Strengthening Families: Helping Families to Build

Protective Factors

Jim McKay, TEAM for West Virginia Children

Cailin O’Connor, Center for the Study of Social Policy

Celebrating Connections, Feb. 18, 2015

Our Agenda for Today

• The four big ideas behind the Strengthening Families

Approach

• The five protective factors at the heart of Strengthening

Families

• Tools for implementation

• Strengthening Families West Virginia

• Community-level Strengthening Families efforts

• Connect the Dots

Strengthening Families: Not Your Ordinary Initiative

• Implementing Strengthening Families is about:

– small but significant changes in everyday practice

and

– the shifts in policies and systems that allow/promote

those changes in practice

• Implementation funds come from existing dollars

• All national implementation tools are available free

of charge

Big Idea #1: A Protective Factors Approach

Risk

Factors

Protective and

Promotive

Factors

• Protective Factors: conditions or attributes of individuals, families, communities, or

the larger society that mitigate or eliminate risk

• Promotive Factors: conditions or attributes of individuals, families, communities, or

the larger society that actively enhance well-being

What we know: Families gain what

they need to be successful when

key protective factors are robust in

their lives and communities

Big Idea #2: An Approach, Not a Model

• Research-based and evidence-informed

• Applied in any setting that serves young children and their

families

• Implemented through small but significant changes

• Not parallel to, but integrated into existing practice

• Cross-sector implementation core to the approach

Alignment with Head Start Parent, Family & Community Engagement Framework

Big Idea #3: A Changed Relationship with Parents

• Supporting parents’ ability to parent effectively

• Involving parents as partners in achieving good outcomes

for children

• Engaging parents effectively through programs

• Engaging parents directly in mutually supportive

relationships that build protective factors

• Partnering with parents to help design systems and

policies that work for children and families

Big Idea #4: Alignment with Developmental Science

• Paying attention to what the research tells us:

– Critical periods of development – early childhood and

adolescence

– Importance of nurturing relationships in early childhood

– Effects of trauma on development, behavior and outcomes

• Providing tools and guidance to align practice with what

we know about child development

A Protective/Promotive Factors Frame Across

Development

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

Round 1: Social connections

How important were social connections –

friends, other adults, teams, religious celebrations,

groups, and clubs – for you growing up?

Round 2: Parental resilience

Remembering back to your childhood or youth,

can you recall instances where your parent or parent

figure showed resilience (being able to manage

things) in the face of adversity?

Round 3: Knowledge of parenting and child development

Remembering back to your childhood or youth,

what is the most important lesson you learned about

being a good parent?

Round 4: Concrete support in times of need

How important was having the basic necessities

needed to survive (e.g., adequate food & shelter) to

you and your family as you were growing up?

Round 5: Social and emotional competence of children

How did your parent, or another significant adult in

your life, influence the ideas and feelings you had

about yourself when you were growing up?

Parental resilience

What it looks likeResilience to general life stress

• Hope, optimism, self confidence

• Problem solving skills

• Self care and willingness to ask

for help

• Ability to manage negative

emotions

Managing stress and functioning well when faced with

challenges, adversity and trauma

Resilience to parenting

stress

• Not allowing stress to

interfere with nurturing

• Positive attitude about

parenting and child

Everyday actions

• Demonstrate in multiple ways that parents are

valued

• Honor each family’s race, language, culture, history

and approach to parenting

• Encourage parents to manage stress effectively

• Support parents as decision-makers and help build

decision-making and leadership skills

• Help parents understand how to buffer their child

during stressful times

Parental resilience

Building blocks of resilience

Social connections

What it looks like

• Multiple friendships and supportive relationships

with others

• Feeling respected and appreciated

• Accepting help from others, and giving help to

others

• Skills for establishing and maintaining connections

Positive relationships that provide emotional,

informational, instrumental and spiritual support

Social connections

Everyday actions

• Help families value, build, sustain and use

social connections

• Create an inclusive environment

• Facilitate mutual support

• Promote engagement in the community and

participation in community activities

What it looks like

• Nurturing parenting behavior

• Appropriate developmental expectations

• Ability to create a developmentally supportive environment

for child

• Positive discipline techniques; ability to effectively manage

child behavior

• Recognizing and responding to your child’s specific needs

Understanding child development and parenting strategies that

support physical, cognitive, language, social and emotional

development

Knowledge of parenting & child development

Knowledge of parenting & child development

Everyday actions

• Model developmentally appropriate interactions

with children

• Provide information and resources on parenting

and child development

• Encourage parents to observe, ask questions,

explore parenting issues and try out new

strategies

• Address parenting issues from a strength-based

perspective

Providing “just in time” parenting education

Express Empathy

Ask Good Questions

Provide Information

and Perspective

Develop Strategies

Coach, Model and

Mentor

Lift up Successes

Concrete support in times of need

What it looks like

• Seeking and receiving support when needed

• Knowing what services are available and how to

access them

• Adequate financial security; basic needs being met

• Persistence

• Advocating effectively for self and child to receive

necessary help

Access to concrete support and services that address a

family’s needs and help minimize stress caused by challenges

Concrete support in times of need

Everyday actions

• Respond immediately when families are in crisis

• Provide information and connections to services in

the community

• Help families to develop skills and tools they need

to identify their needs and connect to supports

Social & emotional competence of children

What it looks like

For the parent:

• Warm and consistent

responses that foster a

strong and secure

attachment with the child

• Encouraging and reinforcing

social skills; setting limits

Family and child interactions that help children develop the ability to

communicate clearly, recognize and regulate their emotions and

establish and maintain relationships

For the child:

• Age appropriate self-regulation

• Ability to form and maintain

relationships with others

• Positive interactions with others

• Effective communication

Social & emotional competence of children

Everyday actions

• Help parents foster their child’s social emotional

development

• Model nurturing care to children

• Include children’s social and emotional development

activities in programming

• Help children develop a positive cultural identity and

interact in a diverse society

• Respond proactively when social or emotional development

needs extra support

Children’s Social Emotional Skills to Build

EmpathizeDevelop

Strategies

Control Response to

Feelings

Recognize and Communicate

Emotions

Tools to Support Strengthening Families

Implementation

The Strengthening Families Approach and Protective Factors Framework: Branching Out and

Reaching Deeper

A synthesis of the ideas and research that further

informs the Strengthening Families Approach and

Protective Factors Framework

http://www.cssp.org/reform/strengtheningfamilies/about/

the-research-behind-strengthening-families

Research briefs about the protective factors

http://www.cssp.org/reform/strengthening-

families/2013/SF_All-5-Protective-Factors.pdf

Core meanings of the protective factors

• Distills the information from the

research briefs

• Concrete definition of each

protective factor

http://www.cssp.org/reform/strengthening-families/2013/

Core-Meanings-of-the-SF-Protective-Factors.pdf

Bringing the Protective FactorsFramework 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

o Introduction to the Framework

(also useful as a stand-alone

orientation)

o A course on each of the 5

Protective Factors

o A wrap-up course that moves

users from knowledge to actionFind at www.ctfalliance.org/onlinetraining

Contact onlinelinetraining@ctfalliance.org

The Strengthening Families Self-Assessments for Child- and Family-Serving Programs

About the Self-Assessments

• Key implementation tool for programs adopting a

Strengthening Families Approach

• Helps programs identify “small but significant changes”

that 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

• Helps programs identify strengths & areas to focus

• Not an evaluation tool but a tool for continuous

improvement

Four versions for different types of programs

Special Circumstances Sections

• Responding to Possible Child Abuse or Neglect (included

in all four self-assessments)

• Supporting a Child’s Transitions to School or Other

Programs (Center-based ECE and Family Child Care

tools)

ECE Self-Assessments are Tiered• ECE Center-based

– Baseline (i.e., any program)

– Mid-level (i.e., more attention to

parent engagement)

– High (i.e., high attention to

parent engagement and support)

– Comprehensive Service

Programs, for those centers that

offer a comprehensive range of

supports and services in addition

to ECE (e.g., Head Start, family

support centers).

• Family Child Care

– Baseline (i.e., simple day-to-day

interactions),

– Mid-level (i.e., more intentional

focus on supporting and

engaging parents)

– High (i.e., reflect high level of

focus on parent engagement and

support— may be most

appropriate or easiest to achieve

for providers that are themselves

receiving systemic support).

Strengthening Families Evaluation Portal

• Registration

• Self-Assessments

• Action Planning

• Parent & Staff

Surveys

• Reports

http://www.strengtheningfamiliesevaluation.com

The Strengthening Families West Virginia logo was inspired

by the West African, Adinkra Symbol for strength (in mind,

body and soul), humility, wisdom and learning.

Deepening knowledge and understanding in West Virginia

2007-2010 Cabell Co. SF Innovation Grant:

ECE Pilot Sites

Leadership Team (Center-based)

Learning Community

2011 SF Replication Grant “Road Show”

Cabin Creek

Huntington

Morgantown

2012 “Road Show”

Charleston

Beckley

Morgantown

Martinsburg

Mineral Wells

2013 “Road Show”

Beckley

Charleston

Martinsburg

Wheeling

West Virginia Family Survey

Individual actors

Community Institutions

Service programs

• Peer based opportunities to build protective factors

• Broad awareness of the importance of protective factors

• Actions that any individual can take to build protective factors

• Normalizing protective factors as something for all families

• Weaving protective factors into the institutions families go to first

• Making Protective Factors part of the fabric of the community

• Engagement strategy for programs

• Community of practice across practitioners

• Continuity of experience for families touched by multiple systems

• Everyday actions that support children and families – in one’s network and in the community

Individual Actors

• Community activities that build protective factors

• Small changes in service structure to build protective factors

• Protective factors aligned activities and services available in community settings (e.g. grocery stores, parks)

Community Institutions

• Integrate protective factors into assessment

• Small changes in service structure to build protective factors

• Collaborations around protective factors

Service Programs

A case example: Magnolia Place

What would it take to have the 35,000 children living in the neighborhoods within the

5-square mile/500 blocks of the Magnolia Catchment Area break all records of

success in their education and their health, and the quality of nurturing care and the

economic stability they receive from their families and community?”

• Use SF protective factors as a philosophy to align practice among a network of 75 providers

• Baseline survey of 800 individuals on PFs• Café conversations with community members about what PFs mean to them• Dashboard—to examine monthly success in engaging families around PFs• Using EDI to measure impact on school readiness

Service Programs

Shared

Outcomes

and Measures

Magnolia Community Dashboard

15 August 2011

% of 3rd Grade Children Who are Proficient in Reading

% Parents of Children 0-5 with Protective Factors % Parents of Children 0-5 Achieving Family Goals

% Parents Reporting Reading to Their Child Daily Parent Experiences with Care (in the Community Overall and % Parents Reporting Ties to Neighbors

Overall and in Actively Improving Provider Settings)

% Parents Reporting Positive Relationship with Child % Parents Reporting Use of Bank Account % Parents Reporting Family-Centered/Empathetic Care

% Parents Discussing Resources for Families % Parents Asked About Developmental Concerns % Parents Asked About Family Stressors

% Parents Discussing Resources for Social Support % of Children Reached % Parents Asked About Depression

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2

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Concrete Support in

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Resilience (% with all 5)

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% reached by Magnolia Network partner

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Economic Stability Parenting

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2010 2011 2012

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2010 2011 2012

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2010 2011 2012

Has IEP

Area No. Comm Phys Lang Soc Emo 1+ 2+ (%)

Northwest 137 12 10 17 17 7 30 18 7

Southwest 15 27 0 0 13 13 40 13 --

Proportion of Kindergarten Children:

Developmentally vulnerable (%)

0 20 40 60 80 100

Allchildren

"Childrenwithparent<HSeduca on

No. Total number of children assessed

Comm Communication and general knowledge

Phys Physical health and wellbeing

Lang Language and cognitive skills 1+ Vulnerable on one or more domains

Soc Social competence 2+ Vulnerable on two or more domains

Emo Emotional maturity Has IEP Has special education plan

In actively improving doctor offices

In actively improving child care programs

In community overall

In actively improving family support programs

Goal

EDSI . EARLY

DEVELOPMENTAL

SCREENING

AND INTERVENTION

INITIATIVE

Early Developmental Screening

and Intervention InitiativeEDSI.

A case example: Baptist Convention of New Jersey

In October of 2014, the General Baptist Convention of New Jersey voted to become

Strengthening Families churches. The pastor of each of these churches will sign a

covenant to promote the protective factors of families in their congregations.

Reverend Darrell Armstrong, an early adopter of Strengthening Families, developed

the covenant as a tool to engage clergy of any faith tradition in helping families to

build protective factors as part of their ministry.

• Over 300 churches in NJ will sign the covenant• Protective factors have been aligned to key passages from scripture• Training available for clergy and lay faith leaders on how to implement a protective

factors approach in their work with parishoners

Community Institutions

A case example: Leelanau, Michigan

When the Leelanau Children’s Center, one of the early Strengthening Families

exemplary programs decided they wanted to bring Strengthening Families to their

community they started making some unusual partnerships. For example they knew

traditional parenting education classes often face attrition and difficulty attracting the

very families that need the support the most. So they teamed up with the local

laundromat and pizza parlor to host a family night with conversation about common

parenting issues. The pizza and laundry are free and the events are packed.

• Building protective factors in places where families already go• Partnership with service providers and community institutions

Community Institutions

What does it take?

• Leadership team to coordinate the effort

• Mechanisms for mutual accountability to the protective

factors

• Shared capacity building around protective factors

• Messaging and communication tools

• Parent-to-parent strategies

What is Connect the Dots?

• A movement to engage individuals in making their communities places where children and families can thrive

• A coordinated effort among national partners

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Engaging the public in prevention and strengthening families

• Affirm

• Empower

• Educate

Individual Actions

• Sense of connectedness

• Relationships

Community Engagement • Engage in

issues

• Mobilize

Policy Advocacy

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What’s your dot?

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Mentoring

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www.whatsyourdot.org

Connectingthe dots at a community

level

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Mentoring

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Help us Connect the Dots• Join the movement by signing up at

http://www.whatsyourdot.org• And contact us if your organization would like to be an affiliate

• Spread the word with #whatsyourdot

• Talk to (at least) one other person about Connect the Dots

• Let us know what resources and tools would be most useful to you and your community

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https://twitter.com/CtrSocialPolicy

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Center-for-the-Study-of-Social-Policy

www.cssp.org

www.strengtheningfamilies.net

www.strengtheningfamilieswv.org

info@strengtheningfamilieswv.org