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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.

• Parent perspectives & leadership
• Family support policy & Federal programs
• Related resources

Selected Resources Midwest Learning Center for Family Support Family Focus, Inc. Provides training, professional development, and program partnerships to ensure the integration of family support principles into human service practices. Offers an online bookstore and a subscription to legacy materials published by Family Support America. 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 (PDF - 2240 KB) University of Maryland School of Social Work Center for Families (2004, 4th ed) Provides 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.

Updated on February 24, 2010