E-Update from Strengthening Families Illinois

December 2008
E-Update
Highlights for Leaders and Partners of Strengthening Families Illinois
If you have comments or suggestions, please send us an email. In This Issue Love Is Not Enough Parent Cafe Manual Available, Training Institutes Planned for Spring Director McEwen Calls for Partners to Recommit to Strengthening Families National Strengthening Families Efforts Receive $9.5 Million Grant Chicago Learning Network Hosts Early Childhood / Child Welfare Forum Parent Café for Fathers Part of Holiday Event in Evanston Kids Hope Starts Training on Developing Collaborative Relationships Order 365 Ways to Partner With Families Calendar Before The Holidays Conference Corner Thanks to Calendar Love Is Not Enough Parent Cafe Manual Available, Training Institutes Planned for Spring One of the strengths of the Love Is Not Enough (LINE) Parent Cafés is that the ultimate goal is for parent leaders and organizations within communities to replicate them as a resource for building protective factors within families. Although the café process on the surface appears transparent, it is actually extremely complex and intentional with respect the way the conversations develop and the protective factors are presented. Strengthening Families Illinois has now documented the elements of the LINE Parent Café into a trainer’s manual and has started scheduling Parent Café Training Institutes in the Spring. *Parent Cafes: A Step by Step Guide* is considered a companion to the two-day Training Institute and discusses each step required in planning and facilitating a Love Is Not Enough Parent Café. The training institute reinforces the manual by giving participants the opportunity to experience each café in the series, both as an attendee and a Facilitator/Host. The first Facilitator Institute will pilot on December 9 and 10 in Rockford, IL with northern region representatives of the DHS All Our Kids Early Childhood Networks. SFI then plans to conduct an Institute in January for the members of the initiative’s Parent Leadership Team before offering additional institute opportunities throughout the spring months. Please contact us if you’d like to learn more about dates and pricing for Parent Café Training Institutes and Parent Café. Director McEwen Calls for Partners to Recommit to Strengthening Families In advance of the January 16, 2009 Leadership Team Meeting, Strengthening Families Illinois (SFI) is asking its partners to recommit to the initiative. In a letter to SFI partners, DCFS Director Erwin McEwen reiterated the department’s commitment to embedding the Strengthening Families Protective Factors within the child welfare system in Illinois and requested that each partner revisit how their organization intends to partner with Strengthening Families Illinois by completing a brief survey. The information that SFI gets back from the partners will be used to help complete the development of a new strategic plan for the next five years, which will be available to the Leadership Team in January. If your organization is interested in becoming a partner of Strengthening Families Illinois, please contact us. National Strengthening Families Efforts Receive $9.5 Million Grant The Children’s Bureau has granted $9.5 million over a five-year period to the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) and its partners to develop a National Quality Improvement Center for Preventing Abuse and Neglect of Infants and Children (QIC-EC). CSSP’s partners in the project are the National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds and Zero to Three. All three organizations have been working closely with child welfare and early childhood practitioners across the country to integrate protective factors into practice. Dr. Charlyn Harper Brown will be the Project Director of the new national center. According to the Children’s Bureau, the QIC-EC will target improvement of the social, physical, behavioral, cognitive and emotional well-being of children zero to five years old and their families who are at risk of abuse and neglect, including those impacted by substance abuse and/or HIV /AIDS. The QIC-EC will be a national resource for information and learning about building protective factors and reducing risk factors through approaches that strengthen families. In its first year, the QIC-EC will examine the current knowledge and practice base, including an extensive needs assessment, synthesis of current research, practice, and cross-agency partnerships, building a national and regional learning network and convening a national advisory committee to direct the development of the QIC-EC. In the second phase, the QIC-EC will provide research and demonstration grants to cross-agency partnerships for the purpose of testing and evaluating innovative evidence-based child abuse and neglect prevention models. Click here to visit the national Strengthening Families website.
Calendar Dec 9: Chicago Learning Network Meeting, Chicago Dec 9 - 10: Parent Cafe Training Institute Pilot, Rockford Dec 10: Kane County Learning Network Meeting, Carpentersville; South Cook Learning Network Meeting, University Park Dec 11: Evanston Father Cafe, Evanston Dec 12 : South Cook Learning Network Teen Parent Cafe Dec 12: Professional Development Workgroup Meeting, Chicago January 7: KHU Foster Parent Cafe Jan 8: Building Resiliency Workgroup Meeting, Chicago Jan 12 - 13: SFI Parent Leadership Team Parent Cafe Training Institute January 14: South Cook Learning Network Meeting, University Park January 16: SFI Leadership Team Meeting, Chicago & Springfield January 21 - 23: National Forum on Strengthening Families at Opening Minds Conference January 23: SFI Hub Coordinator Quarterly Meeting January 27: Chicago Learning Network Meeting You can subscribe to SFI's Calendar on Google by clicking button below:	Chicago Learning Network Hosts Early Childhood / Child Welfare Forum “I’m having trouble placing two of my children,” a Case Manager described November 18 at an Early Childhood/Child Welfare Collaboration Forum, “One’s in Beverly and the other on the West Side.” “Come talk to me afterward about the one on the West Side,” said Veronica Scott of Herzl Parent-Child Center, a member of the Strengthening Families Illinois Learning Network. This type of effective collaboration among early childhood and child welfare staff is one of the goals of the Strengthening Families Illinois Learning Networks. On November 18, Chicago’s learning network sponsored an Early Childhood/Child Welfare Forum, which helped spark the conversation. Over 30 individuals attended including DCFS staff from the School Readiness Team, Intact Families and other case managers. In addition, POS agencies like Kaleidoscope participated and Shanta Payton-Scott from Action for Children was there to describe the city’s enhanced referral process. The child welfare staff joined the usual group of early education staff that participate in the network. The agenda was designed to get discussions flowing between both audiences and to help the collective group to understand each other’s roles and start speaking the same language when it comes to the children and families each serve. DCFS presented its priority to strengthen families and support young children in the system as well as provide intact family services Leslie Janes, Hub Coordinator in Chicago, explained how the Carole Robertson Center for Learning and other network members work with families by providing additional resources along with tips for working with children and seasonal family activities. The Strengthening Families Illinois Learning Network in Chicago is looking for early care and education programs in the city that are interested in joining the network. If you’d like to learn more, please contact us.
Parent Café for Fathers Part of Holiday Event in Evanston SFI Learning Network Members, Evanston Early Head Start and the Evanston Male Involvement Group, are presenting a Holiday Dinner and Present Giveaway on Thursday December 11 from 6:00 - 8:30 pm. This free event is welcoming Dads, Uncles, Grandads, Mentors, and others for dinner, games, and fun for both father and child and will give families an opportunity to pick a free present for the holidays. The evening will also feature a Love Is Not Enough Parent Cafe specifically for fathers. The event is being sponsored by the Evanston Community Foundation, Evanston Day Nursery, First Congregational Church, District 65 Family Center, Family Focus, District 65 Head Start, Evanston Early Head Start, and The Childcare Network of Evanston If interested in registering, click here for more information. Kids Hope Starts Training on Developing Collaborative Relationships Since April, Kids Hope United (KHU) has been working very effectively to implement the Strengthening Families model among both its early childhood and child welfare staff. Director of Strengthening Families, Kareen Nunnally and her colleague Samella Taylor at KHU have been trained as trainers on the Protective Factors and delivered the training to staff across the Chicagoland area. They have also participated in Love Is Not Enough Partner Cafes and have just started to offer Love Is Not Enough Parent Cafes for foster parents. On November 20, the network started its next SFI Training Topic, *Developing Collaborative Relationships between Early Childhood and Child Welfare Staff.Because the Kids Hope United network consists of both early childhood and child welfare staff, this topic was a logical next step. Cynthia Stringfellow and Margie Perzynsk, from the Midwest Learning Center, trained two groups of staff at the management level and Kareen and Samella are preparing to deliver the training to the rest of the Kids Hope staff. In other Kids Hope United/Strengthening Families news, KHU has added an additional part time early childhood position to support their Strengthening Families implementation efforts. Bonnie Becker will start December 1 and will work closely with Kareen and Samella to help embed Strengthening Families practice throughout the agency. KHU will use lessons learned to develop a broader learning network with similar agencies that have both early childhood and child welfare components. For more information about Kids Hope United, click here. Order 365 Ways to Partner with Families Calendar Before the Holidays* With the holidays approaching fast, don’t miss your chance to order a 365 Ways to Partner with Families desk calendar. Each day offers a new chance to partner with families and this page-a-day calendar provides inspiration and concrete ideas for every day of the year. It’s a great gift for early childhood center staff, caseworkers, and anyone else who works with children and families. Because it is a perennial calendar, it can be used during any year. Click here to download the order form or contact us with any questions. Conference Corner Opening Minds: Chicago Metro AEYC Conference January 21 - 24, 2009 Sponsor: Chicago Metro Association for the Education of Young Children Chicago, IL The conference is offering a special Pre-conference day on Strengthening Families January 21 and in conjunction with the conference a national forum on Strengthening Families will be offered 22 - 23. Would you like SFI speakers or materials at your conference or event? Contact Us. Thanks to … The SFI Parent Leadership Team for their support in hosting and facilitating Love Is Not Enough Parent Cafes ... Director McEwen and SFI partners for their continued commitment and contributions to Strengthening Families Illinois ... The DCFS School Readiness Specialist Staff Members Dock Connors, David Morris, Jackie Rivers, Nubia Rodriguez, Rafael Serrano, Cherlynn Shelby, and Michael Stripens ... Kareen Nunnally and Samella Taylor and the KHU Strengthening Families Team ... Cynthia Stringfellow and Margie Perzynski for delivering the Developing Collaborative Partnerships training to Kids Hope United ... The Center for the Study of Social Policy and the Strengthening Families National Network for their support and resources ... Xochitl Martirosyan, Joanne Kelly, and the Northern Region All Our Kids Networks for their help with piloting the Love Is Not Enough Parent Cafe Training Institute ... Nerode Abraham at the Childcare Network of Evanston for coordinating the upcoming fatherhood event ... Donna Ashley, Chris Baer, Keri Hartwig, Leslie Janes, Lori Longueville, Lisa McCuan, Ashley Schaff, and Sharifa Townsend and all of the Learning Network Participants for their continued efforts ... and the many other people who contribute their time and support to strengthen Illinois children! Know someone involved with SFI who deserves thanks? Send us an email. SFI Speakers Available To have an SFI representative speak at your next event, email us.
www.strengtheningfamiliesillinois.org To unsubscribe from the SFI E-Update, send an email and include "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject line