1 Strengthening Families: The Key to Safe & Healthy Children Standards for Family-Serving Programs: Building Success through Family Support Developed by.
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Strengthening Families: The Key to Safe & Healthy Children
Standards for Family-Serving Programs: Building Success through Family Support
Developed by the NJ Task Force on Child Abuse & Neglect & Family Support America
• Marital factors• Lack of child care• Parents• Special needs• Isolation• Domestic violence
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Environmental Influences
• Society’s value of children & families
• Neighborhood conditions• Income-related stressors• Political factors• Housing• Tolerance/media portrayal
of violence• Discrimination &
prejudice
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BELIEFS: Community-based
• Supports & services are available locally where families live, work, attend school
• Supports & services contribute to community-building
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Community empowerment
• Shared responsibility, not just professional responsibility
• Power resides in communities, not agencies
• Communities, not professionals, are the experts
• Services & activities are planned & implemented based on community needs & priorities
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Community empowerment
• Interdependency & coordination of planning & services, not fragmentation
• Community-based leadership that develops shared vision, broad support, & management of community problem-solving, not external leadership based on authority, position or title
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Community empowerment
• Appreciation of racial, ethnic, language diversity, not denial of differences
• Emphasis on cooperation & collaboration rather than external linkages limited to networking & coordination
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Community empowerment
• Inclusive, not closed, decision-making
• Accountability to community, not agency
• Evaluation to check program development & evaluation, not just to raise funds
• Funding based on critical issues, not “categories”
• Maximum community involvement at all levels, not just feedback or input
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Family Strengthening Pyramid• Pre- and post-birth care &
mother-child bonding• Parent education• Child care/respite• Early childhood education• School climate improvement• Comprehensive health
education• Early substance abuse
prevention• Law-related education• Peer & other supports
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Family Strengthening Pyramid
• Stress relief• Meaningful work &
community service• Worksite wellness• Alternatives• Community education• Health screening &
assessments• Alternative health practices• Media influence• Spiritual development• Fun
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BELIEFS: Culturally sensitive & competent
• Affirm family cultural, ethnic, racial, & language identity
• Promote cross-cultural understanding & respect for differences
• Help families navigate the dominant US society & culture
• Work to make society more supportive of all families
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BELIEFS: Early start
• Support families before negative patterns are established
• Help families understand child development & their child’s unique strengths & needs
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BELIEFS:Developmentally appropriate
• Relevant to the ages & developmental levels of children & families
• Understanding of the unique needs at each stage in the life span of children & families
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Developmentally appropriate
• Child development is the ages & stages a child goes through:– Physically
– Emotionally
– Socially
– Intellectually
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Developmentally appropriate
• Stages of family development are related to:– Age(s) of their
child(ren)
– Transitions families experience
– Parent(s) aging process
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BELIEFS:Family-Professional Partnership
• Families & professionals work together in relationships based on equality & mutual respect
• Families are partners on the individual, program, agency, & systemic levels
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Family-Professional Partnership
• Important techniques:– Active listening
– Empathy
– Sincere caring
– Recognition & appreciation of existing knowledge & skills
– Focus on strengthening knowledge & skills
– Shared decision-making
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Families as Assets• National policy should be
built on a recognition that families are the essential unit of civic engagement & democracy
• Each family must be recognized & acknowledged as unique & individual
• All families have common human needs & require different levels of social investment at different times in their life span
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Families as Assets
• Investments in families & children become assets in the development of strong communities that participate in the larger good
• Children are our future, our legacy, & our responsibility
• Each of us can make a contribution to the future generations of all children.
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BELIEFS:Empowering & Strengths-Based
• Build on the knowledge & skills of families & communities
• Help families realize their own strengths to promote the healthy development of their children
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Empowering & Strengths-Based
• Recognize that everyone has strengths
• Create opportunities for learning & use of new skills & knowledge
• Support self-efficacy, self-reliance, positive mental health, competency, mastery of skills: “assets-building”
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ASSESSING BELIEFS• Is it family-centered?
– Involve all possible participants, such as child, parents, family members, caregivers?
• Is it community-based?– Reinforce outcomes in home &
community?– Engage community members in
program development, implementation & ownership?
– Recognize the role of community members in supporting families?
– Use informal & formal supports needed by family?
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ASSESSING BELIEFS
• Is it culturally sensitive & competent?– Promote & strengthen cultural
identity & diversity?
• Does it provide an early start?– Work with families BEFORE
negative patterns start – even before birth as needed?
• Is it developmentally appropriate?– Meet the needs of children &
families/caregivers at their stage(s) of development?
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ASSESSING BELIEFS
• Are families partners with staff/professionals?– Treat families as partners &
collaborate, as evidenced by involving families in planning & decision-making & promoting self-reliance?
• Are empowering & strengths-based approaches used?– Are the strengths & abilities
of families identified & built upon?
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EFFECTIVE PRACTICES:Flexible & Responsive
• Tailor practices to the needs of diverse families
• Provide supports as needed by families
• Services are flexible in type, language, etc., & change as needed
• Services respond to emerging family & community issues
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EFFECTIVE PRACTICES:Partnership Approaches
• Families influence policies & practices
• Coordination & collaboration among service providers is maximized
• Families & professionals advocate together for fair, responsive, & accountable services & systems
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EFFECTIVE PRACTICES:Linkages with Supports
• Professionals work with families to mobilize formal & informal resources to support families
• Professionals work with families & communities to build community supports
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EFFECTIVE PRACTICES:Linkages with Supports
• Supports include:– Schools
– Neighborhoods
– Religious institutions
– Peers, friends
– Media
– Health care providers
– Policymakers
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EFFECTIVE PRACTICES:Universally Available & Voluntary
• Programs, supports & services are offered to the broad community
• Programs, supports, & services are seen as an opportunity to learn & grow, not to “fix” dysfunction
• Participation is voluntary
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EFFECTIVE PRACTICES:Comprehensive & coordinated
• Multiple supports are available & used to reinforce positive outcomes
• Families have access to comprehensive information & coordinated resources
• Supports are available as long as needed
• Families can access “one-stop” services
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EFFECTIVE PRACTICES:Easily Accessible
• Services are available in non-threatening environments that are convenient to families
• Services are available at the times that families can take advantage of them
• Supports are provided for participation
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EFFECTIVE PRACTICES:Easily Accessible
• Services are available to wide range of families without limiting eligibility standards
• Effective outreach to diverse communities ensures that families are aware of available services
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EFFECTIVE PRACTICES:Long Term & Adequate Intensity
• Services are provided for as long as needed and to the extent needed
• Services respond to changing needs
• Services provide opportunities to celebrate short-term successes & work to maintain long-term positive outcomes
• Time needed is taken to develop trust, identify all needed services & supports, & comprehensively address needs through building knowledge & mastering skills
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ASSESSING EFFECTIVE PRACTICES
• Are services flexible & responsive?– Are services flexible to
respond to unique needs or circumstances of families?
– Can service intensity be varied based on needs?
– Are services offered at convenient times & locations?
– Are incentives & supports (childcare, transportation, refreshments) for participation provided?
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ASSESSING EFFECTIVE PRACTICES
• Are effective partnership approaches used?– Are families recognized &
treated as partners?– Are families provided with
the supports they need for effective partnership?
– Are services provided in partnership with other providers, to ensure coordination?
• Are participants linked with formal & informal supports?
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ASSESSING EFFECTIVE PRACTICES
• Are services universally available & voluntary?– Are services offered to a broad
range of families, not just families with problems?
– Are families who request services able to access them?
• Are services comprehensive, coordinated & integrated?– Do programs bring all needed
services together for easy access by families?
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ASSESSINGEFFECTIVE PRACTICES
• Are services easily accessible?– Are services in non-threatening
& convenient locations & times?– Can families easily access staff
when needed?– Are families aware of services &
how to access them?
• Are services long-term & with adequate intensity?– Are services provided with the
frequency & intensity needed?– Do services continue even after
short-term successes to ensure maintenance of desired outcomes?