A guide to strengthening families
Parents are so important that we have special days just for them. Last month, it was Mother’s Day. This month, we honor our fathers.
Singling out mom and dad for special attention highlights for us the essential role they have in our efforts to prevent child abuse, maltreatment and neglect.
The sad realities are that parents are the number one abusers of children and that most all child abuse takes place within the family.
We know that distressed families present an immediate danger to the children within them. Parents who are stressed sometimes act out that stress on their own children.
Stressed parents are also distracted parents. They are less able to take time to learn what they can do to keep their children safe. They are less likely to build relationships with their children that will encourage honest sharing when a child is troubled.
So, whatever we can do to help moms and dads be good parents and whatever we can do to build emotionally healthy families will help to reduce child abuse.
With our program year winding down in our parishes and schools, I am recommending for your summer reading an excellent resource.
“Strengthening Families and Communities: 2009 Resource Guide” is a free guide created to support service providers (which include staff of our parishes and schools) and all adults in their desire to strengthen families.
The resource guide is the product of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Children’s Bureau, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, Child Welfare Information Gateway, and the FRIENDS National Resource Center for Community-Based Child Abuse Prevention. Many other national organizations, and parents themselves, contributed.
The guide presents in simple, clear language strategies that can strengthen families by promoting five key protective factors that have been shown to prevent child abuse and neglect.
The key protective factors for parents are resilience, social networks and knowledge of parenting and child development.
The key factor for children is social and emotional competence.
The key factor that only those outside the family can bring is concrete support in times of need.
The resource guide includes strategies to promote community awareness of these key protective factors, as well as tip sheets in English and Spanish to share with parents and those who support them.
The tip sheets address a range of topics, including bonding with the littlest children, dealing calmly but effectively with temper tantrums, maintaining connection with teenagers, supporting very young parents, learning to be a loving father and living the role of grandparent.
To view or order the guide, go to the Child Welfare Information Gateway website at www.childwelfare.gov/preventing or contact Information Gateway at 1-800-394-3366 or info@childwelfare.gov.
This resource is useful both to leaders of marriage and family outreach programs and to individual families.
Applying the strategies in “Strengthening Families and Communities” as part of the ongoing work of our Safe Environment Program is yet another way that we can help our parishes and schools become communities that protect and nurture family life – communities in which children are much safer.