Strengthening Families Protective Factors

Hays Kansas Kansas State Coordinators’

MeetingNancy Keel, MS Ed, P-3 National Trainer

Executive Director Kansas Parents as Teachers Association

September 11, 2012

www.strengtheningfamilies.net

Judy LangfordCenter for the Study of Social Policy

judy.langford@cssp.org

Mobilizing partners, communities and families to

build family strengths, promote optimal development and reduce

child abuse and neglect

THE STRENGTHENING FAMILIES APPROACH

• Benefits ALL families• Builds on family strengths, buffers risk,

and promotes better outcomes• Can be implemented through small but

significant changes in everyday actions• Builds on and can become part of existing

programs, strategies, systems and community opportunities

• Is grounded in research, practice and implementation knowledge

PURPOSE: REDUCE CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT STARTING WITH CHILDREN 0-5

• The very highest rates of abuse and neglect occur for children under 4. This age group is a third of all children entering foster care and who are likely to stay the longest.

• The brain’s primary architecture is developing in years 0-5, when family stability, skills and knowledge have the greatest impact on development.

• Adverse experiences at an early age create lifelong risk for multiple problems; mitigating these traumas early is most effective.

A FEW BRAVE INNOVATORS

2004 first round of States– Alaska– Arkansas– Illinois– Missouri – Parents as

Teachers National Center– New Hampshire– Rhode Island– Wisconsin

•2006– Kansas joined with other

states

FEDERAL PARTNERSAdministration 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

STRENGTHENING FAMILIES NATIONAL NETWORK

ID

AZ

UT

MT

WY

NM

CO

AL

FL

SC

TN

KY

INOH

NC

SD

KS

NE

MN

WI

IA

IL

MO

AR

MS

OK

ND

OR

CA NV

WA

TX

WV

PA

ME

VA

NY

LA

GA

MI

M D

AK

D C

NH

HI

VT

MA

RICT

NJ

DE

Strengthening Fam ilies National Netw ork

Parent leaders, state agencies and local programs quickly

adapted the framework --beyond child abuse prevention for young

children --to create a platform for linkages across service

systems and a way of engaging informal opportunities for

families.

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

Small butsignificantchanges

LEVERS FOR IMPLEMENTING AND SUSTAINING

STRENGTHENING FAMILIES

•Integration into policies and systems

•Professional development

•Real parent partnerships

SERVICES IN PERSPECTIVE

Parental Resilience = Be strong and and flexible

Social Connections = Parents need friends

Knowledge of Parenting = Being a great parent is part natural and part learned

Concrete Support = We all need help sometimes

Social and emotional development for children = Help your children communicate and give them the love and respect they need

NEW “FAMILY VALUES”• Recognition of importance of families• Diminishing stigma and labeling• Acknowledging diversity among families• Reducing the distance between

professionals and families• Partnerships among services and between

services and people are essential• Everyone has a role and can play it!

How did this affect our PAT Curriculum

• Foundational Curriculum pp. 41-46 • Foundational PV #2, #7• Tool Kit Card page 17 & 18• PVR: Family strengths and protective

factors discussed: check the one discussed and make comments relevant to the protective factor(s).

• Group Connection Planner and Record• Group Connection Feed Back Form

Protective Factor Survey• Survey results provide

– A snapshot of the families you serve– Changes in protective factors– Areas where parent educators can focus on

increasing individual family protective factors

• Survey results are not:– Individual assessments– Used for placement– Used for diagnostic purposes

Foundations for School Success Tool Kit

• Who: will fill out forms and enter the dataWhen: do you have to do this, changing from birthdays to first 90 days of enrollment. Possibilities:

1st visit as an enrollment visit – not required a suggestionthen it will be repeated each program years 45 days

Where: do you enter the dataHow: do you enter the data into VT and the Foundations for School Success.

Turn to page 42 read through the instructions you will give to parents

Review the pages on the Protective Factors.

Thanks for Coming

Questions?

Coordinator Issues• Group or Individual Surveys• Informed Consent• Method to record scores• Scoring

PFS-For Staff Use Only• Staff completed

• Participant’s experience/demographics – #’s 1-5

• Program Dosage - # 6.– Pre and Post Test– The Post Test will

» Family Outcomes» Child Outcomes» Program Outcomes» PE effectiveness

Protective Factor Survey and Manual

• Page 1 – Demographic section, filled out by participant.

• Page 2 – Family Protective Factors Section

• Manual

Funding Website Ideaswww.tgci.com

Foundationcenter.org, click Early childhood Education.

www.kschildrenscabinet.org/earlychildblock.htmwww.tgci.com.