FAMILIES FIRST ANNUAL UPDATE 2007 annual RePORt

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Background & History of Families First Founded by Wheelock College and The Children’s Museum in Boston, Families First Parenting Programs was created in response to decades of turbulence and change for American families. Between 1955 and 1985, divorce rates skyrocketed, an increasing number of mothers entered the workplace and the childhood poverty rate climbed to an all-time high, resulting in a tremendous amount of stress being placed on parents and children. Since 1988, Families First has served as a lifeline to parents of all backgrounds and life circumstances, offering them the tools and confidence they need to raise healthy children in our communities. As we continue to learn about the families and commun ities we serve, we are responding by creating new curricula, reaching out to new audiences of parents and professionals, and striving to serve families in the most effective ways possible. <strong>2007</strong> Achievements 1. Implemented our Strategic Plan to serve more parents and professionals by forming new large-scale partnerships with several family serving organizations in the Boston area. 2. Provided more than75% of grant-supported programs to parents needing financial assistance and living in challenging circumstances. 3. Provided 388 parenting and professional programs in Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, directly serving nearly 3,000 people and partnering with more than 100 organizations in 48 different communities. 4. In <strong>2007</strong>, Families First generated our highest fundraising revenues in the organization’s history. 5. Received a $100,000 grant from The Bank of New York Mellon to fund programs for low-income families and the creation of culturally competent curricula for Haitian families. 6. Received $40,000 from the Clowes Fund to support 30 workshops and professional trainings at ten Boston Center for Youth and Family sites. 7. Families First, in collaboration with Wheelock College hosted a parenting education Summit. For three days, participants engaged in stimulating conversation about the field of parenting education. 8. Held our 2nd Annual Family Album Gala, which brought together 500 supporters and raised more than $400,000 for our parenting and professional programs.
Overview of Programs & Objectives Programs for Parents Families First’s parenting education workshops positively impact thousands of Massachusetts families each year. These programs are so successful because they are a unique combination of information, skill-building and support. Our workshops start with welldeveloped curriculum that is rooted in the latest social, psychological and developmental research. Our belief that “there is no right way to parent” incorporates research and strategies from a number of experts in the field and gathers information from focus groups and pilot workshops. Our parenting educators, each of whom is a highly trained and skilled facilitator, tailor each workshop to the audience they are serving and mindfully balance individual needs with the needs of each group. The end result is parents walking away feeling better informed, more confident and part of a larger network of parents they can turn to for support. Programs for Professionals In the late 1990s, Families First embarked on our Professional Training Initiative (PTI). Through the PTI, Families First developed accredited training programs to strengthen the ability of professionals from diverse disciplines to work with children and families effectively and confidently. Over the past nine years, we have continued to expand and enhance our trainings, and we now offer eight different topics covering a range of issues and challenges. Through these trainings, professionals such as teachers, social workers and health care personnel learn important developmental information and strategies for identifying and meeting the needs of the families they serve. Participants also connect with other family service professionals in order to share best practices and provide mutual support in their work with children and parents. Collaborations As part of our Strategic Plan and in an effort to serve increasing numbers of parents and professional, we have formed new, large-scale partnerships with several family-serving organizations in the Boston area. The goal of these efforts is to create a larger presence, greater visibility, increased programming efficiency and new collaborations not only for Families First, but also among the organizations we identify. Some of these partnerships include: East Boston Collaborative; Boston Centers for Youth and Families; Children’s Hospital, Boston; Agenda for Children; Boston Public Schools and Boston After School and Beyond. Programs for Low-Income and Homeless Families The challenges of parenting are universal, regardless of income, cultural background or family structure. Yet when parents are faced with overwhelming stressors, such as homelessness, poverty, and substance addiction, the likelihood of child abuse and neglect increases and children’s behavior and performance in school suffers. The encouraging news is that parenting education programs are a proven method for preventing child abuse and neglect. Unfortunately, lowincome parents are less likely to access support services that can help to prevent these outcomes. For these reasons, we devote over 75% of our programming to homeless and other low-income families. Culturally Competent Parenting Programs Cultural competence is the ability to learn from and relate respectfully with people of your own culture and other cultures, adjusting your own behaviors based on what you learn. Families First is committed to strengthening families from all backgrounds. In addition to translating all of our core curricula into Spanish, we have held focus groups and hired consultants to ensure that our new programs are culturally competent. We conduct approximately 17% of our workshops in Spanish and we continue to adapt our programs to meet the cultural needs of Haitian families. Currently, we are developing cultural adaptations of three core curriculums for the Haitian-Creole Community. Curriculum Development At the heart of Families First’s programs are our interactive parenting workshops. We currently offer over 30 different curriculum-based workshops, ranging in length from one to eight-week sessions, covering a broad range of parenting topics and issues. Each of our curricula has been researched and assembled by experienced writers who incorporate the latest findings in social, psychological and developmental research. We hold focus groups and pilot programs with groups of parents, using the feedback from these sessions to revise and strengthen the curricula further. Currently, Families First is working with Open Circle, a leader in addressing the need for social and emotional learning in schools. Families First and Open Circle have collaborated together to produce a series of five parenting education workshops that focus on the social and emotional growth of children, as well as on the enhancement of parents’ own social and emotional skills in the context of the family. We will continue to work with Open Circle to finalize a new curriculum to address relational aggression, mainly among young girls.
Page 1 and 2: families first annual update 2007 a
Page 3: Dear Friends of Families First, Hap
Page 7 and 8: Collaboration with Purpose Families
Page 9 and 10: Creating a New Page in our Family A
Page 11 and 12: Families First 2007 Family of Suppo
Page 13 and 14: Peter L. Flynn Diane and Blaine Fog
Page 15 and 16: Guest speaker John Badalament, Ed.M

FAMILIES FIRST ANNUAL UPDATE 2007 annual RePORt

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