Each year, the National Family Support Network holds the National Forum, an interactive virtual event designed for stakeholders working at the systems and policy levels.  The event, previously named the National Briefing, focuses attention on the value of Family Resource Centers and Family Resource Center Networks, explores how and why FRCs continue to be scaled across the country,  and highlights progress towards and opportunities for implementing the NFSN's policy priorities document, Supporting & Strengthening Our Nation’s Families: A Blueprint for the Development of Strong Networks of Family Resource Centers.​

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​​2024 National Forum Recording Link • 2024 Presentation Link

More than 550 people from 49 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, India, Ireland, Uganda, and the United Kingdom registered to participate in the 2024 National Family Support Network National Forum on September 26, 2024. Participant evaluations indicated that 100% rated the event as good to excellent, and 100% found it helpful in informing their work.

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The Forum featured:

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• School-based FRC virtual visit with North Hancock FRC at North Hancock Elementary in Lewisport, Kentucky.

• Community-based virtual visit with Liberation Center in Richmond, Virginia.

• An inspiring keynote from Clare Anderson of Chapin Hall, policy and federal funding updates from Casey Family Programs and the National FRC Coalition, Thriving Families, Safer Children updates from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and an overview of the Kentucky School-based Family Resource Center Return on Investment Study by OMNI Research Institute. 

• A dynamic panel discussion with network leaders from Louisiana, New Jersey, and Wisconsin, sharing strategies for strengthening the FRC workforce through parent leadership engagement.

• Federal, state, and private foundation perspectives on the value of investing in Family Support and Strengthening Networks.

• The release of the 2024 NFSN Federal Funding for Family Resource Centers Briefing.

 

We deeply appreciate the engagement of our members and stakeholders, who helped make this event a success and are excited to continue building on the momentum generated by the 2024 National Forum. We look forward to seeing the ongoing positive impact of Family Resource Centers and Networks nationwide.

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Past Events ​

•  2023 Recording Link • 2023 Presentation Link

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.  Participant evaluations indicated that 98% rated the event as good to excellent and 100% found it helpful in informing their work.

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The Briefing featured:

• Community-Based FRC Virtual Visit with Children's Board of Hillsborough County's Plant City Family Resource Center in Florida

• School-Based FRC Virtual Visit with Tucson Unified School District's Catalina Family Resource Center in Arizona.

• How Utah's Family Support Centers raised awareness of the value of their workforce - and successfully advocated for their increased compensation

• 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

• 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.

• The opportunity to virtually visit and connect with NFSN Member Networks across the nation.

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•  2022 Recording Link • 2022 Presentation Link

More than 300 people from 42 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia participated in the 2022 National Briefing on May 11.  The NFSN released the new Network Snapshots profiling the work of

NFSN Member Networks as well as Supporting & Strengthening Our Nation’s Families: A Blueprint for

the Development of Strong Networks of Family Resource Centers.  Participant evaluations indicated that

98% of them found the National Briefing helpful in informing their work.

 

The Briefing featured:

• Mari Villaluna sharing their experience as a Native American, Two-Spirit, queer parent participating in Our Family Coalition in San Francisco, CA.

• Kentucky State Representative Jason Petrie (R) talking about why he led the recent successful effort to secure $9.4M in state general funds for the Commonwealth's 874 school-based Family Resource and Youth Service Centers.

• Connecticut Office of Early Childhood Commissioner Beth Bye speaking about how and why her office recently began partnering with the 57 school-based FRCs in her state.

• A public-private funder to funder dialogue about the value of investing in FRCs with Sasha Rasco, Chief Prevention and Community Well Being Officer, Prevention and Early Intervention Division, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services and Blia Moua, Program Officer at the S.H. Cowell Foundation.

• Two Family Resource Centers Tours: a Community-Based FRC Virtual Visit with Ser Familia’s Centro de Asistencia Familiar y Emocional/ Center of Emotional and Family Assistance (C.A.F.É.) in Georgia and a School-Based FRC Virtual Visit with Enfield Family Resource Centers in Connecticut.

• The opportunity to virtually visit and connect with up to three NFSN Member Networks across the nation.

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• 2021 Recording Link • 2021 Presentation Link

The 2021 Briefing celebrated the 10th anniversary of the National Family Support Network.  The Briefing featured Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman speaking about why the Commonwealth has allocated $1.1M in state general funds for 24 new school-based FRCs to add to their existing 856 FRCs and designated $15M in federal Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER II) to fund FRCs to address early childhood and mental health issues.  Washington State Representative Carolyn Eslick (R) explained why she has championed FRCs recently being added to state statute.  Denver Indian FRC Tara McLain Manthey talked about the experience of FRCs working with families through the pandemic and the value of being part of a state Network of FRCs.  Paul Cheung shared his experience as a Chinese immigrant father participating in the Joy Lok Family Resource Center in San Francisco, California.

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• 2020 Recording Link •  2020 Materials Link 

The 2020 Briefing featured parent Sheila Harewood sharing her experience with an upstate New York Family Resource Center, remarks from U.S. Children's Bureau Associate Commissioner Jerry Milner, and an announcement from Alabama Department of Human Resource Commissioner Nancy Buckner about adding FRCs as a line item in the state budget for the first time and securing additional funding for them. More than 400 stakeholders from 48 states, DC, Puerto Rico, and Canada participated.  

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