FFF

Formed Families Together VIRTUAL peer support group meetings 25-26
2026-05-03 19:30 - 21:00, 2026-03-01 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
For adoptive and foster parents and kinship caregivers, these monthly virtual support groups are hosted by FFF. Formed Families Together support groups are facilitated by trained peer parents/caregivers who have lived experience with foster care, adoption and kinship care. The virtual group meets the first Sunday of each month from 7:30 – 9 PM. Register to receive the log-in specifics. A reminder email will be sent to registrants monthly.
Interested participants can register any time; the groups have open enrollment but all participants must be registered through our link.

Spring Forward Family Fun Day
2026-04-18 08:30 - 14:00 | GMU Science and Tech campus, 10900 University Blvd, Manassas, VA
Just for foster, adoptive and kinship families and family-serving professionals, this annual event has it all! Activities for the children and youth, while parents and caregivers enjoy personal and professional development. Lunch provided.
Registration open now! Click the link below for more event information, registration, and sponsorship information.
Businesses, providers, organizations, agencies are invited to sponsor Spring Forward Family Fun Day! Learn more HERE.

Fairfax Kinship Family Support Group IN-PERSON 2025-26
2026-04-16 18:15 - 20:00, 2026-03-19 18:15 - 20:00, 2026-02-19 18:15 - 20:00
Are you raising a child for a relative or close family friend? Kinship caregivers are invited to our Fairfax Kinship Support Group!
The Fairfax Kinship Support Group provides a safe, nurturing, and healthy environment for caregivers to share their experiences, concerns, and frustrations with their peers. The group offers a network to share resources and information among the group members, reducing feelings of isolation, and celebrating family successes in maintaining permanency for and the ongoing commitment to building strong families. Peer support can be critical to caregiver self-care and can contribute to healthy family functioning and improved outcomes for children and youth.
The group is FREE of charge. Meetings are facilitated by professional mental health clinicians who have deep experience with kinship families.
The group meets twice a month, in two formats virtual and in-person. The IN PERSON group meets at different Community Center locations around the County. Registrants will receive email reminders of location.
NOTE: Fairfax Kinship Support Group will NOT meet in JULY.

Once registered, you will get reminders for BOTH group formats. Kinship caregivers may participate in both virtual AND in-person meetings or choose the format that works best.
See the registration site for all the meeting dates and formats.
FLYER HERE.

Formed Families Together IN PERSON support group 25 - 26
2026-04-15 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-03-18 19:00 - 20:30 | Formed Families Forward Office, 10304 Eaton Place, Suite 100, Fairfax, VA, 22030, United States
For adoptive and foster parents and kinship caregivers, these monthly IN PERSON support groups are hosted by FFF. Formed Families Together support groups are facilitated by trained peer parents/caregivers who have lived experience with foster care, adoption and kinship care. The in-person group meets the third Wednesday of each month from 7 – 8:30 PM.
Interested participants can register any time; the groups have open enrollment but all participants must be registered through our link.

Formed Families Together VIRTUAL peer support group meetings 25-26
2026-04-12 19:30 - 21:00
Typically on the first Sunday, in April 2026, the virtual meeting will be on Sunday, April 12 at 7:30 PM.
Register at link below if you are not already registered for the Formed Families Together group.

Fairfax Kinship Family Support Group VIRTUAL 2025-26
2026-04-02 18:30 - 20:00, 2026-03-05 18:30 - 20:00
Are you raising a child for a relative or close family friend? Kinship caregivers are invited to our Fairfax Kinship Support Group!
The Fairfax Kinship Support Group provides a safe, nurturing, and healthy environment for caregivers to share their experiences, concerns, and frustrations with their peers. The group offers a network to share resources and information among the group members, reducing feelings of isolation, and celebrating family successes in maintaining permanency for and the ongoing commitment building strong families. Peer support can be critical to caregiver self-care and can contribute to healthy family functioning and improved outcomes for children and youth.
The group is FREE of charge. Meetings are facilitated by professional mental health clinicians who have deep experience with kinship families.
The group meets twice a month, in two formats virtual and in-person. Fairfax Kinship Family Support Group will NOT meet in July.
Once registered, you will get reminders for BOTH group formats. Kinship caregivers may participate in both virtual AND in-person meetings or choose the format that works best.

Raising Kids with Big Baffling Behaviors course
2026-03-24 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-03-17 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-03-10 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-03-03 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-02-24 19:00 - 20:30
This course will teach you what behavior really is, and how to change it. Created by Robyn Gobbel and based on the USA Best Selling book by the same name, Raising Kids with Big, Baffling Behaviors: A Course for Parents. Make your child’s behavior make sense- even the ones that don’t. You’ll become equipped with interventions, tools, and techniques- that actually work! And in this no-shame, no blame approach to parenting, you’ll finally understand why knowing is only half the battle. The course is strategically designed so you don’t just learn a bunch of parenting tools and techniques. By the end, you’ll actually be able to do the powerful techniques you’ll learn.
For 2026, we are offering an 8-session course weekly on Tuesdays, virtually from 7 – 8:30 PM, starting February 3. The course is delivered by FFF’s Melissa Lebling, who is a certified Raising Kids with Big Baffling Behavior course facilitator. All 12 modules will be included in the 8 sessions. The registration fee for the course, inclusive of materials and access to the live sessions is $250.
BBB winter 2026 flyer

Stronger Together Life Skills Class for youth
2026-03-24 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-03-17 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-03-10 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-03-03 17:30 - 19:00, 2026-02-24 17:30 - 19:00 | Formed Families Forward Office, 10304 Eaton Place, Suite 100, Fairfax, VA, 22030, United States
NOTE: New start date for Stronger Together Life Skills Training is Tuesday, February 10. The course will meet 7 sessions.
Introducing a new supportive life skills class for students in 6th through 9th grade! Youth are invited to come together in-person to learn and discuss conflict resolution, goal-setting, substance use, peer relationships, and more.

Facilitated by trained young adult leaders
Weekly sessions on Tuesdays from 5:30 -7 pm
Class runs February 10 – March 24, 2026

A light dinner is served each evening. FREE of charge; regular weekly attendance is expected.
The class curriculum is based on Botvin Life Skills Training middle school course; the class meetings include time for facilitated open discussion and peer support.
NOTE – this class is open to youth in any type of family structure (not limited to foster, adoptive and kinship families).
Download FLYER HERE.

What Families Need to Know About the School Discipline Process webinar
2026-03-16 19:00 - 20:00
This webinar session presents an overview of the discipline process in area school districts with a focus on the types of suspensions and more serious discipline that be imposed, appeal rights through school systems, what to do if suspensions are a frequent occurrence, how to prepare if there is a pending school system hearing, and the interplay between discipline and a student’s IEP or 504 Plan.
Presenter Joan Proper represents clients in special education and general education matters in public school systems in Virginia. She has extensive experience in student discipline cases in Northern Virginia. She also represents clients in Guardianship and Conservatorship matters in Fairfax County and Prince William County. She is a Guardian ad litem for incapacitated adults and children. She is a Member of the Virginia Bar Association’s Commission on the Needs of Youth. She provides pro-bono services to parents and guardians through the Arc of Greater Prince William, and she was previously a Foster Parent through Prince William County. Prior to law school, Joan was a teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools and the Diocese of Arlington. She is a native Washingtonian. She earned a B.A. from Virginia Tech, an M. Ed. in School Administration and Supervision from The University of Virginia, and J.D. from The Antonin Scalia Law School (previously George Mason University School of Law.)

Positive Parenting class, in Spanish Spring 2026
2026-03-14 09:00 - 15:00 | The Arc of Greater Prince William, 13505 Hillendale Rd., Woodbridge, Virginia, 22193
Hosted by FFF, this one day class is delivered in person and fully in Spanish.
Thank you to the Potomac Health Foundation for support of the Positive Parenting in PW classes.
Crianza Positiva en Prince William utiliza un programa comprobado de capacitación para padres (Positive Solutions for Families) que ayuda a las familias a apoyar las habilidades sociales y emocionales de los niños, comprender las conductas problemáticas y utilizar estrategias positivas para enseñar a los niños los comportamientos que necesitan para tener éxito. Abordaremos maneras de manejar conductas desafiantes y las necesidades de salud mental de los niños. Estas sesiones ofrecen a padres y cuidadores estrategias clave que pueden ser útiles con niños de todas las edades y con diferentes necesidades.
Durante la clase, hablaremos sobre una variedad de enfoques positivos que apoyan la autorregulación, la independencia, la cooperación y las habilidades para resolver problemas en los niños. Esta clase incluye juegos de rol interactivos y estrategias prácticas.
Los temas incluyen:
· Estableciendo la Conexión
· Manteniéndolo Positivo
· El Comportamiento Tiene un Significado
· El Poder de las Rutinas
· Enséñame Qué Hacer
· Responder con Propósito
· Integrando Todo en un Plan
Las familias recibirán un cuaderno de actividades, una guía de rutinas familiares, libritos para niños y materiales para reforzar las habilidades aprendidas durante la clase.
La clase comienza a las 9:00 a.m., las puertas se abren a las 8:30 a.m. para el registro y un desayuno ligero.
Se ofrece cuidado de niños gratuito, pero se requiere inscripción previa.
Se proporcionará el almuerzo.

Critical Crossroads: Exploring the Intersection of Trauma and Disability
2026-03-10 17:00 - 18:00
Hosted by Culpeper and Fauquier Co. Public Schools’ Parent Resource Centers, and presented by Formed Families Forward.

Positive Parenting class in Prince William, Spring 2026
2026-03-07 09:00 - 15:00 | The Arc of Greater Prince William, 13505 Hillendale Rd., Woodbridge, Virginia, 22193
Hosted by FFF, this one day class is delivered in person. REGISTER for class at link below.
Thank you to Potomac Health Foundation for support of the Positive Parenting in PW classes.
Positive Parenting in Prince William uses proven parent training (Positive Solutions for Families) that helps families learn to support children’s social and emotional skills, understand their problem behavior, and use positive ways to help children learn the behaviors they need to be successful. We will cover ways to deal with challenging behaviors and the mental health needs of children. This session provides parents and caregivers with key strategies that can be helpful with children of all ages and needs.
During the class, we will discuss a wide range of positive approaches that support children’s self-regulation, independence, cooperation, and problem-solving skills. This class consists of hands-on role playing and strategies.
Topics include:
· Making the Connection
· Keeping it Positive
· Behavior has Meaning
· The Power of Routines
· Teach Me What to Do
· Responding with Purpose
· Putting it All Together with a Plan
Families will receive a workbook, Family Routine Guide, children’s booklets, and materials to reinforce the skills learned during the class.

Class starts at 9:00 a.m., doors open at 8:30 for check-in and light breakfast. Child care is included for free, but advance registration is REQUIRED.
Lunch will be provided.
Download FLYER HERE.

You Can't Pour From an Empty Cup: Tips for Self-Care webinar
2026-02-27 10:00 - 11:30
One of a series hosted by Fairfax Co Public Schools Family Resource Center, presented by FFF Board member Dr. Monique Lilakos.

Strengthening School Supports for Kinship Caregivers and Grandfamilies Virtual Summit
2026-02-25 - 2026-02-26
A free virtual summit to provide research and evidence-based strategies to support students living with kinship caregivers and grandfamilies. The event builds on and shares resources from REL Appalachia’s Supporting Students, Grandfamilies, and Kinship Caregivers Community of Practice.
Audience: District and school leaders and community organization staff who work with kinship caregivers and grandfamilies.
Flyer: Strengthening School Supports for Flyer_Acc kinship summit
