1. STRENGTHENING FAMILIES
Vermont, 2012

2. 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.

3. Parental Resilience What we know What you can do Hope and Optimism
Problem solving skills
Ability to maintain/restore calm
Self-care
Help seeking
Future orientation
What you can do
Support for parental decision-making
Validation and encouragement
Support for self-care
Training/support in problem solving
Dr. Mark Katz—researcher in resilience “resilience is strength in the face of adversity”
Resilience is about the ability to bounce back. We cannot prevent stress or crisis from happening to families—we can give them the tools they need to respond to effectively so crises do not escalate and the fall-out from crises does not negatively impact their parenting.
People think of resilience as inate but what we know is that it is highly influenced by one’s environment. Psychology has long talked about the concept of learned helplessness—that when people are given the message that they can’t succeed or prevented from succeeding it saps their will to try. What we are talking about is the reverse of this concept—providing the environment that is positive, validating, and encourages the skills and internal resources that will help individuals to cope effectively when things are difficult.

4. Social Connections What we know: What you can do:
Social networks infused with:
Positive emotional support
Positive parenting norms
Resource sharing and mutual help
What you can do:
Connect isolated families to peers
Create group activities and environments for social sharing
Facilitate mutual support activities
Create a socially inclusive culture
What we know is that it isn’t how many people that an individual knows, but the quality of those relationships. To support strong parenting we want social networks that are infused with (above).
For programs what is important is:
Reaching out to those families that are at the edge of the social fabric—they often don’t have the skills to integrate themselves into social environments and need bridgers to help them.
Setting the social table where there are norms of inclusion, positive support, sharing.
Creating environments that facilitate and encourage mutual support.

5. Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development
What we know:
Knowledge of the normal range of development
Understanding how parenting impacts development
Understanding of their child’s particular developmental needs
Understanding discipline
What you can do:
“Just in time” parenting education
Guided observation of their child’s behavior
Trusted authorities
Safe environments
Opportunities to try out new strategies with their child
It is not a surprise that knowledge of parenting and child development would help a parent parent effectively. What we as a field have struggled more with is how do we deliver this knowledge in a way that will promote uptake and use of the information. We have good reason to believe that traditional parent education classes cannot be our primary tool—research shows us that too many families don’t complete these courses and the change in behavior caused is low. Adult learning theory can guide us in our thinking. People are more likely to act on and use information when:
It is provided when they are struggling with an issue
They have opportunities to not only learn it in a didactic manner—but to see it in action and test out how to use the knowledge themselves
Context is everything—who is delivering the information and how it is delivered matters

6. Concrete Supports What we know:
Many families do not get the services they are eligible for
Stigma is a significant barrier to families getting CAN prevention services
Navigation of service systems is hard
Service can be provided in a way that undermines families
What you can do
Use trusting relationships as the gateway to other services
Support families knowledge of and ability to access what is in the community
Serve as an advocate for existing services
Again, the idea that providing concrete supports to families would be helpful is not a surprise. What needs to be the focus is how to provide these supports so that they are used and can have a positive impact on families.

7. Children’s Social Emotional Development
What we Know:
Social emotional development is foundation skill
Early childhood mental health issues are more common than we think
Supporting children’s social emotional development impacts parents
What you can do:
Social emotional development activities for kids
Connections to children’s mental health supports
Help parents understand children’s social emotional issues

8. Map of Implementing States
Active in SFNN
Not-active in SFNN, but some state level
Implementation strategy in place
Dark Green are states within the SFNN, light green are states where there is some active Strengthening Families work, but they are not part of the SFNN (Generally this is either integration into CBCAP grant making, or into QRIS work or both)
Number of states participating in the Strengthening Families network has stayed relatively stable (about 30). Over the past year about an equal number of states (3) have left and have joined the network.
Increased depth in state work—greater number of implementing partners, deeper penetration within sector
Change in how states are implementing Strengthening Families—floridating the water
Over Thirty states are in the Strengthening Families National Network
20 states reported financial data—collectively these states invested $81 M in Strengthening Families
17 States using Parent or Community Café’s to promote parent to parent conversations to build protective factors
40,000 people received Training on Strengthening Families

9. Strengthening Families National Network
These are all national organizations that are working to bring Strengthening Families to their constituencies.
In addition there are 32 states in the Strengthening Families National Network
We have a strong partnership with a number of federal agencies and are in conversation with a number of federal partners about the relevancy of the Strengthening Families work (ACYF—particularly OCAN, MCH—especially through ECCS, but also in conversations about relevance to the work of federally qualified health centers, Child Care Bureau, Office of Head Start, SAMHSA—related to project LAUNCH sites which are taking a protective factors approach)
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, with
Casey Family Programs, Annie E. Casey, A.L. Mailman, Arthur Blank

10. The state of national implementation
OVER THIRTY STATES ARE IN THE STRENGTHENING FAMILIES NATIONAL NETWORK
20 STATES REPORTED FINANCIAL DATA— COLLECTIVELY THESE STATES INVESTED $81 M IN STRENGTHENING FAMILIES
17 STATES USING PARENT OR COMMUNITY CAFÉ’S TO PROMOTE PARENT TO PARENT CONVERSATIONS TO BUILD PROTECTIVE FACTORS
40,000 PEOPLE RECEIVED TRAINING ON STRENGTHENING FAMILIES

11. Early Childhood Systems
At least 19 states integrating SF into quality rating and improvement systems
15 states have engaged their CCR&Rs to build the capacity of local programs
20 states integrating SF into home visiting policy and planning
In 9 states SF is used in state early learning and development advisory council planning and policy efforts
In 8 states SF is integrated into state early care and education workforce knowledge and competency framework
In 7 states SF is used to support family, friend and neighbor care providers
QRIS—GA as an example
Twelve states list that it is part of their federal MCHEIV Home visiting plans

12. Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention
20 States incorporating the protective factors into training for prevention providers
20 states using the protective factors as the outcomes framework for local prevention grantees
In 13 states family support programs are adopting Strengthening Families
In 11 states public awareness campaigns include the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework
In 9 states county or community-level prevention planning processes have been aligned to the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework
In 5 states mandatory reporter training has been adapted to include the Strengthening Families approach and Protective Factors Framework

13. Child Welfare
In 6 states SF is being integrated into training for child welfare workers
In 5 states SF is being integrated into training for foster parents
In 9 states SF is becoming part of the child welfare practice model
In 5 states the protective factors are being integrated into assessment tools
13 states report that new partnerships are being formed between child welfare and early care and education programs using Strengthening Families approach and Protective Factors Framework

15. The Self-Assessment
Key implementation tool for programs adopting a Strengthening Families Approach
Helps programs identify “small but significant changes in practice” that will enhance their ability to build protective factors
Created based on a national study of exemplary practice
Designed to be used flexibly and to lead you to a concrete action plan

16. Online Suite of Tools Registration Self Assessment Action Planning
Parent/Staff Surveys
Reports
What is Strengthening Families?
In 2001, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation approached the Center for the Study of Social Policy, wanting to fund a new and effective approach to child abuse and neglect prevention that would reach more children and families than ever. CSSP was charged with developing that approach.
Big infusion of new money from the foundation for something that was going to be BIG
Doris Duke was an orphan with no heirs, and when she died, she left her fortune to the Foundation and stipulated that one of its goals be to “prevent cruelty to children.”
Strengthening Families grew out of this relationship between DDCF and CSSP.

17. Taking a Parent-to-Parent Approach
Community and Parent Cafes
Reframing using parent friendly language
Using a World Café Approach to build a comfortable, parent-led space
Tying to a larger parent leadership and engagement infrastructure
Harvesting to inform systems and structures

18. Using Café’s to support a community well-being approach
Increase social capital
Use “harvest” to inform systems and structures to support parents
Build a cadre of leaders
Family Well Being
Build awareness of the importance of protective factors
Increase parent’s social networks
Create leadership opportunities
Child Well Being
Increase parental protective factors

19. 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
Introduction to the Framework (also useful as a stand-alone orientation)
A course on each of the 5 Protective Factors
A wrap-up course that moves users from knowledge to action
Find at
Contact

20. About the Strengthening Families National Network
Connect to information, ideas, tools, resources and peer connections to support Strengthening Families™ work:
Monthly networking calls
Technical assistance via phone and
State Leader Updates
Webinars and peer learning activities
Facebook group for peer-to-peer networking
Commit to annual reporting and maintenance of a 2-page profile of your work
Mention that membership is free – application form is available on the website
More information: