1. National Network of Family Support & Strengthening Networks Convening June 21-22, 2012 San Francisco Teresa Rafael, MSW Executive Director

2. Purpose of the Alliance  The Alliance was established in 1989 to:  Initiate and engage in national efforts that help State Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds in strengthening families to prevent child abuse and neglect.  Promote and support a system of services, laws, practices, and attitudes that supports families by enabling them to provide their children with safe, healthy and nurturing childhoods.

3. Dr. Ray Helfer (r) and the Governor of Kansas The first CTF is created in 1980

4. Children’s Trust Funds  Focus extensively on strengthening families to prevent child abuse and neglect before it occurs.  Catalyze child maltreatment prevention efforts at the individual, family, community and societal levels.  Seek to embed prevention in multiple agendas by working in partnership with and across multiple domains and systems.

5. Children’s Trust Funds…  Convene and support family strengthening and child abuse prevention networks with diverse membership.  Affiliate with and contribute to national networks that provide opportunities for knowledge and leadership development.

6. Children’s Trust Funds…  Advance the use of data, research and evaluation in strategy development and program and practice improvement.  Work to ensure that proven effective and research-based innovative programs and strategies are broadly available to families and children by providing funding, technical assistance and training, linkage to other resources, and other capacity-building supports.

7. Children’s Trust Funds…  Educate policy makers and the public through knowledge building and public awareness activities.  Articulate and advocate for strategies that reduce risks and promote the protective factors shown by research to prevent child maltreatment and promote optimal child development.

8. Children’s Trust Funds…  Reach out to and work in partnership with parents.  Collectively invest approximately $100,000,000 each year for state wide and community based family strengthening and child abuse and neglect prevention strategies.

9. Intent of the Strategy (2005 survey)

11. Social Ecological Model A comprehensive public health approach that not only addresses an individual’s risk and protective factors, but also the norms, beliefs, and social and economic systems that create the conditions to reduce the likelihood of child maltreatment.  Individual level influences personal factors that decrease the likelihood child abuse and neglect.  Interpersonal relationship level influences are factors that decrease risk as a result of relations with peers, intimate partners, and family members.

12. Social Ecological Model  Community level influences are factors that decrease risk based on community and social environments in which an individual has experiences and relationships such as schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods.  Societal level influences are larger, macro-level factors that influence child maltreatment such as religious or cultural belief systems, societal norms, and economic or social policies that create or sustain gaps and tensions between groups of people.

13. CTF Strategies in the Ecological Model (2005)

14. Diverse Organizational Structures of CTFs  Semi -independent with strong ties to high level state government  Stand alone 501-c-3  Embedded in state government

15. Resources from the Alliance  The Alliance develops resources for CTFs and makes them available to others who are interested. All of the following are available on the Alliance website at no charge  www.ctfalliance.org

16. Resources for Action Series  Series of publications, videos and other resources developed in collaboration with children’s trust funds and their partners  Focus is on partnering with parents, research, community capacity building, professional development, policy and collaboration www.ctfalliance.org/ResourcesForAction

17. Research Review  Quarterly publication with the latest research and innovative approaches in the field of child abuse and neglect prevention  Helps bridge the gap between research and practice www.ctfalliance.org/researchreview

18. Bringing the Protective Factors Framework to Life in Your Work  Online training to support implementation of the Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors Framework in multiple settings  Systems may use for awarding CEUs, credit  Free of charge  7 courses, each about 2 hours in length o Introduction to the Framework (also useful as a stand-alone orientation) o A course on each of the 5 Protective Factors o A wrap-up course that moves users from knowledge to action Find at www.ctfalliance.org/onlinetrainingwww.ctfalliance.org/onlinetraining Contact onlinelinetraining@ctfalliance.org

19. This Exciting New Resource is Provided to You Free of Charge We encourage you to determine how it best supports work you already have in place or may be planning. Please share with others who may benefit from the training support it provides.

20. Why This Training Now? Given the widespread, multidisciplinary interest in the Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors Framework, it is important that staff in all areas of work that touch the lives of families have access to high quality training that supports their implementation efforts.

21. The Strengthening Families ™ Protective Factors Framework:  Has been revolutionary in providing a valuable framework across multiple systems  Is grounded in what the research says about preventing child abuse and neglect  Is an important component to efforts across the country to strengthen families and prevent child maltreatment

22. The Alliance’s Partners In This Effort  The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation  State Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds  The Center for the Study of Social Policy  ZERO TO THREE  Parents from the Alliance National Parent Partnership Council  Children’s Bureau, Administration for Children and Families  Department of Defense  Many others

23. Overview of the Courses 1. Introduction to the Strengthening Families ™ Protective Factors Framework (can be used as a stand- alone orientation to the Framework, or as a gateway to the remaining courses)

24. Overview of the Courses 2. A course on each of the Five Protective Factors 2. A Wrap-up Course that moves users from knowledge to action

25. Possible Uses These courses can be used in any way that is useful. Some ideas that others have shared are:  Requiring courses of grantees (CTFs, United Ways, other state systems)  Using the course to gain CEUs  QRIS and various required certifications  Offering to grantees in a menu of training choices  Writing into grant proposals as training support (i.e., CW/ECE linkages)  Participating out of personal interest

26. Important Feature  Each Protective Factor course contains a direct link (in the Websites and Resources Section) to the Strengthening Families ™ online self- assessment -- where users can translate their knowledge into actionable steps.

27. Important Feature Site User Videos Designed to provide a user with detailed instructions to navigate the site and course(s).

28. Assignment Sketch Find the Strengths in this Family

29. After Assignment

30. There are many more exciting elements of this new resource! Explore these for yourself. Visit the Alliance website at: www.ctfalliance.org/onlinetraining And email the Alliance with your questions or concerns: onlinetraining@ctfalliance.org

31. In the first three weeks the course was online…  A diverse group of more than 500 users registered for the courses. Following is some information about these initial users’: Geographical location Field of work Specific role in their work

32. Geographic Location Based on a total of 524 Users, as of 4/27/2012, 6 PM PDT (sans site administrators and site managers)

33. Field of Work Based on a total of 524 Users, as of 4/27/2012, 6 PM PDT (sans site administrators and site managers)

34. Specific Role in their Work Based on a total of 524 Users, as of 4/27/2012, 6 PM PDT (sans site administrators and site managers)

35. To Explore Further It is easy to create your own account and explore the content of the courses at:  www.ctfalliance.org/onlinetraining www.ctfalliance.org/onlinetraining Contact the Alliance for additional information at:  onlinetraining@ctfalliance.org onlinetraining@ctfalliance.org

36. The Importance of Preventing Child Neglect  Most common form of substantiated child maltreatment  Roughly 2/3 of substantiated cases include neglect  Often co-occurs with physical, sexual, or emotional abuse  NIS4 showed neglect rates increasing, despite gains in other areas

37. How the Protective Factors framework may help to prevent neglect Parental resilience Knowledge of parenting and child development Social connections  Self-efficacy  Ability to stay focused on parenting despite personal or family crisis  Understanding of what is appropriate supervision for children at various ages  Social norms around parenting  Informal help with babysitting, etc.

38. How the Protective Factors framework may help to prevent neglect Concrete support in times of need Children’s social- emotional competence  Alleviation of stress and other effects of poverty  Services for mental health, substance abuse, domestic violence  Resolve temperamental issues that make some children more likely to be neglected  Promote attention to children’s feelings

39. Teresa Rafael, MSW Executive Director www.ctfalliance.org trafael@juno.com 206-526-1221