Home > Strengthening Families and Communities: 2009 Resource Guide > Chapter 2: Working With Families: The Five Protective Factors - Concrete Supports for Parents

Strengthening Families and Communities: 2009 Resource Guide

Author(s):  Child Welfare Information Gateway, Children's Bureau, FRIENDS National Resource Center For Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention

Year Published:  2009

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You are in section: Table of Contents Letter From the Children’s Bureau About the Resource Guide Protective Factors for Strengthening… Levers for Change: Deepening and Sustaining… Using Evidence to Support Efforts… Promoting the Five Protective… Nurturing and Attachment Knowledge of Parenting and… Parental Resilience Social Connections Concrete Supports for Parents Tools for Engaging Your Community Engaging Community Partners Tips for Working With Specific Groups Talking Points Temas de conversación Sample Press Release for National… Ejemplo de boletín de prensa Sample Public Service Announcements Ejemplo de anuncio de servicio público… Sample Letter to Legislators Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Child Maltreatment National Child Abuse Prevention Partners Federal Interagency Work Group on Child… Using the Tip Sheets for Parents and Caregivers Bonding With Your Baby Usted y su bebé: El lazo que los une Dealing With Temper Tantrums Los berrinches Connecting With Your Teen Cómo relacionarse con su hijo adolescente Teen Parents...You’re Not Alone! Hay muchos padres adolescentes como usted Ten Ways to Be a Better Dad Diez maneras de ser un mejor padre Raising Your Grandchildren Cómo criar al hijo de un pariente

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Chapter 2: Working With Families: The Five Protective Factors
Concrete Supports for Parents

Many factors affect a family's ability to care for their children. Families who can meet their own basic needs for food, clothing, housing, and transportation—and who know how to access essential services such as child care, health care, and mental health services to address family-specific needs—are better able to ensure their children's safety and well-being. Some families may also need assistance connecting to social service supports such as alcohol and drug treatment, domestic violence counseling, or public benefits. When parents do not have steady financial resources, lack health insurance, or suffer a family crisis such as a natural disaster or the incarceration of a parent, their ability to care for their children may be at risk.

Financial insecurity is associated with greater rates of child abuse and neglect, and families living in poverty often benefit from specific concrete supports, such as help with housing, food, transportation, child care, clothing, furniture, and utilities. Partnering with parents to identify and access these resources in the community may help prevent the stress that sometimes precipitates child maltreatment. Offering concrete supports may also help prevent the unintended neglect that sometimes occurs when parents are unable to provide for their children.

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Exploring Strengths and Needs

Most parents are unlikely to use or identify with the words "concrete supports." Instead, they might express a goal such as, "My family can access services when they need them."

Working with parents to identify their most critical basic needs and locate concrete supports keeps the focus on family-driven solutions. As a partner with the family, your role may simply be making referrals to the essential services, supports, and resources that parents say they need.

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Sharing Strategies and Resources to Strengthen Concrete Supports

Parents may not always know about community resources that can help meet their basic needs or how to access essential services. Language or cultural barriers may make it difficult for some parents to identify services and make the necessary contacts. Providing information and connections to concrete supports can be a tremendous help to families under stress or in crisis. You might provide contact information (a person's name is most helpful) or help parents make the initial calls or appointments, depending on what parents say they need.

When specific services do not exist in your community, you may be able to work with parents or community leaders to help establish them. Parents can become powerful advocates for a particular cause, such as low-cost, after-school programs or safe transportation for teens, if they know the process for forming groups and creating services.

Your expertise may be most helpful in the following ways:

Linking families with services

• Parents may not be aware of services that could help. You can let them know about all available resources, so they may select what is most appropriate for their needs.
• Parents are more likely to use culturally appropriate services. If you can link them with a service provider who speaks their language or comes from a similar background, parents may feel more comfortable and experience a greater benefit.
• Parents with many needs may be overwhelmed by the different requirements for accessing various services. A "systems of care" approach may be most useful, in which different helping systems work together to support the family. (See Engaging Community Partners in the next chapter.)

Building community services

• Linking parents with community leaders and others to organize support, advocacy, and consulting groups gives parents the opportunity to use their experience to help others.
• Parents who go public with their need or cause usually find that they are not alone. The fact that a parent is willing to publicize a need or cause may mobilize the community.
• Parents who are new to advocacy may need help connecting with the media, businesses, funding, and other parts of the community to have their needs heard and identify solutions.

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previous

You are in section: Table of Contents Letter From the Children’s Bureau About the Resource Guide Protective Factors for Strengthening… Levers for Change: Deepening and Sustaining… Using Evidence to Support Efforts… Promoting the Five Protective… Nurturing and Attachment Knowledge of Parenting and… Parental Resilience Social Connections Concrete Supports for Parents Tools for Engaging Your Community Engaging Community Partners Tips for Working With Specific Groups Talking Points Temas de conversación Sample Press Release for National… Ejemplo de boletín de prensa Sample Public Service Announcements Ejemplo de anuncio de servicio público… Sample Letter to Legislators Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Child Maltreatment National Child Abuse Prevention Partners Federal Interagency Work Group on Child… Using the Tip Sheets for Parents and Caregivers Bonding With Your Baby Usted y su bebé: El lazo que los une Dealing With Temper Tantrums Los berrinches Connecting With Your Teen Cómo relacionarse con su hijo adolescente Teen Parents...You’re Not Alone! Hay muchos padres adolescentes como usted Ten Ways to Be a Better Dad Diez maneras de ser un mejor padre Raising Your Grandchildren Cómo criar al hijo de un pariente

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To view or order materials available from the 2009 Resource Guide, please visit our website at: http://www.childwelfare.gov/preventing/res_guide_2009/

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Updated on October 9, 2009