There has not been one universal way that the pandemic has affected parents. But every single parent has been affected by the pandemic. Over the past year, parents rallied. They were resilient. They were the superheroes that we always knew them to be. But at the same time, the pandemic took an enormous toll on…
In partnership with Suffolk University’s Applied Developmental Psychology program, Families First launched a research study to more deeply assess the Power of Parenting™ program outcomes. This joint study furthers our goal of becoming an evidence-based model. This in-depth analysis focuses on the Identity Maps that parents draw as a reflection activity toward the end of…
Families First is excited to announce our collaboration with Project Evident! Project Evident’s mission is to build the data and evidence capacity of social sector practitioners. They aim to put practitioners at the center of the evaluation process, allowing us to take the lead in evidence-building decisions. With support from the Barr Foundation, Project Evident…
Many communities outside of Boston are eager to host the Power of Parenting program. We’ve started our regional expansion in the City of Chelsea—and our first program had record-breaking attendance. Not only did we take an important step into a new community, but it was one of our most successful Power of Parenting programs…
Families First Receives $10,000 Grant for Enriching Early Childhood Development Grant provided by Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation will help provide Families First’s Power of Parenting program to more than 250 parents with young children in eastern Massachusetts. September 18, 2019 – Families First, Boston’s leading provider of parenting education, announced today that it has received…
Families First has some exciting news to share! We are rolling out a new brand and visual identity that together convey the power of the parents in our programs and the strength of the networks they build. A Refined Focus and a Refreshed Message WHY NOW? It was time to take a fresh look at…
This month, 16 dedicated parents graduated from Families First’s Power of Parenting: Birth to Age Three program in Mattapan. Among those graduating were four fathers, including the father and son pictured here. One parent said: “Before the program, I felt like a plant without water. This program is the water, and [it] arose me.” This…
Families First is thrilled to announce that we were awarded the top prize of $20,000 at USA 500 Clubs’ Gala on May 1, 2019. Families First was nominated by supporter Marc Freiberger, who said: When I attended Families First’s Breakfast Benefit, I was moved by the stories of the parents who spoke after participating in…
Mirella Cruz is an extraordinary woman. As a single mother to two young girls, you can probably imagine the challenges Mirella faces as a parent every day. But she has never let her challenges define her path. Plus, things feel more manageable after she participated in Families First’s Power of Parenting program. She recalls: “The…
Families First and Boston Basics are working together to ensure that young children have positive early childhood experiences and start life ready to succeed. We are teaming up with community health centers and childcare centers across Boston to equip staff, parents, and caregivers with the resources and skills they need to set children up for success. Check…
Category: Marketing and Promotional Activities
Need: The Basics Boston needs local parent voices to help them reach new communities to raise awareness and enrollment in their free text message services.
Goal: The goal is to target parents in several key neighborhoods (Mattapan, Roxbury, and Dorchester) to increase enrollment in the text message service and increase awareness of the Basics principles.
Activities:
Deliverables:
Impact:
Category: Community Event, Resource Development, and Advocacy
Need: Although there are Family Engagement activities happening in the district, many parents may not know about it and what resources are available to them. So this Summit will bring together the departments offering the services, and the parents who are multi-lingual and new to the district so they can learn about it.
Goal: The goal is to create a Summit to bring together all the people and departments from the district involved in Family Engagement and invite newcomers to the Randolph district to learn about what is available. The CIP Fellows will work with Randolph Staff to brainstorm and create a successful and inclusive district-wide event!
Activities:
Deliverables:
Category: Community Events, Needs Assessment, and Expanding Parent Leadership Opportunities
Need: Need to access parent perspectives in order to create more inclusive courses.
Goal: Continue to develop and execute strategies to enhance parent perspectives in the courses taught at Urban College.
Impact:
Category: Community Groups, Advocacy, and Family Leadership Opportunities
Need: Somerville has various organizations working to engage and empower families within the public schools. These organizations tend to work independently of one another. In order to optimize family voice and impact, it is necessary for the groups to coalesce and work towards a collaborative vision and strategy towards city-wide community engagement.
Goal: The goal of the Somerville Family Engagement Impact Project is a collaborative vision of family engagement that will be in place as a foundation for city-wide family engagement planning in the 2023-24 school year.
Impact:
Category: Marketing and Promotional Activities , Needs Assessment, and Community Events, Groups and Services.
Need: Identify and implement at least three new strategies to engage community members from all seven coverage areas, with a special focus on the new towns. After executing these strategies, we hope to have at least one new regularly attending family from each of the seven towns that we serve.
Goal: Raise awareness of programming for families across all 7 towns it serves.
Deliverables:
Category: Community Events, Groups, and Services, Fundraising, and Marketing and Promotional Activities
Need: According to the 2022 County health Rankings for the 14 counties ranked in Massachusetts, Berkshire (BE) is ranked among the least healthy counties in the states (lowest 0-25%). The local and most utilized park in Dalton, MA is inappropriate or inaccessible to children who are under the age of 6, as well as children with different abilities. Parents have reported that it is difficult to get to their children if there is a problem in the climbing equipment.
Goal: We would like to work towards having a Born Learning Trail Kit installed in Pinegrove Park. We would also like to add permanent posts for StoryWalks to be placed along the Born Learning trail.
Impact: This project will reach many children, families, camps, and early childhood programs throughout Central Berkshire Regional School District and Berkshire County. This playground is the most utilized in the Town of Dalton and Central Berkshire. The StoryWalk signs are permanent structures and will enhance and engage all that use it for years to come. The impact will be immediate, and we will look to install this in two other rural towns afterwards.
There was some media attention for this project, here are a couple of articles written in a local pages:
Category: Marketing and Promotional Activities, Resource Development, Community Events, Groups, and Services, and Needs Assessment
Need: Developing a communication pathway for the Office of Early Childhood to get caregiver’s input and to share information and resources back out to Boston’s families.
Goal: To create a communication pathway for the OEC to to share information on resources and opportunities for caregivers with children ages 5 and under and get parent input back.
Impact:
Multilingual Brochures on the City of Boston website:
Category: Needs Assessment, Resource Development, and Community Events
Need: The world of child mental health and wellness is often overlooked and can be a difficult realm for parents and caregivers to navigate.
Goal: Our goal is to make resources supporting children’s social emotional wellness more easily accessible and available for all families served by Self Help Inc. CFCE and foster meaningful community connections through a variety of in person and virtual activities over the next six months.
Impact:
