The Family Development Matrix is funded by the California Department of Social Services, Office of Child Abuse Prevention and the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, Division of Community Partnerships

The Family Development Matrix (FDM) has brought family engagement and outcomes evaluation into family service networks in both California and New Jersey and to a variety of programs in Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas. Together the family and family worker complete an evaluation of the family strengths and their issues of concern using FDM indicators and interventions aligned to the Pathway and Protective indicators. The family and worker together design a “family empowerment plan” to activate direct services, and referrals to services to other community resources. Ninety days after the initial assessment, a second assessment is completed to assess changes in each of the FDM indicators. Subsequent assessments and empowerment plans are conducted as long as the family is engaged with the program. Reports and charts for the agency and a collaborative network of participating agencies show results for family progress, interventions applied, as well as family participation and worker activity information.

STANDARDS

• Families are involved in determining needs for services, utilizing their own strengths with adequate community resources for achieving goals.
• Families are assured of receiving access to the same level of quality services whenever and wherever they enter the services system.
• Services are implemented using an inter-agency approach and are changed as family’s needs change.

WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CHILD WELFARE
State and county child welfare agencies implement “differential response” protocols to connect families that do not meet abuse or neglect criteria to community resources. Although the immediate risk of abuse or neglect is low, these families can likely benefit from supports and services. Child welfare agencies partner with community groups in neighborhoods that have a high concentration of families involved with the child welfare system, to make their services more effective and acceptable and to build a "community presence."

PARTICIPATE IN MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAMS TO COORDINATE SERVICES
Family Support Workers collaborate through joint training and team consultation with participants from governmental, academic, and community-based settings. Establish strength-based, individualized, family-oriented solutions based on an understanding of family strengths, needs and circumstances. Action plans clearly delineate roles and responsibilities and establish mechanisms for on-going communication and coordination.

SUPPORT FAMILY TO ADVOCATE FOR CHILD IN SCHOOL
By establishing relationships with local school officials and staff family support workers help parents have better access to schools to support their children. Services may include translation of school documents, supporting parents in meetings with teachers or other school personnel, and helping parents navigate registration and participate in other school events.

CONNECT TO FINANCIAL SUPPORTS FOR SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Community-based programs help low-income families obtain the financial supports they are entitled to and the opportunities they need to become self-sufficient. Families have financial security to cover day-to-day expenses and unexpected costs that come up from time to time, are able to access formal supports like TANF and Medicaid. Offer emergency assistance with food, clothing, and shelter, and provide access to healthcare, education, and job opportunities.

PROVIDE HEALTH INFORMATION
Connect families to people and agencies that can help them provide safe and stimulating environments for children. Assess living conditions of children, including homelessness, domestic violence and dangers posed by the home or neighborhood environment. Assist family to obtain child health insurance and connect to health professionals.

PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION TO ACCESS MEDICAL, COUNSELING APPOINTMENTS
Workers are able to help family members access services by providing transportation, particularly in rural areas or those where public agency services are not easily accessed by public transportation. Support might be in the form of bus passes, coordinating car pools or individual transportation.

Strengthening Families Logic Model
Actions Overview, Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect

Interview With The Lake Family Resource Center
Lake County, California

We conducted an interview with three staff members Gloria Flaherty, Executive Director; Stephanie Lilly, Director of Programs and Jennifer Higdon, Programs Coordinator and Differential Response Specialist. The Lake Family Resource Center has three locations they work out of, Clearlake, Lakeport, and Kelseyville. We were extremely interested in their Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Center in Kelseyville and how their services related to the FDM Pathway Goal.

As we found out, the Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Center is located right in the middle of town, has full time security. “Re-locating this Center was one of the smartest things we have done,” stated Stephanie Lilly, Director of Programs.

The Domestic Violence and Rape Crisis Center is a refurbished motel and houses both men and women that have been affected by either Domestic Violence and or Rape. Each room has space for two families of four and includes cribs for babies. There is a community kitchen and children’s play area. The outside playground was designed and built by the local Rotary Club. The Center program provides counseling treatment and security for these families. Examples of how this program works:

• Parental Resilience – Providing parents the tools to overcome their negative issues. It is teaching them to be strong, ask for help and manage their stress with coping skills.
• Strong Social Connections – Identify with those who have helped and create a relationship you can trust and count on. Families learn that having positive social connections in their lives makes life issues easier to deal with and are connected to resources.
• Knowledge of child development and demonstrated skill in parenting – Everyone attends Parenting workshops and classes. They are able to learn new skills and share with each other what works and doesn’t. It brings them closer together with each other and with their children.
• Basic supports and services used by families as needed – Every effort is made to see that supports and services are identified and provided. Connecting families with health insurance, childcare, and nutrition programs helps to lessen the unknown for parents. Knowing you and your child have a safe place to sleep and food to eat, or that you can go to work or attend school and you have safe and dependable child care creates a feeling of security and accomplishment for these families.
• Family environment –Understanding your child will feel how “you” (parent) feel. Taking care of yourself as the parent or caregiver is just as important as taking care of your child. Creating an environment that has structure and routine and that will work for everyone. Lots of work goes into making sure the parent is providing structure and stability in all aspects of life not just at home but with others as well. Teaching your children how to act and relate to other children, siblings and even other adults is what creates a positive home environment.

During our interview we also focused on how this Collaborative identifies families and uses the FDM Process. We found out that most of the families they work with were identified as single parent and are in need of more than one service support. Using the FDM process was different with each family and follow through with their Family Empowerment Plan was a continuous effort.

When asked how they were able to make sure that they were providing the best services to each client and not duplicating services, they responded, “DR (Differential Response) Programs and Community Partnerships and Personal Touch made all the difference.” Stephanie Lilly, Director of Programs, for the Lake Family Resource Centers, told us that they sat down with several different community systems such as Child Welfare, Schools, Behavioral Health, Medical practitioners, and Police. We asked which services they offered and how each of these different systems works. “In a rural area people tend to know everyone and in this case it works to our advantage. We can sometimes make a call to someone we know at a different agency and stress the importance or immediate need of a client,” stated Jennifer Higdon, Programs Coordinator. The result is a phenomenal group of Community Partners. Knowing how each system works makes it easier for the Lake Family Resource Center to identify families in need, and make sure they are given the correct information, provide the right services and refer to the appropriate system or agency.

Lake FRC is one of the leading agencies that is working with a new program in Lake County called the “Ripple Effect,” An Integrative Framework for Enhancing Trauma-Informed Practice Across Systems. This workshop presented by Chandra Ghosh-Ippen, Ph.D. Associate Research Director-Child Trauma at University of California San Francisco, provides an integrative framework for understanding and communicating across systems about how trauma can affect a child, a family and a system. The framework translates complex trauma concepts using metaphor, visual models, common language, and rich case examples. It addresses the domains of function affected by trauma; the mechanisms through which trauma effects development; and intervention pathways. The workshop offers foundational trauma knowledge for clinicians learning evidence-based trauma treatments and highlights ways to share trauma theory with family members and across systems as we work jointly to lessen impact of trauma exposure.

The Lakeport location has an incredible Child Care Center that we were privileged to be able to tour. Every client that brings their child to the Center has to either be in school full time or working full time and meet all of the qualifications.

You can get a complete list of all the Programs and Services that Lake Family Resource Center provides by going by clicking on the read more button below.

Click on the read more button below to view the YES or NO check list for "Identified Families Access Services and Supports."