Strengthening Families Protective Factors

1. Strengthening Families Protective Factors Hays Kansas Kansas State Coordinators’ Meeting Nancy Keel, MS Ed, P-3 National Trainer Executive Director Kansas Parents as Teachers Association September 11, 2012

2. www.strengtheningfamilies.net Judy Langford Center for the Study of Social Policy judy.langford@cssp.org

3. Mobilizing partners, communities and families to build family strengths, promote optimal development and reduce child abuse and neglect

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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

7. 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

8. STRENGTHENING FAMILIES NATIONAL NETWORK

10. 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.

11. 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

12. Small but significant changes

13. LEVERS FOR IMPLEMENTING AND SUSTAINING STRENGTHENING FAMILIES • Integration into policies and systems • Professional • development • Real parent partnerships

15. SERVICES IN PERSPECTIVE

16. 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

17. 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!

18. 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

19. 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

20. Foundations for School Success Tool Kit • Who: will fill out forms and enter the data When: 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 suggestion then it will be repeated each program years 45 days Where: do you enter the data How: 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.

21. Questions? Thanks for Coming

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

24. 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

25. Protective Factor Survey and Manual • Page 1 – Demographic section, filled out by participant. • Page 2 – Family Protective Factors Section • Manual

26. Funding Website Ideas www.tgci.com Foundationcenter.org, click Early childhood Education. www.kschildrenscabinet.org/earlychildblock.htm www.tgci.com.