Strengthening Families

The Holistic Well-being Of Children

Strengthening Families is a national movement to improve child well-being that researchers, the federal government, and many jurisdictions around the nation are championing. Now the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, under Commissioner Joette Katz, is embracing Strengthening Families as a fundamental reform in how it conducts its child welfare services. Strengthening Families is rooted in the conviction that children thrive and grow best in families and that every family has strengths that can be built upon. This month CTParenting is exploring this vitally important reform movement and contributions from its proponents. Because "Strengthening Families" promises to give children the best chance to be healthy, happy and successful.

• What is "Strengthening Families" and what does it have to do with the Department of Children and Families?DCF Commissioner Joette Katz explains 
• Strengthening Families is a national movement to boost children by empowering families to meet their potential. Learn more about this vitally important reform in children's services at this website of the federal government's Administration for Children and Families.  
• Early childhood is the stage of child development that sets the conditions for the rest of a person's life. So one of the new over-arching themes guiding the Department of Children and Families' work is the neuroscience of child development.  Find out the science behind that statement by exploring what we know about how the human brain develops.
• What Do Kids Need? Kids who have "Developmental Assets" have the best chance to grow up to become smart, productive and happy adults. The Search Institute created this list of 40 positive factors and experiences as part of their work to promote positive child and adolescent development.
• Learn about the Developmental Assets and what to do to get them for your child. The Child Health and Development Institute (CHDI) of CT emphasizes family-centered, comprehensive care that encompasses both physical and behavioral health so that children and their families may have access to quality care. See what they offer: 
• Positive parenting helps parents and kids support and listen to each other -- and have fun together. The Child Development Institute provides the latest information on child development, psychology, health issues, parenting and family life. 
• Strengthening Families reflects the idea that all families have strengths that can be focused to overcome challenges and enhance child well-being. Solution focused therapy is not new. But it provides the clinical bases for this approach that sees family as the solution -- not the problem. 
• The National Institute of Health sorted through years of research to come up with a parent educational resource it calls "RPM3," which stands for Responding, Preventing, Monitoring, Mentoring, and Modeling. This booklet can help you make daily decisions about parenting and offers examples of how some parents have used the lessons of RPM3 with their own children.
• What makes a strong family? Here is another way to answer that question and suggestions to make your family stronger and more resilient.   
• What are the five protective factors of Strengthening Families and how do you promote them? Read what the Child Welfare Information Gateway has to say.  Parental resilience -- the capacity to overcome adversity, stress and challenges -- is one of the protective factors of Strengthening Families.
• The Child Welfare Information Gateway presents the research on this vital characteristic of strong families.
• Children’s social and emotional development is another of the protective factors of Strengthening Families. The Children's Health and Development Institute of Connecticut recently put forward an issue brief on the developmental needs of infants in Connecticut's child welfare system and the role of Child FIRST CT.
• Families can be there best when they have access to the right information. The University of Illinois offers a great web-based resource
• CTParenting is another great resource for parents who want to understand how to adjust their parenting based on the child's stage and how their child's development impacts every part of his or her life.