These resources provide guidance on the critical elements and standards for providing family support and family preservation services, including in-home services, and offer State and local examples.
Standards of Quality
National Family Support Network
Presents standards of quality for family strengthening and support programs for use as a tool for planning, providing, and assessing quality practice.
Standards Resources
National Family Support Network
Offers documents related to previous versions of standards of quality for family strengthening & support in addition to a program self-assessment tool and other resources related to standards.
Using the Updated Standards of Quality to Help Families Build Protective Factors: Strengthening Families Networking [Webinar]
Center for the Study of Social Policy (2021)
Provides a webinar on the national standards of quality for family strengthening and support and reviews what the standards include; how to use the standards to build protective factors; and ways the standards support programs to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.
State and local examples
Focusing on Families: Raising Standards of Practice
Georgia Family Support Network
Explains efforts to raise standards of practice in Georgia to ensure families receive multigenerational and family centered services.
Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening and Support
California Network of Family Strengthening Networks
Offers information on what it means to be a quality family strengthening and support program in California and presents the standards issued by the California Network of Family Strengthening Networks. A free registration is required to download and view the standards.
Iowa Family Support Standards (PDF - 314 KB)
Iowa Department of Public Health, Bureau of Family Health (2016)
Presents standards for the State of Iowa that apply to home visiting programs that deliver support services, early intervention programs for children, and parent education groups.