FAMILIES PLUS ORIENTATION TRAINING
Welcome to Families Plus - your locally grown, community-based, youth and family program!
Select the tabs below to begin the Families Plus Orientation Training. When you are ready, complete the quiz and we will receive the submission.
Select the tabs below to begin the Families Plus Orientation Training. When you are ready, complete the quiz and we will receive the submission.
Overview
In this Introductory Module you will learn the importance of Families Plus to the community through the following topics:
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Families PlusGive a child a hand up |
1. What is families plus?
Families Plus is a Delta County effort to support children with challenging barriers in their way as they grow up to be healthy and productive adults. Families Plus originated right here in Delta County Colorado through the efforts of local child therapists who saw that missing resources was limiting the success of many of our children. The program began with the formation of a Board of Directors and new nonprofit on October 9, 1998 through the efforts of Dr. Brenda Holland, a local child psychologist. The program has been a persistent resource to children with challenges in Delta County ever since. The Families Plus model of supporting these children is a home-grown product of Delta County available nowhere else in the nation.
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Dr. John VanDenBerg, who is internationally known for creating High Fidelity Wraparound for children with multiple challenges, confirms that there is no other program like Delta County’s own Families Plus because it draws family mentors into the wraparound teams helping children to grow up healthy. Dr. VanDenBerg has been an active consultant to the Families Plus Board of Directors and staff since 2013.
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In addition to our long-term Families Plus program, we are also home to Momentum Health Plus, a mental health specialty clinic, offering therapy services to the community.
Services include: Individual Therapy, Couples Therapy, Family Therapy, Child and Teen Therapy, and Group Counseling Issues covered include: Depression, Anxiety, Anger, ADHD, Substance Abuse, Addiction, Behavioral Issues, Family Conflict, Grief, Trauma |
2. growing up with barriers
Let’s take a look at how many parents and families struggle to survive.
Let’s take a look at how many parents and families struggle to survive. Take a guess at the following questions then click on the Answers tab to check how you did.
1. Can you guess the percentage of American adults that are healthy and productive:
4. How likely are children raised in poverty to be poor when they are in their 20’s and 30’s
- United States
- Colorado
- Delta County
- United States
- Colorado
- Delta County
4. How likely are children raised in poverty to be poor when they are in their 20’s and 30’s
1. Can you guess the percentage of American adults that are healthy and productive:
4. How likely are children raised in poverty to be poor when they are in their 20’s and 30’s?
If never poor as a child, then 1% of children are poor at 35 years of age
If children are poor more than half of childhood, then 45% will also be poor at 35.
- United States - 86%
- Colorado - 90%
- Delta County - 84%
- United States - 88%
- Colorado - 91%
- Delta County - 90%
4. How likely are children raised in poverty to be poor when they are in their 20’s and 30’s?
If never poor as a child, then 1% of children are poor at 35 years of age
If children are poor more than half of childhood, then 45% will also be poor at 35.
42% of children born to parents in the bottom fifth of the economic distribution remain in the bottom as adults
23% of children born to parents in the bottom fifth of the economic distribution rise only to the second fifth
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Families Plus is about ensuring that children of the 16% of Delta County adult, who are not healthy and productive for many complicated reasons, have children who become healthy and productive adults.
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We need every productive worker to grow our economy. Consider these costs of unresolved poverty:
Our results suggest that these costs total about $500 billion per year, or the equivalent of nearly 4% of gross domestic product (GDP). More specifically, we estimate that childhood poverty each year: (1) reduces productivity and economic output by an amount equal to 1.3% of GDP, (2) raises the costs of crime by 1.3% of GDP, and (3) raises health expenditures and reduces the value of health by 1.2% of GDP
Our results suggest that these costs total about $500 billion per year, or the equivalent of nearly 4% of gross domestic product (GDP). More specifically, we estimate that childhood poverty each year: (1) reduces productivity and economic output by an amount equal to 1.3% of GDP, (2) raises the costs of crime by 1.3% of GDP, and (3) raises health expenditures and reduces the value of health by 1.2% of GDP
3. ace study
Adverse Childhood Experience Study
The Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACE Study) is a research study conducted by the American health maintenance organization Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[1] Participants were recruited to the study between 1995 and 1997 and have been in long-term follow up for health outcomes. The study has demonstrated an association of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with health and social problems as an adult. The study is frequently cited as a notable landmark in epidemiological research,[2] and has produced more than 50 scientific articles and more than 100 conference and workshop presentations that look at the prevalence and consequences of ACEs.
WHAT ARE THE HEALTH CARE PROBLEMS AND COSTS OF CHILDREN WHO EXPERIENCE ADVERSE CHILDHOOD EVENTS?
- The ACE study conducted in California studying a large number of adults with heart problems found that these heart problems were directly associated with adverse events in their childhood. Adverse childhood events are such things as domestic violence, child abuse, parent separation or divorce.
- The number of categories of adverse childhood exposures showed a graded relationship to the presence of adult diseases including ischemic heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, skeletal fractures, and liver disease.
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4. Our daunting challenge
The American Dream for most of us is that every child has a strong chance of being healthy and productive as an adult.
Since we know which children are unlikely to be healthy and productive as adults, is there anything that can be done for them early in life to bring them into health and productivity?
Families Plus takes on this daunting challenge in the lives of children that are adorable, energetic, curious, eager to learn, and often doomed without sustained assistance that comes from the hearts of those willing to get involved.
Since we know which children are unlikely to be healthy and productive as adults, is there anything that can be done for them early in life to bring them into health and productivity?
Families Plus takes on this daunting challenge in the lives of children that are adorable, energetic, curious, eager to learn, and often doomed without sustained assistance that comes from the hearts of those willing to get involved.
5. services provided
Vulnerable and underserved children are a concern for most. There are already many systems in place attempting to help them overcome barriers and thrive:
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If the community experiences extra concern about children, involuntary services are brought in for them:
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6. Wraparound model
The family for their child selects what support will be helpful to them. These supports come from either of two sets of services:
Health Care Component:
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Community Component (if selected includes):
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Services continue to be available to the family in the amount they request. If the child does not have symptoms, the family can still request what they think will help the child stay healthy and have Families Plus as fallback if crisis or if trouble arises.
7. theory of change
A Theory of Change (TOC) describes what must be supplied to get the results: healthy productive adults
Definition of TOC: A TOC defines the fundamental underpinnings of a movement by stating
the non-negotiables, without which the goals of the movement will not be achieved. A TOC is
important because it serves as a basis for development of standardized measures of fidelity, and
most importantly, standardizes a crucial messaging point for Families Plus. A TOC for Families Plus helps differentiate it from other poverty interventions and defines implementer expectations for what they can accomplish with Families Plus.
The TOC for Families Plus. The following are the six core non-negotiable elements of Families Plus without which outcomes are unlikely to be achieved:
1. Relationship The child’s parent and increasingly the child develops positive and trusting relationships with the other individuals that support the child and the parents invest in allowing others to help.
Highly challenged families often have learned to avoid too much connection with the community. Children thrive to the extent that the parents can over time come into safe, trusting, and positive relationships with Families Plus staff and then also community volunteers, and agency professionals that are ready to come along side of them and lend a hand. Parents must feel the high value that all others place on their attachment relationships with their child because this is the first and most important building block of the child’s social and emotional health. Parents that feel highly valued will maintain regular communication with their team. Parents by nature are protective of their child and protective of their role in raising their own child. The extent to which they are able to allow others to play vital roles in the raising of the child empowers the effects of the Families Plus program to assist the parent to draw health and success to the child. As the child matures, he or she also will value and trust the team of supporters surrounding them.
2. Shared purpose- Belief in the child. All in the system-of-care surrounding each child believe in the child - that the child can be successful as an adult. Commitment to this child’s healthy development becomes the focus for parents, volunteers, and professionals, alike, and binds the team together with shared mission and purpose. This belief in the child and investment in the child translates into the child believing in him or herself which creates the motivation to strive and struggle toward success.
3. Comprehensive Health Care with Evidence-based treatments.
Wraparound services deliver healing and prevention of health problems to children in a sustained and powerful way. Also, intermittently as needed, the child is provided with brief courses of evidence-based treatments to address the effects of trauma and behavioral health symptoms. This health care is readily available to the child, often delivered in comfortable settings such as home or school, and provided by an adult that is already familiar to the child. Since positive outcomes of treatments are propitiated by a trusting relationship with the therapist, evidence-based state-of -the art treatment and enduring relationship with the therapist combine in a powerful healing way.
Early traumatic circumstances and events predetermine youth to feel different, feel under-confident, and aim low for their future unless powerful remediation is brought in to set these youth back onto a positive developmental track. Children’s health and success depends on having access to complete health care and skillful intervention to resolve behavioral problems early.
4. Sustained presence of a mentoring family for the developing child/youth.
The poverty and poor family health surrounding many children with complex needs which severely limits the experiences that the family can naturally provide. Inclusion in a mentoring family and relating to other volunteers plays a critical role in helping the child to have more varied childhood experiences and to understand and model patterns of health and self-sufficiency as an adult. Children learn resiliency from modeling their parents and can learn core skills of overcoming adversity directly from mentors training to encourage these skills.
5. Adequate community resources can be tapped and sustained that are sufficient to meet the needs of the child.
All communities have sufficient resources, but these must be identified, drawn into service, and sustained in order for the child to have the highly enriched environment needed to thrive. This group of children will need family mentors, physicians, dentists, invested teachers and educational specialist, human service champions, skill building activities, and skills coaches. Typically community systems are fragmented and in silos. The extent to which these resources from individual volunteers to multi-level agencies can invest in the needs of the child and family systems, rather than compete and conflict, will determine to success that the child experiences.
6. Educational Success and skill building activities. Children and youth that stay in school and show that they are learning by their grades can be expected to function more self-sufficiently as an adult. The support that each student gets from parents, teachers, and mentors can channel them into success in school.
7. Persistence. Often times, children can function alongside of their peers adequately until they arrive into adolescence. Then the effects of early tumultuous life and poor social determinants of health combine with the disruption of adolescence to make these children highly vulnerable to depression, addiction, truancy, and alienated subcultures. The system-of-care surrounding the child must maintain throughout their developmental years so that it is available to meet what challenges might present themselves.
the non-negotiables, without which the goals of the movement will not be achieved. A TOC is
important because it serves as a basis for development of standardized measures of fidelity, and
most importantly, standardizes a crucial messaging point for Families Plus. A TOC for Families Plus helps differentiate it from other poverty interventions and defines implementer expectations for what they can accomplish with Families Plus.
The TOC for Families Plus. The following are the six core non-negotiable elements of Families Plus without which outcomes are unlikely to be achieved:
1. Relationship The child’s parent and increasingly the child develops positive and trusting relationships with the other individuals that support the child and the parents invest in allowing others to help.
Highly challenged families often have learned to avoid too much connection with the community. Children thrive to the extent that the parents can over time come into safe, trusting, and positive relationships with Families Plus staff and then also community volunteers, and agency professionals that are ready to come along side of them and lend a hand. Parents must feel the high value that all others place on their attachment relationships with their child because this is the first and most important building block of the child’s social and emotional health. Parents that feel highly valued will maintain regular communication with their team. Parents by nature are protective of their child and protective of their role in raising their own child. The extent to which they are able to allow others to play vital roles in the raising of the child empowers the effects of the Families Plus program to assist the parent to draw health and success to the child. As the child matures, he or she also will value and trust the team of supporters surrounding them.
2. Shared purpose- Belief in the child. All in the system-of-care surrounding each child believe in the child - that the child can be successful as an adult. Commitment to this child’s healthy development becomes the focus for parents, volunteers, and professionals, alike, and binds the team together with shared mission and purpose. This belief in the child and investment in the child translates into the child believing in him or herself which creates the motivation to strive and struggle toward success.
3. Comprehensive Health Care with Evidence-based treatments.
Wraparound services deliver healing and prevention of health problems to children in a sustained and powerful way. Also, intermittently as needed, the child is provided with brief courses of evidence-based treatments to address the effects of trauma and behavioral health symptoms. This health care is readily available to the child, often delivered in comfortable settings such as home or school, and provided by an adult that is already familiar to the child. Since positive outcomes of treatments are propitiated by a trusting relationship with the therapist, evidence-based state-of -the art treatment and enduring relationship with the therapist combine in a powerful healing way.
Early traumatic circumstances and events predetermine youth to feel different, feel under-confident, and aim low for their future unless powerful remediation is brought in to set these youth back onto a positive developmental track. Children’s health and success depends on having access to complete health care and skillful intervention to resolve behavioral problems early.
4. Sustained presence of a mentoring family for the developing child/youth.
The poverty and poor family health surrounding many children with complex needs which severely limits the experiences that the family can naturally provide. Inclusion in a mentoring family and relating to other volunteers plays a critical role in helping the child to have more varied childhood experiences and to understand and model patterns of health and self-sufficiency as an adult. Children learn resiliency from modeling their parents and can learn core skills of overcoming adversity directly from mentors training to encourage these skills.
5. Adequate community resources can be tapped and sustained that are sufficient to meet the needs of the child.
All communities have sufficient resources, but these must be identified, drawn into service, and sustained in order for the child to have the highly enriched environment needed to thrive. This group of children will need family mentors, physicians, dentists, invested teachers and educational specialist, human service champions, skill building activities, and skills coaches. Typically community systems are fragmented and in silos. The extent to which these resources from individual volunteers to multi-level agencies can invest in the needs of the child and family systems, rather than compete and conflict, will determine to success that the child experiences.
6. Educational Success and skill building activities. Children and youth that stay in school and show that they are learning by their grades can be expected to function more self-sufficiently as an adult. The support that each student gets from parents, teachers, and mentors can channel them into success in school.
7. Persistence. Often times, children can function alongside of their peers adequately until they arrive into adolescence. Then the effects of early tumultuous life and poor social determinants of health combine with the disruption of adolescence to make these children highly vulnerable to depression, addiction, truancy, and alienated subcultures. The system-of-care surrounding the child must maintain throughout their developmental years so that it is available to meet what challenges might present themselves.
8. Families plus goals
Families Plus is successful if the following goals are met, at the parent; volunteer; agency professionals; community levels; and the national/global level:
If application of the Families Plus model is successful, the following goals at the level of the
Parents are met: • They have confidence, optimism about their child’s future. • They trust those coming alongside to help and initiate regular communication with them. • They learn to speak up for their child in the community and help others understand what they need. • They ask for help with crises. • They are interested in helping other families find help to raise their own children • They have experienced love and community, and support without blame. |
If application of the Families Plus model is successful at the Volunteer level, the following
goals are met: • The Volunteers provide positive regard for the parents and the family bringing a sense of connection with the community. • The volunteers truly come to understand and appreciate the life experience of the child and parents, and move beyond judgment to love and kindness. • Volunteers can advocate for families in poverty and bring some community understanding. • Volunteers believe that their efforts are making a difference in the life course of the child. |
If application of the Families Plus model is successful at the Agency level, the following goals are met
• Agency professionals offer their special expertise and program opportunities to the family on a short-term basis. • Agencies enjoy higher rates of appointment completion and follow through with the parents and children. • Agency professionals experience more success in implementing their services. • Agency professionals will benefit from more collaboration with area professionals |
If application of the Families Plus model is successful at the Community level, the following goals
• All sectors, including faith, government, business, and not-for-profits begin learning how to operate in true respectful partnerships and shared purpose based on trust and recognition of autonomy and mutual dependency. • Reconciliation of racial, socio-economic, and cultural divides begins to occur as division is replaced by understanding, shared purpose and true community. • The sense of Community well-being increases with successful supports available for all families and children who are struggling. |
If application of the Families Plus model is successful at a national and global level, the following goals are met:
• The Families Plus process is led by people through an open source, volunteer led, powerful
movement where the process continually evolves and improves, as an evidence base is
established through implementation results and research.
• Our movement continues to maintain the importance of the mentoring family and community volunteers as the premier change agent in bringing children from poverty to self-sufficiency growth model.
• The Families Plus evolves its training as more communities adopt it as a scalable purpose
through rigorous and continuous improvement, accessing national and international
intellectual and social capital of organizations and individuals. Families Plus mental health mentoring becomes a promising practice model for assisting children with complex needs to thrive and become self-sufficient.
• The Families Plus movement is helping the world develop one person at a time, commitment and expertise to bring every child through early trauma or impoverished environment to healthy adult self-sufficiency.
• The Families Plus process is led by people through an open source, volunteer led, powerful
movement where the process continually evolves and improves, as an evidence base is
established through implementation results and research.
• Our movement continues to maintain the importance of the mentoring family and community volunteers as the premier change agent in bringing children from poverty to self-sufficiency growth model.
• The Families Plus evolves its training as more communities adopt it as a scalable purpose
through rigorous and continuous improvement, accessing national and international
intellectual and social capital of organizations and individuals. Families Plus mental health mentoring becomes a promising practice model for assisting children with complex needs to thrive and become self-sufficient.
• The Families Plus movement is helping the world develop one person at a time, commitment and expertise to bring every child through early trauma or impoverished environment to healthy adult self-sufficiency.
9. families plus vision statement
quiz