Family Support Programming
Since 2014 the JFS Family Support Team has been helping some of Western New York’s most vulnerable families navigate the challenges of raising children in 21st century America. We work to improve the lives of children and families by increasing Protective Factors for families at greater risk as a result of displacement, trauma, and other life stressors.
Our work is grounded in the 5 Protective Factors, knowing that when these protective factors are in place, families are healthier and children are safer.
The 5 Protective Factors include:
– Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development
– Concrete Support on Times of Need
– Social Supports
– Parental Resilience
– Social and Emotional Competence of Children
To promote these 5 Protective Factors, the JFS Family Support Team works to achieve two main goals:
– Ensure all parents in WNY have access to parenting education and support that empowers the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that promote optimal child development and well-being.
– Ensure all families in WNY are connected to the resources and supports they need to be strong, resourced, and resilient.
To ensure all families are supported to be strong, resourced, and resilient, we implement a range of programming.
Our Childcare Navigation project connects parents who wish to work or study to the childcare supports they need to achieve their educational and vocational goals. This includes helping parents connect to the NYS childcare subsidy and identifying and connecting families to culturally and linguistically appropriate childcare providers in their neighborhoods. This also includes helping interested individuals to become home-based childcare providers themselves, to ensure culturally and linguistically appropriate childcare services are available throughout the city. Longer-term, we seek to expand our childcare navigation programming to create a pathway to employment for individuals interested in working in daycares, to further help address the gap in childcare availability since the 2020 pandemic.
We also ensure families are connected to JFS case management services that help them meet their basic needs for food, clothing, housing, education, and safety.
Finally, we ensure all families we work with are connected to peer networks of other families to reduce isolation and promote social connections and support. This includes leading Women’s Empowerment groups and other empowerment programming as well as connecting individuals through WhatsApp support groups in various languages.
