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Family Development

“Within each person lies a bone-deep longing for freedom, self-respect, hope, and the chance to make an important contribution to one’s family, community, and the world...No government program can help families become self-reliant, integrated members of their communities unless it is built on a recognition of the power of this bone-deep longing for freedom, self-respect, hope and the chance to contribute.” — Claire Forest (Christiann Dean), creator of the FDC Curriculum 

Family Development redirects the way health, education, and human services are delivered to families. It moves systems away from crisis-oriented, fragmented services toward an empowerment, support-based approach to working with families. Family Development emphasizes strength-based partnerships, mutual respect, interagency collaboration, and family-centered services.

Family Development Association of New York State
fdanys.org

MidSouth Regional Family Development Credential Program (Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas)
web1.umkc.edu/mofdc/whatis/default.asp

California Family Development Credential Program
hdys.communitycollege.org/fdp/index.htm

 

Related resources:

Family Support America
Family Support Is ...
A set of beliefs and an approach to strengthening and empowering families and communities so that they can foster the optimal development of children, youth, and adult family members.

A type of grassroots, community-based program designed to prevent family problems by strengthening parent-child relationships and providing whatever parents need in order to be good nurturers and providers. These programs have been proliferating across the country since the 1970s.

A shift in human services delivery that encourages public and private agencies to work together and to become more preventive, responsive, flexible, family-focused, strengths-based, and holistic—and thus more effective.

A movement for social change that urges all of us—policymakers, program providers, parents, employers—to take responsibility for improving the lives of children and families. The family support movement strives to transform our society into caring communities of citizens that put children and families first and that ensure that all children and families get what they need to succeed.
68.248.104.69/content/home.htm

Center for Nonviolent Education and Parenting
Discipline which relies on spanking, humiliation and threats is often passed from one generation to the next. It's natural for parents and teachers to feel anger and frustration with small children. But these feelings can be expressed in ways that don't hurt children either physically or emotionally.
nonviolentparenting.com

National Foster Parent Association
National organization dedicated to supporting foster parents/families, a consistently strong voice on behalf of all children.
nfpainc.org