We engage families, programs, and communities in building key protective factors.
Children are more likely to thrive when their families have the support they need. By focusing on the five universal family strengths identified in the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework, community leaders and service providers can better engage, support, and partner with parents in order to achieve the best outcomes for kids.
Our Approach
The Strengthening Families framework is a research-informed approach to increase family strengths, enhance child development, and reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect.
We work to engage families, programs, and communities in building the five protective factors. States apply the Strengthening Families approach in early childhood, child welfare, child abuse prevention, and other child- and family-serving systems.
Additional Resources
Strengthening Families Practice
At its heart, Strengthening Families is about changing how service providers interact with families to support them in building protective factors.
Strengthening Families is implemented through small but significant changes in daily practice, supported by shifts at the program level that allow workers to make those changes. A number of tools are available to support those shifts in practice. Click on the headings below to explore the resources and materials available to help you do this.
Strengthening Families Systems
Strengthening Families has had its greatest impact by not only changing practice in programs, but by changing the systems that help to govern how programs operate, are held accountable and are resourced.
Across the country the Strengthening Families framework is being used within the key systems that govern programs for children and families. This section of the website provides tools and information to support Strengthening Families work within four key implementation sectors—early care and education, child abuse and neglect prevention, home visiting, and child welfare.
Strengthening Families Collaboration
Strengthening Families is used as a common framework for aligning practice and approaches across the systems that touch the lives of young children and their families.
Strengthening Families implementation is most effective when it takes place through cross-systems collaboration. This section of the website provides tools to support cross-sector leadership teams leading the Strengthening Families work across the country.
