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History of Strengthening Families

In 2001, with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) began studying the role that early care and education programs nationwide can play in strengthening families and preventing abuse and neglect. For the first time, they linked research about preventing child abuse and neglect with similar knowledge about quality early care and education. They developed a new conceptual framework and approach to preventing child abuse and neglect, called Strengthening Families, which involved building evidence-based Protective Factors around young children by working differently with their families. CSSP began developing tools to support early childhood programs, policymakers, and advocates in making small but significant changes that build the Protective Factors.

Next, Strengthening Families moved into a pilot phase in which seven states engaged in a learning partnership with CSSP to implement the Strengthening Families approach. For two years, from 2005-2007, these states worked to enhance their policies and practices through a collaboration among the early childhood, child abuse prevention, and child protective services sectors. Their work was studied and documented to demonstrate how Strengthening Families can best be implemented through state policy making, new links between the early childhood education and child protection, and training and support for programs. Information about the seven pilot sites can be found in the Electronic Library.

Moving out of the pilot phase, Strengthening Families broadened its focus beyond states’ early care and education programs to include (1) building links between these programs and child welfare departments and (2) building the Protective Factors through home-based child care providers.  The Strengthening Families through Early Care and Education Summit in May, 2007, brought together state teams, early care and education professionals, and early childhood experts from around the country to share information about Strengthening Families and propel the movement forward across the nation.

In February 2008, the Strengthening Families National Network launched, linking 23 states that have or are exploring statewide Strengthening Families initiatives. National organizations that are incorporating the Protective Factors approach into their work are also included in this network.