1. Using a Protective Factors Framework to Build ECE/CW collaboration
Nilofer Ahsan
November 2011
This is an issue area of strong interest to CSSP
Long historical experience working with states around CW reform
10 years in SF

2. What we know about the developmental needs of young kids in CW
Early attachment is a basic building block for many aspects of early development
Early childhood trauma can have a cascading impact on ongoing development
One aspect of the impact of trauma is that it impacts behavior
Protective factors are important and can buffer and mitigate the impacts of trauma
Most children will return or stay with their biological parents
Caveat that when we are talking about trauma we aren’t just talking about abuse, but also neglect

3. Therefore…..
Young children in CW will need particular focus on their developmental needs
Developmental supports for these children must be informed by an understanding of the impact of trauma on development
We also need to think intentionally about how to support the capacity of families to keep children safe and support their early development

4. Therefore…..A four point agenda
Ensure that young children in CW are connected to quality ECE programs and other developmental supports
Build the capacity in ECE programs to work with and support development for children who have experienced trauma
Build the capacity in CW to recognize and respond to the development needs of young children
Support the capacity of ECE programs and CW to build protective factors to strengthen families

5. Federal priorities around ECE/CW linkages
Requirement for collaboration between HS and CW
ACYF and Child Care Bureau Memorandum encouraging collaboration
ACYF’s new focus on well-being
Overarching push for collaboration at the federal level
Requirements around Part C

6. What we know: Families thrive when protective factors are robust in their lives and communities
The first step in developing Strengthening Families was thoroughly investigating what the research tells us about reducing child maltreatment – about what is right with families that protects against child abuse and neglect. We worked intensively with researchers and advisors for over a year to develop a synthesis of Protective Factors that reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. Protective factors act as a counter weight to risk factors. They buffer the impact of what the researchers call “toxic stress”. Risk factors, it turns out, are not very predictive of future events. The extent to which the danger of the risk is reduced is the extent to which protective factors are at work, and the researchers say, it’s the protective factors that make all the difference in the long run. Anyone can be “at risk” for high blood pressure, for example, but risk can be reduced by focusing on health. It’s the same with protective factors for strong families.
Recently, the terminology of promotive factors has entered the picture. Promotive factors actively promote a healthy outcome, not only a protection against risk or bad outcomes. The SF protective factors in fact are also promotive factors. The research behind Strengthening Families illustrates the characteristics of families that increase the likelihood of optimal development for children (a promotive function) as well as reducing the likelihood of child maltreatment (a protective function). When we first developed the Protective Factors framework, the idea of promotive factors was not yet on the table. Today we are able to say that the framework is based on factors that are both protective and promotive.

7. five protective factors
PARENTAL RESILIENCE
SOCIAL CONNECTIONS
KNOWLEDGE of PARENTING and CHILD DEVELOPMENT
CONCRETE SUPPORT in TIMES of NEED
SOCIAL and EMOTIONAL COMPETENCE of CHILDREN
A little information about each of the five protective factors: (Use the PF handout to support this conversation)
Parental Resilience
Social Connections
Knowledge…
Concrete Support
Social and Emotional Competence

8. We believe the future of SF is in creating a “new normal” for child and family serving organizations and systems, so that they see their work as building protective and promotive factors to reduce the potential for child maltreatment, to bolster resilience and mitigate the impact of traumatic events when they occur, AND to create the best possible environment for development of children and youth.

10. States continue to provide the greatest innovation and reach for the framework. 32 States (in green) have official Strengthening Families state initiatives as of Additional states have county and city SF activities or plans to create a statewide initiative. They are using Strengthening Families in child welfare systems, schools, corrections, mental health, health care, and other arenas, as well as finding ways to develop and support real parent leadership and partnership in both decision making at all levels AND in working on strengthening their own families and communities. They will continue to be the leading source of new ideas -- and of millions of dollars in contracts, matching grants and direct funding that supports further implementation of Strengthening Families.

11. FEDERAL PARTNERS
Administration for Children, Youth and Families: Children’s Bureau, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect
Administration on Children and Families, Office of Child Care and Office of Head Start
Maternal and Child Health Bureau (ECCS)
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), local Project Launch sites
Department of Defense, New Parents Program and Family Advocacy Program
Federal partners responded to the emerging interest in states by helping to publicize and further use the framework, to create linkages across federal agencies and support state efforts to work across systems to support families more effectively. In some cases, such as the Department of Defense and the Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, the framework now helps provide guidance to multiple programs.
A new Quality Improvement Center on Early Childhood, a cooperative agreement between CSSP and the Children’s Bureau, was formed in 2008 to add significantly to the national knowledge base of exactly how protective factors affect child maltreatment and how collaborative programs can most effectively help families build protective factors. Four grantee sites are currently testing these ideas through rigorous evaluation.

12. STRENGTHENING FAMILIES NATIONAL NETWORK
Today there are several key national organizations working to bring Strengthening Families into their work, supporting SF at national, state and local levels with ongoing collaborative work. Leaders from these organizations and additional federal partners meet regularly to coordinate the ongoing work.

13. LEVERS FOR IMPLEMENTING AND SUSTAINING STRENGTHENING FAMILIES
Integration into policies and systems
Professional
development
Real parent partnerships
Our analysis of state implementation, across many different ways of using Strengthening Families, led to key findings about implementation. These three levers, available to state and county policymakers, are the key to implementing, growing and sustaining Strengthening Families over time.

14. How SF states are working with Child WelfareAK CT IL MA ME MI MO NC NH NJ PA TN
Protective Factors are being integrated into training for child welfare workers:  x
Strengthening Families is becoming part of the child welfare practice model
Protective factors are being integrated into child welfare assessment tools
New partnerships are being formed between child welfare and early care and education programs using Strengthening Families
Child welfare provides significant funding for state Strengthening Families work
We hope that Strengthening Families plays a role in developing a new understanding about the overwhelming importance of families in their children’s development, about what every family needs and how they can achieve it, with help from their communities as well as help from high quality service providers.

15. EC/CW linkages other directions
Learning from states already doing this work
Working across states to develop training resources for child welfare
Cross-walking protective capacities with protective factors
Identifying key places to build in a protective factors approach across CW decision-making
Partnering with states to build this agenda
We hope that Strengthening Families plays a role in developing a new understanding about the overwhelming importance of families in their children’s development, about what every family needs and how they can achieve it, with help from their communities as well as help from high quality service providers.

16. How you can stay involved
Upcoming webinar with the NRC for In-Home Services
Get involved with your state SF efforts
Join the SF mailing list
We hope that Strengthening Families plays a role in developing a new understanding about the overwhelming importance of families in their children’s development, about what every family needs and how they can achieve it, with help from their communities as well as help from high quality service providers.

17. Center for the Study of Social Policy
Nilofer Ahsan
Center for the Study of Social Policy
All of the many Strengthening Families materials including the program guidebook are available free through the CSSP website; many, many other implementation materials are also available through website of the National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds.

18. Questions?