Welcome
MISSION
The mission of the National Family Support Network is to promote positive outcomes for all children, families, and communities by leveraging the collective impact of state networks and championing quality family support and strengthening practices and policies.
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WEBINAR WEDNESDAYS
The National Family Support Network’s free Webinar Wednesdays series raises awareness of Family Resource Centers, Family Resource Center Networks, and the nationally-adopted Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening & Support.
October 11, 2023, 2:30pm- 3:45pm ET
Developing Family Resource Center Networks: Where Do We Start?
What are the steps for developing a Network of Family Resource Centers?
How can public and private funders and/or community-based organizations support families in their city, county, or state by developing a Network of Family Resource Centers? What resources are available to support the development of these Networks? For more information and to register, please click here.
VIRTUAL TRAININGS
Developing & Sustaining Effective Parent Advisory Committees Training
How can an active Parent Advisory Committee enhance a Program's work with families?
This unique, highly-rated training is designed for program managers and direct service staff who work with, or would like to develop, a Parent Advisory Committee (PAC). Whether Programs are exploring setting up a new PAC, or seeking to strengthen an existing one, this training will provide staff with the strategies and tools to maximize the great potential of shared staff-parent leadership. The training is co-conducted by a NFSN staff member and an experienced national Parent Leader. Learn more here.
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October 23 & 24, 2023
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For more information and to register by October 20th, click here.
November 27 & 28, 2023
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For the full schedule of upcoming trainings, please click here.
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Virtual Standards of Quality Certification Training
The Certification Training details how the nationally-adopted Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening & Support can enhance your work with families. Whether you are program staff setting up a new program or strengthening an existing one, or a funder developing or monitoring programs, the Standards provide a blueprint for implementing best practice, with a particular emphasis on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Learn more here.
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October 12 & 13, 2023
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​For more information and to register by October 2 (U.S.) or September 28 (outside of the U.S.), click here.
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October 26 & 27, 2023
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​Registration Full.
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November 8 & 9, 2023
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​For more information and to register by October 27 (U.S.) or October 25 (outside of the U.S.), click here.
December 7 & 8, 2023
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​For more information and to register by November 27 (U.S.) or November 23 (outside of the U.S.), click here.
For the full schedule of upcoming trainings, please click here.
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Standards of Quality OpenTraining of Trainers Institutes
NFSN Member Networks representatives can learn more, view requirements, and apply here.
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November 27- December 1, 2023* - Mountain & Pacific Time Zones - Deadline to apply: October 26
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*Please note that open Training of Trainer Institutes must have a minimum of five applicants in order to be held. To guarantee particular Institute dates, please inquire about hosting an Institute at your convenience.
HIGHLIGHTS
Save the Date: 2024 Virtual Together for Families Conference
The biennial Together for Families Conference is a unique virtual event that connects various stakeholders from across the U.S. and Canada in the Family Support and Strengthening Field to focus on best and promising practice for supporting families’ advancement. The conference is held Tuesday-Thursday the week after Canadian Thanksgiving/Indigenous Peoples' Day/Columbus Day every even year.
Standards Program-Level Implementation Successes
Is your Program doing great work implementing the Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening & Support? If so, we'd love to hear about it! The NFSN is looking for Programs with success stories of Standards implementation to highlight for a national audience such as presenting at an upcoming Webinar Wednesday, being highlighted in NFSN communications, or featured on the NFSN website. Please complete this form to share your story.
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Successful 2023 National Briefing Held​
More than 600 people from 48 states, and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland and Taiwan registered to participate in the 2023 National Briefing on May 31. The annual interactive virtual event, designed for stakeholders working at the systems and policy levels, highlighted progress towards and opportunities for implementing Supporting & Strengthening Our Nation’s Families: A Blueprint for the Development of Strong Networks of Family Resource Centers.​ Participant evaluations indicated that 98% rated the Briefing as good to excellent and 100% found it helpful in informing their work. Click on these links to access the recording and the presentation.
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The Briefing featured:
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Community-Based FRC Virtual Visit with Children's Board of Hillsborough County's Plant City Family Resource Center in Florida.
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School-Based FRC Virtual Visit with Tucson Unified School District's Catalina Family Resource Center in Arizona.
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How Utah's Family Support Centers raised awareness of the value of their workforce - and successfully advocated for their increased compensation.
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A public-private funder to funder dialogue about the value of investing in FRCs with Janie Cole, Commissioner of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources' Bureau for Family Assistance - who nearly doubled the number of FRCs in her state, and Emma Mogendorff, Program Officer at the Sauer Family Foundation, which seeded the development of a new Network of FRCs in Minnesota in partnership with the Association of Minnesota Counties.
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New Hampshire's example of effectively leveraging its Network of FRCs to support kinship families, and Cheryl Lissak sharing her experience for what a difference it has made for her family.
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The opportunity to virtually visit and connect with NFSN Member Networks across the nation.
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Family Resource Center Learning Hub Launches
The NFSN launched the Family Resource Center Learning Hub, a valuable new free resource developed in partnership with Families Canada by a diverse planning committee with the support of Casey Family Programs. The Hub is designed to provide tools and sample materials for those seeking to develop individual Family Resource Centers. The Hub is organized into the six phases of the newly-released Developing a New Family Resource Center Continuum. Each phase includes accompanying resources.
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2022 Virtual Together for Families Conference
The third biennial Together for Families Conference was the biggest ever - bringing together nearly 550 participants from 5 countries: Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States on Oct 19-21. Co-Hosted by the National Family Support Network, the Center for the Study of Social Policy, and Families Canada, the conference featured 97 diverse presenters in the Family Support and Strengthening Field to focus on best and promising practices for supporting families' advancement. Participant evaluations indicated that 100% rated their overall impression of the conference as good, very good, or excellent with 87% rating it as very good or excellent, and 96% rated the conference as useful to very useful for informing their work. This 4-minute highlights video provides staff and Parent Leader perspectives on Together for Families 2022.
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Case Studies Demonstrate Family Resource Centers Save Child Welfare System Millions
The OMNI Institute has released two new reports on cost savings FRCs yield for rural and urban child welfare systems by reducing families' involvement in them. The research was supported by Casey Family Programs.
The key findings are:
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In 2017, reductions in child maltreatment cases in Westminster FRC's Orange County community saved the child welfare system an estimated $1.82M; in 2016 this savings was estimated at $1.1M. For every $1 invested in Westminster FRC in 2016 and 2017, the Orange County child welfare system saved an estimated $3.65.
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After a formal partnership between Community Partnership FRC and Teller County child welfare was established, the county saved an estimated $2.5M associated with reductions in child welfare cases. For every $1 invested in Community Partnership FRC, the Teller County child welfare system saved an estimated $2.92
The recording and materials from the webinar that launched the reports can be found on the Webinar Wednesday page.
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Kentucky's Family Resource Centers have been providing "Drive-by Cheer-ups" for families, complete with signs, bubbles, music, and dancing - all while practicing safe social distancing! These caravans of cheer have become a welcome sight for home-bound families across the state, distributing stress-relieving bubble wands to help "blow worries away."
​Family Resource Centers & COVID-19: Here to Help
In this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, when families are more challenged than ever, Family Resource Centers (FRCs) are uniquely positioned to be of support. Learn how their valuable work is being leveraged to respond to this crisis at the community level, state level, and Federal policy level.
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