing education director Lois Kiester says all the state’s community colleges offer foster-parenting training, in cooperation with Iowa State University and the Department of Human Services.People willing to be foster parents face more than they may anticipate, and don’t always know what to ask. Kiester says the classes have been offered for about eight years. Kiester says foster parents take a series of four classes in all, to learn about issues like discipline, working with kids that are not their own, and providing for their needs. Kiester says all of Iowa’s community colleges offer classes for would-be foster parents, and she says there’s a lot of interest statewide.There are no textbooks, but Kiester says the class includes teachers and parents experienced with the foster-care system, and “lots of handouts.” She says there’s a lot to learn even for people who have a family already.
