Gift of Love: Training conference aims to educate East Texans on how to better serve foster children

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Registration is underway for an annual East Texas conference dedicated to making sure training is available to the men and women who serve the foster children in our communities.

Anna Thomas, vice president of the East Texas Network for Children, said preparation is well underway for their 35th annual training conference in Tyler.

“A lot of CPS workers come, CASA workers come. Anybody that has anything to do with children in foster care. Foster parents, foster to adopt parents, even babysitters,” Thomas said.

This is in addition to therapists, probation officers, teachers, youth leaders, and more.

“Just to educate people on what the needs are of these kids. So to educate them on how to handle trauma. How to handle the sensory needs. How to handle behavior. Anything that these kids are going through... Which is all of those things, especially when they come out of the foster care system,” Thomas said.

It’s a collaboration of professionals under one roof for two days, offering what Thomas says is “priceless information” for the continuously growing number of foster kids in East Texas.

As a response to the pandemic and a drop in attendance, Thomas said this year’s theme is about increasing awareness and growth.

“We just want to grow people’s knowledge about working with these kids,” Thomas said. “People won’t step forward because they don’t know. They don’t know what it looks like.”

For more information on how you can register for the East Texas Network for Children Conference, click here.

Copyright 2023 KLTV. All rights reserved.