Embedded Files
Strengthening Families
Knowing the risk factors and some of the challenges families facing allows us to seek where we can help. First, we have to start by supporting the care giving environment, where the child lives and depends on every day.
In 2001, The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) received a grant and began studying the role that early care and education programs nationwide could play in strengthening families and preventing abuse and neglect. This study was the first of its kind to strategically link knowledge of child abuse prevention to knowledge about good quality early care. Based on this study, the CSSP developed a new conceptual framework and approach to preventing child abuse and neglect, called Strengthening Families, which involved building evidence-based protective factors around young children by focusing on supporting the entire family.
Strengthening Families is being implemented in a variety of sectors including early childhood, home visiting, child welfare, child abuse and neglect prevention and family support. The protective factors provide a common language to talk about some of the things all families need, and provides some markers of what needs to be in place to assure safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments at the individual level.
2 basic principles from the Strengthening Families Framework:
Caregiving environments provide the foundation for early development
Strength based approaches allow us to work towards a collaborative rather than an adversarial relationship to help children get their needs met.
LA County has adopted this approach including the Department of Mental Health, Department of Child and Family Services, and Early Childhood Education.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse