Family and consumer sciences (FCS) professionals frequently work as advocates for survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). The purpose of this study was to explore IPV advocacy at the individual, relational, community, and societal levels of the Social Ecological Model (SEM) and to provide suggestions for FCS courses based on findings. This…

This article describes an infant and early childhood mental health-informed therapeutic visitation program that offers clinical support, systems-level advocacy, and developmentally appropriate guidance to families navigating the child welfare and family court systems. The program offers treatment, permanency, and placement planning for infants,…

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is the nation's first federal nutrition education program for low-income populations. Without question, accelerating equity in programming has long been a priority of EFNEP. Historically underserved populations with limited financial resources are often people of color and at increased risk…

The CUT Juvenile Justice Diversion Program serves youth at risk of involvement in the criminal justice system. Targeted students are enrolled at five HISD secondary campuses in Fifth Ward, Texas. During the 2019--2020 academic year, the first year of the program, 60 students and their families were engaged in community support services guided by…

Early Learning Neighborhood Collaborative (ELNC) began as a year-long initiative to support early learning for very young children and families. The program has grown into a self-sustaining, nonprofit, place-based organization committed to improving the lives of children and families in the underresourced neighborhoods of Grand Rapids, MI.…

This postscript presents the implementation and evaluation of family and community based intervention programs for children and young people implemented in Norway. The Norwegian experiences and results illustrate how evidence-based programs developed in the U.S. have been transported across geographical and language borders, implemented…

Collaboration between university researchers and community agencies offers the opportunity to pilot innovative, evidence-informed interventions. Partnerships of this nature also present unique ethical dilemmas to community agencies, particularly regarding research and agency policies, navigating privacy protections, adequate and consistent…

Families and Schools Together (FAST) is a collaborative program involving schools, families, and community-based partners in efforts to prevent substance use, juvenile delinquency, school failure, child abuse and neglect, mental health problems, and violence. Although evaluated extensively, there remains a dearth of qualitative data on child and…

There is a strong link between citizens' quantitative literacy abilities and their financial prosperity. This study applied a social justice perspective to describe families' personal flourishing within the context of numerical, mathematical, and financial literacy (NMFL) education. Four families participated in a weekly community program with…

This policy plan offers an approach to early childhood policies that get to the roots of racial equity. It describes how to promote social, economic, health, and educational equity by broadening the current early childhood public policy focus in Minnesota on early education and service programs to also include funding efforts that promote positive…

The Fostering Hope Initiative is a neighborhood-based Collective Impact initiative that promotes optimum child and youth development by supporting vulnerable families, encouraging connections between neighbors, strengthening systems to ensure collective impact, and advocating for family-friendly public policy. This article describes the…

Family-centered, community-based programs are particularly suited to support families with at-risk children or maltreated children and achieve family preservation or reunification. In these child protection and child welfare cases, assessment is of great importance to inform decision making. But the implementation of services to support the…

The Community Science Workshops (CSWs)--with funding from the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation--created a network among the CSW sites in California. The goals of the CSW Network project have been to improve programs, build capacity throughout the Network, and establish new sites. Inverness Research has been…

A strong early childhood system that is well funded, fully coordinated, and highly accountable is essential to a state's long-term economic health. Significant research during the past decade has identified short- and long-term benefits to children, families, and communities when young children arrive at school healthy and ready to learn.…

Making Connections was the Annie E. Casey Foundation's signature place-based, community-change initiative of the 2000s. It sought to build on previous work and launch an effort focused firmly on the framework of family strengthening. The Foundation started Making Connections in 22 places, focusing eventually on first 10, then seven sites. It…