Strengthening Families Illinois

Strengthening Families Illinois is a collaboration among more than 40 partners who are:

Increasing awareness that strengthening families is central to quality childcare

Increasing the number of early childhood centers in Illinois that are working effectively with families to build protective factors around children

Improving working relationships among early childhood professionals, child welfare agencies, and child abuse prevention programs and initiatives

Infusing Strengthening Families ideas and practices in state-level decision-making on early childhood, child welfare and child abuse prevention

Through Strengthening Families Illinois, early childhood centers are working with families to keep children safe.

Illinois is one of seven states selected to pilot the Strengthening Families approach nationwide. This innovative, cost-effective, proven strategy to keep children safe is a breakthrough because it:

Is based in the early education system

Focuses on building protection for children within their homes and communities

Seeks to overcome causes of abuse rather than removing children from their homes

The Problem

In the 40 years since child abuse and neglect became a recognized problem in the U.S., there has been no sustained success in reducing the incidence of child maltreatment.

The Research

The Center for the Study of Social Policy spent two years investigating protective factors that keep children safe. They reviewed research in the field of child abuse and neglect and family resiliency, conducted a national study of 21 exemplary early childhood programs and interviewed hundreds of experts, researchers, practitioners and parents. For the very first time they linked research about child abuse and neglect prevention with information regarding the practices and benefits of early childhood education. That in-depth investigation led to a breakthrough:

We now know that the way to prevent child abuse and neglect is to strengthen families--and to support families so that can keep themselves strong.

From that knowledge, a new strategy for preventing abuse and neglect was born.

The Strategy

Strengthening Families is an initiative that involves early childhood centers working with families to build protective factors around children in order to reduce abuse and neglect. This is a truly breakthrough approach. It doesn’t just identify families at risk of abuse and target them for risk-reducing services. It works through an existing system and builds on the concern early childhood educators have for all young children and the uniquely intimate relationship parents have with those caregivers.