Our initiatives are intended to improve outcomes for children and families by advancing and promoting family strengthening practice. Research shows child outcomes are primarily a result of upbringing and parental involvement.  Universal access to affordable, quality services and support networks are an imperative component to a family's economic success and general well being. 

These critical elements are also essential for positive child and youth outcomes.   Family strengthening seeks to incorporate this research evidence into a model that focuses on the entire family within the context of its community.   Prevailing human service interventions have been problem-specific, fragmented and crisis oriented, whereas family strengthening gives priority to the delivery of community based, preventative, and comprehensive services. 

What is Place-Based Family Strengthening?

We define family strengthening as: "A deliberate and sustained effort to ensure that parents have the necessary opportunities, relationships, networks and supports to raise their children successfully, which includes involving parents as decision makers in how their communities meet family needs."

Place-based family strengthening is based on the idea that guides Community Excel's approach to family and community development: Children do better when their families are strong, and families do better when they live in communities that help them to succeed .

This premise is based on two ideas that are central to the family strengthening approach:

• Family is the most fundamental factor influencing the lives and outcomes of children. Aside from a child's physical needs, such as food and clothing, children also need an emotionally healthy home environment combined with stable and reliable relationships with adults and caregivers.

• Families are strong when they are supported by safe and thriving neighborhoods. Strong neighborhoods offer an almost seamless web of vital resources and opportunities such as formal and informal social networks, employers and public services. By making these networks, economic opportunities and services more accessible to families, neighborhoods thrive and families have the supports they need to succeed.

Programs and services comprise a family strengthening approach when they are:

• Family-focused: Policy and services intentionally address the needs of the family as a whole versus serving only individuals. Initiatives are structured to engage and support the entire family.

• Place-based: Families are supported to thrive within the context of their neighborhoods and broader communities. Job and community economic development are built on local businesses and economic assets unique to each community. Opportunities are created by utilizing economic assets and vast social networks. Families are able to access public services comfortably without being stigmatized in their own neighborhoods.

• Collaborative: Partnerships are created across service systems such as health, education, workforce development; local advocacy groups; community based organizations; city government; businesses and employers; and the faith community to create a seamless web of services and supports that address the needs of families. Local realities and the diversity of needs are incorporated into a flexible and accessible system of services.

Family Strengthening Core Areas

 Community Excel's work is organized around three core areas:

• Family Economic Success : Supporting and facilitating family self-sufficiency, including a living wage with necessary benefits, receipt of public benefits for which they are eligible, and accumulation of assets such as homeownership and savings.

• Family Support Systems: Building appropriate, stimulating and adequate systems of support for healthy family development that encompass general health, child care, education, and other essential components for family success.

• Thriving and Nurturing Communities: Place Matters! Building a nurturing and supportive environment in which healthy families can pursue long term goals is critical for family success over time. Essential components for family success include access to affordable housing, strong neighborhood institutions, safe streets, supportive social networks, and an environment that promotes community and strengthens bonds between families.

The following lists examples of the topical areas we will explore in each of the core areas

Family Economic Success

• Families and Work
• Employment practices
• Maximizing Benefits for Families
• Jobs in Families for People with Disabilities
• Financial Literacy
• Homeownership Counseling
• Affordable Housing
• Workforce Development

Family Support Systems

• Family Violence Prevention and Child Protection
• Connecting Families, Communities and Schools
• Dependent Care
• Re-entry of ex-offenders
• Mentoring
• Building / Rebuilding Families
• Family and ATOD (Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs) Prevention
• Serving Young Families
• School Readiness
• Health Care

Thriving and Nurturing Communities

• Family Centered Community Building
• Families and Community Youth Development
• Volunteerism and Civic Engagement as Family Strengthening
• Public Safety in Neighborhood Environments
• Community Violence Prevention