2008 Annual Report - Families First Parenting Programs

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4 Our Core Curricula Families First has found that three simple ideas are key to building positive relationships between parents and children. These three pillars – positive discipline, building self-esteem, and learning clear, positive communication – form a core curriculum that is at the foundation of all of our teaching. As important, Families First espouses a preventive, strength-based approach, encouraging parents to build on their positive qualities and insights to benefit interactions with their children. Families First bases its parenting curricula on research-based work of leading child development and parenting scholars and researchers, including Erikson, Bronfenbrenner, Sameroff, Vygotsky, Baumrind, Ginott, Brazelton, Hallowell, Elkind, and Ames. 90% of our programs are delivered in partnership with organizations that serve low inCome and homeless families. Our services ParentinG WorkShoPS Families First has created over 30 interactive parenting workshops designed to help parents become more confident and effective and to reduce their feelings of isolation. These curriculum-based workshops range from one to six weekly sessions and cover a broad range of parenting topics and issues. ProFeSSional traininG Families First has designed training targeted to the type of professionals that typically interact with parents. Teachers, child care providers, case managers, or health care personnel can delve into our specialized trainings on topics such as Parenting Essentials, Creating Partnerships with Diverse Families, and Supporting Parents in Stressful and Uncertain Times. Known for their rich content, participants often take these trainings for continuing education units (CEUs) or for credit in a credential-giving program. knoWledGe leaderShiP Families First has long been known as the nexus of applied knowledge in parenting education. Each of our curricula Low Income / Homeless Parents Parents Who Pay For Our Services Low Income / Homeless Parents Parents Who Pay For Our Services Community Organizations is researched and assembled by experienced writers who Schools and Education Centers incorporate the latest findings in social, psychological, and Community Early Care and Preschool developmental research. We hold Organizations focus groups and pilot Transitional Housing Environments programs with groups Schools Afterschool of parents, and Programs Education using the feedback Centers from these sessions to make Early Religious further Care Institutions revisions. and Preschool Once our workshops have been fully developed Prison / Pre-Release Programs Transitional and tested, Housing they Environments are offered in Hospital / Community Health Centers the community and continually evaluated to ensure quality Afterschool Programs content and delivery. Religious Institutions advancinG the Field Prison / Pre-Release Programs Families First promotes the importance of parenting Hospital / Community Health Centers education and advances social change on a broader level. This work includes producing such events as the National Parenting Education Summit (2007), which brought together the best and brightest minds in parenting education to establish guidelines and goals for the field. In partnership with groups like Planned Parenthood and WGBH, Families First has hosted panel events that bring together parenting experts to discuss the latest issues in today’s society. And across the country, whenever we are called, we share our expertise at conferences and trainings to help broaden and deepen the field of parenting education.
Children’s Services of Roxbury Founded over thirty years ago, the mission of Children’s Services of roxbury (CSr) is to provide high quality services and programs to economically disadvantaged infants, children, adolescents, and their families, thereby promoting and strengthening family life and individual growth. CSr addresses issues related to unemployment, housing, substance abuse, healthcare, literacy, and parenting, offering over 20 social service programs to about 2,600 people each year. CSr’s Intensive Foster Care program works to place children in stable, loving, nurturing foster homes. the goal of the program is to find both short-term and long-term placements for at-risk children and youth who have been abused and/or neglected and also have a broad range of emotional, physical, and developmental special needs. Foster parents in the program receive eight weeks of thorough training and are supported by a full-time staff of social workers and case managers. they also attend bi-weekly meetings to discuss the progress of the children in their care and to receive continuous training in effective foster parenting techniques. Seeking to fill a critical service gap in its parenting education programs for foster parents, CSr contacted Families First in 2007 and asked us to help meet the needs of this population. primarily women, these foster parents come from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, speaking english, Spanish, and/or Haitian Creole in their homes. they vary in age, as do the children they foster. In fiscal year 2008, we began a partnership with CSr delivering 32 parent workshops and professional trainings to foster parents who participate in CSr’s intensive foster care program. to meet the needs of CSr’s diverse population, we provided workshops in both english and Spanish. our programming has included workshops on discipline, selfesteem, and adolescent development. We have also provided professional trainings on cultural competency, parenting essentials, and ways to work with teen parents. CSr is extremely satisfied with our services and has now scheduled 26 more programs to take place in fiscal year 2009. CSr also runs an Intensive Foster Care program out of their tewksbury office and has requested a comparable program model for those foster parents. We are currently looking for ways to financially support an increase in services to this organization and foster parents in need of support and information. We know that our programs make a difference based on comments from Children’s Services of roxbury like these: “I am writing to thank you for providing trainings for our foster parents at Children’s Services of roxbury (CSr). Your trainings have been able to address the unique situations intensive foster care parents and our regular foster parents have to address. We would not have been able to offer such quality workshops without your subsidized rate. a number of topics have been covered by Families First parenting programs, all of which have been valuable in providing our foster parents with additional skills to effectively foster these children, many having challenging behaviors. the Families First parenting programs trainers were always prompt and well prepared. We have received positive feedback from our foster parents regarding the trainings. Families First parenting programs has provided valuable information to our foster parents, and CSr has been very pleased with the trainings provided.” Ted Blake, Family Resource Supervisor, CSR 5
Page 1 and 2: families first annual update 2008 a
Page 3 and 4: Dear Friends of Families First, Hap
Page 5: 1998 Families First becomes indepen
Page 9 and 10: Norwood Community Partnerships for
Page 11 and 12: A. Neil Pappalardo Chairman & CEO M
Page 13 and 14: Families First 2008 Family of Suppo
Page 15 and 16: Alan and Pat Kessler Kip Kimble Kur
Page 17 and 18: Susan and Daniel Rothenberg Lawrenc
Page 19 and 20: 7th annual Fathers’ Breakfast our

2008 Annual Report - Families First Parenting Programs

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