Strengthening Families
Strengthening families cannot happen without acknowledging the broken family unit that plagues urban communities. Restoring families happens by ensuring a sense of safety, building on family strengths, minimizing policy threats, and promoting healthier outcomes.
“Five Protective Factors are the foundation of the Strengthening Families Approach: parental resilience, social connections, concrete support in times of need, knowledge of parenting and child development, and social and emotional competence of children. Research studies support the common-sense notion that when these Protective Factors are well established in a family, the likelihood of child abuse and neglect diminishes. Research shows that these protective factors are ‘promotive’ factors that build family strengths and a family environment that promotes optimal child and youth development.