UMFS' Learning Institute
UMFS’ Learning Institute offers powerful opportunities for learning that compel participants to grow and develop. More importantly, our programs have long-term positive effects on the quality of services offered by human services organizations. The Learning Institute primarily offers learning opportunities for adults who work with children, youth, and families, such as teachers, counselors, social workers, and mental health professionals; however, we open our doors to people and organizations interested in expanding their horizons.
We have developed a variety of workshops and learning opportunities of different lengths – from four hours to five days – and use a variety of learning approaches (including interactive group discussions, case scenarios, simulations, video, and lecture) to meet the needs of adult learners. To further define the opportunities offered by our Institute we have established three program tracks to easily identify classes:
- Creating safe and nurturing environments
- Developing effective supervisors
- Workplace essentials
You can attend workshops on our campus in Richmond, Virginia, or we can send our highly qualified facilitators to your location. Several programs are now offered in Northern Virginia.
The UMFS Learning Institute is dedicated to providing dynamic and quality courses that improve the skills and abilities of human service professionals and others. Fill out our interest form or call 804-353-4461, ext. 1290, for more information.
Response Ability Pathways™ (RAP)
Basic Training in Building Strengths. Response Ability Pathways - or simply RAP - offers basic training for dealing with challenging children and youth who are experiencing difficulty in the family, school, or community. Children and youth need supportive persons who respond to their needs rather than react to their problems. The three-day RAP certification course includes intensive experiential training on core response abilities for guiding children and youth on pathways to responsibility.
Life Space Crisis Intervention™ (LSCI)
UMFS is a national training site for the Life Space Crisis Institute of Hagerstown, Md. This five-day LSCI certification course provides carefully structured crisis intervention skills for use in reclaiming children and youth involved in patterns of self-defeating behavior. LSCI is applicable with troubled students in public schools, in residential and day treatment, special education, alternative schools, and in mental health and juvenile justice programs. LSCI provides specific competencies for using crisis as a teaching and therapeutic opportunity with students showing six different patterns of self-defeating behavior. This intervention model is a multi-modal psycho-educational methodology first described by Fritz Redl and David Wineman in their classic book, The Aggressive Child. Successful completion of this course allows for further advanced training and certification in LSCI from the Life Space Crisis Intervention Institute.
