This course offers both an introduction to the Strengthening Families Five Protective Factors Framework and concrete examples to help enhance a parent’s protective factors within everyday practice with children and families. Strengthening Families, developed by the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), is a research-informed approach to increase family strengths, enhance child development and reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. By intentionally embedding the five protective factors within programs and daily work, families are empowered and children thrive. This training will assist anyone working with children, youth and families within human services to build prevention efforts into their existing practice by learning the protective factors framework and ways in which each of us can help to enhance those factors every day.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Understand the premise behind the development of the Protective Factors Framework as a method of strengthening families.
- Understand and appreciate how the five protective factors work to strengthen parents and reinforce optimal child development.
- Engage parents not only by addressing and working to reduce their risk factors, but by identifying and building their strengths in parenting skills.
- Use tangible tools within their everyday work with families to build protective factors.
- Identify and articulate the value of focusing not just on a family’s risk factors, but also their strengths.
- Recognize the value of including parents in the decisions that affect their lives and incorporating parent’s opinions in agency programming.