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Home > Family-Centered Practice > Family-Centered Services > Family Resource, Support, & Education Services > Introduction to Family Support
Introduction to Family Support
Family support services are community-based services that assist and support parents in their role as caregivers. Family support services promote parental competency and healthy child development by helping parents enhance their strengths and resolve problems that can lead to child maltreatment, developmental delays, and family disruption.
Services include peer support and counseling, early developmental screening, parent education, early childhood development, childcare and respite care, home visits, family resource centers, school-linked services, recreation, and job or skills education or training. Programs may address the general population or target particular groups such as ethnic/cultural minorities, adolescent parents, kinship caregivers, or families facing health, mental health, or substance abuse issues. They can be comprehensive or address a specific goal.
The principles of family support emphasize partnerships between staff and families; families as sources of support; appreciation of cultural, racial, and linguistic differences; family support as a strategy for community building; and the integration of family support values throughout program planning and administration.
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Selected Resources
Adopt, Apply, Adhere: Stay True to Family Support
Dunst
America's Family Support Magazine, Spring/Summer 2003
View Abstract
Describes the development of 10 family support principles for child welfare agencies, discusses the importance of and strategies for adopting these principles, and highlights new initiatives for evaluating family support programs and program implementation.
Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention: Lessons From FRIENDS
Family Support America
America's Family Support Magazine, Winter 2004
View Abstract
Focuses on community-based child abuse prevention and provides examples of model family support programs.
Core Competencies in the Field of Family Support: Essential Knowledge and Skills for Parent Educators, Home Visitors, and Other Professionals Who Work With Families
Wisconsin Children's Trust Fund (2004)
Identifies specific skills and levels of knowledge for all family support workers and advanced workers, as well as suggested topics for continued learning.
CWLA Standards of Excellence for Services to Strengthen and Preserve Families With Children
Child Welfare League of America (2003, rev. ed.)
View Abstract
Describes best practices for family-centered services that support and strengthen families to prevent child maltreatment.
Family Connections Intervention Manual: Helping Families Meet the Basic Needs of Their Children
University of Maryland School of Social Work (2003)
Information on engaging families as partners in Family Connections, a community-based intervention that works with families to help them meet their children's basic needs and reduce the risk of neglect.
Guidelines for Family Support Practice
Family Support America (2001)
View Abstract
Reviews guidelines and key practices that should be implemented to achieve specific principles of family support practice. Provides examples of strategies and highlights implementation challenges.
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