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Family Partnership Services
Core Services
Family Partnership (FP) is responsive to the Frederick County community and we involve the participants as equal partners in program development and execution. There is an array of services at Family Partnership. At the heart of the Family Support Center philosophy is the idea of service coordination, interdisciplinary teamwork and viewing families as a total unit. To that end, Family Partnership provides the following core services with details in the tabs below.
- Child Development
- Health Education
- Home Visitation
- Parent Education
- Peer Support
- Self Sufficiency
- Service Coordination
- Youth Services
Family Partnership's Philosophy
Child Development Services are based upon the belief that parent’s are their children’s first and foremost teachers. Parents and children interact in a safe, nurturing and fun environment that reinforces mutual respect, understanding and growth. Each child and parent is valued as a unique person.
By providing developmentally appropriate experiences for both parents and children that strengthen parental and caregiver attachment, we are promoting the optimal physical, social, emotional, cognitive developmental needs of young children while responding to the needs of families.
Child Development Program
Infants and toddlers are provided with developmentally appropriate and individualized programming to maximize the children’s development and foster positive parent/child relationships. Quality developmental care and education supports the positive growth of children as parents attend activities in the Center.
Child Development Activities & Assessments
- Developmental Screenings - assess specific milestones in a child’s growth and development and are completed with the parent periodically.
- Teaching Strategies Gold assessment system is used to: document children’s development and learning over time; support, guide, and inform planning instruction; identify children who might benefit from special help, screening, or further evaluation; report and communicate with parents regarding their child’s development and learning; collect child outcome information and provide reports to administrators to guide program planning and professional development opportunities.
- Individual Learning Plans, Learning and Growth Reports, and Parent Teacher conferences are used to reflect on strengths, interests and identifying specific areas for development. This forms the basis for experiences and interaction between staff, children, and parents in the center as well as at home.
- Provision of educational take home activities to encourage learning together, build and enhance skills and knowledge for school readiness and an interest in life- long learning.
- Parent and Child Together (PACT) are daily activities that build positive and meaningful relationships while providing a special time for parents and children to have fun and to learn about each other and about the environment in which they live.
Health Education
Health education is a vital component of Family Partnership services. Issues related to optimal health touch every aspect of one’s life. Health education includes those issues that are related to the physical and emotional well-being of children, youth and adults. The focus is primary healthcare and/or prevention. Health education is provided primarily in a group format, but opportunities to provide information on an individual basis are available.
Common Health Education Topics
The broad spectrum of health education issues include:
- Children and adult mental health
- Disease prevention
- Domestic violence
- Family planning and pregnancy prevention
- Generalized health
- Healthy relationships
- Prenatal care
- Proper diet and nutrition
- Stress
- Substance abuse awareness and prevention
- Healthy self esteem and emotional well being
- Newborn Health Care
- Proper and preventive health care for adults and children
Home Visitation
Home visiting services are provided to families who are unable to attend the Center for a variety of reasons with the hope that each family can be transitioned into the Center, as appropriate. These services are provided to expectants and / or families with children 0 to 3 years old.
Services
Home visiting includes:
- Parent Education - Assist expectants and parents in gaining and enhancing parenting skills through the use of various resources and curricula including the Parents as Teachers curriculum.
- Infant / Toddler Services – Provide developmental assessments, hearing/vision/dental screenings, home safety information, immunization monitoring and parent/child activities.
- Service Coordination – Connect participants to community resources, follow up, assist with problem solving and conflict resolution skills, informal counseling, crisis intervention, and assist with goal setting.
Home visiting can also include:
- Employment Services - Help participants explore career options and develop systems for household management, childcare, and emergency plans for sick child and transportation.
- Health Education Services - Encourage and empower participants to access medical care for themselves and their children to improve parent and child health. Information, education and referrals for family planning and general prenatal health are provided. Parents are encouraged and assisted with keeping well baby appointments and maintaining immunization records. Home Visitor helps parents assess and maintain the safety of their home based on their child’s age and developmental stage as well as provide assistance and resources if necessary.
- Mental Health Services - Staff provide support and referrals to appropriate resources.
- Self-Sufficiency Services - Assist participants in locating and accessing education programs, tutoring programs, and assisting families in finding adequate child-care.
- Social Support Services - Staff help participants identify and build community and family support systems. Opportunities to build support systems and socialize are provided through field trips, group activities, and invitations to special Family Partnership center activities.
Parent Education
These services are designed to enhance parenting skills for mothers, fathers and other primary caregivers and include parent education, parenting enhancement activities, informal interactions, role modeling and peer education.
Parent education is provided both formally and informally in group and individual settings. Staff takes advantage of teachable moments that present themselves throughout the course of the day through informal interactions, role modeling, and during home visits. Family Partnership's formal parent education is based on the Nurturing Parenting curriculum. Informal parent education classes are based on topics of interest.
Parent education services and activities are designed to:
- Enhance parents’ knowledge of the typical developmental stages and expectations for their child’s growth.
- Increase parents’ understanding of “School Readiness” as it relates to early development.
- Promote the parents’ role as the child’s first and most important teacher.
- Empower parents’ so they can successfully provide for their own and their children’s needs.
Formal Parent Education
Formal parent education is based on the Nurturing Parenting Curriculum which increases a parent's knowledge and skills regarding:
- Appropriate expectations for infants, toddlers, preschool and school age children.
- Infant, toddler and child health and nutrition information.
- Nurturing lifestyles and family routines.
- Positive and nurturing discipline techniques.
- The parents’ role as the child’s first teacher and advocate.
- Typical child growth and development.
Informal Parent Education
Informal parenting occurs daily throughout the center through modeling, informal interactions, and conversations with parents. Since behavior is learned from what is observed and through practice, promoting positive parenting occurs in a variety of settings and formats. Informal parent education also occurs through workshops where information on specific parenting topics is provided and support groups where parents get together to discuss common concerns.
Peer Support
Peer support and recreational activities are provided to develop a wide range of skills, strengths, and interests of participants. Family Partnership provides programming that is comprehensive and well rounded in nature. Services are delivered with the cultural context of those served in mind.
We empower participants with skills and relationships that will bridge over to their daily lives outside Family Partnership. Not only does this include basic life skills and recreation, but it also provides excellent opportunities for participants to develop leadership and advocacy skills. These skills are very important in the growth and development of the children, youth and adults attending the center. These opportunities are offered regularly to promote the development of such skills.
Examples of Peer Support
- Arts and crafts, sewing classes, jewelry making, etc.
- Celebrations of holidays, birthdays, special occasions, and cultural observances.
- Field trips that are age appropriate for young children and/ or youth.
- Picnics, table games, athletic events, and a variety of special interest clubs.
- Support group on a specialized topic (dating, decision making and goal setting, etc.)
Education Services
Adult Education - Educational services include GED classes, FCPS Virtual classes and English as a Second Language Learner (ESL) classes.
The GED and ESL education classes are offered at Family Partnership through Frederick Community College's Adult Education Program. Participants must be at least 18 years old to register for these classes.
Limited educational services may be available at Family Partnership for youth under 18 years old if they have been officially withdrawn from school.
The GED program uses instruction, GED Academy, GED Test preparation books, and tutoring to assist participants in preparing for the GED test.
ESL Classes are available for individuals who want to improve their skills in speaking, writing, listening, and reading English. Participants receive ESL instruction as well as the ability to work on Rosetta Stone (on-line computer program).
Every participant enrolled into the FCC Adult Education program at Family Partnership will take an assessment to assess grade levels and academic skills. The assessment is periodically re-administered to document grade gains and academic achievements. The GED Official Practice Test is administered to all GED students prior to taking the official test. The practice test serves as an indication of student readiness and validates the progress of the student.
Family Literacy - Family literacy activities, which occur daily, provide literacy rich parent/child interactions and offer parents opportunities to learn ways to support their child's emerging literacy.
Employability Services
Employability services are designed to assist the participant to build job and work readiness skills, to find and maintain employment and to create and complete a career goal plan.
Employability Services include:
- Career Exploration – Participants are assisted, through the use of various assessment tools and goal setting meetings, to identify their interests, values, and skills as they relate to career areas and the world of work.
- Job Readiness – Participants are provided learning opportunities to enhance interpersonal skills related to securing and maintaining employment such as the ability to cope with anger and conflict, time management, stress management, working as a team member, effective communication skills, and selecting quality child care.
- Job Search Skills – Program activities provide assistance with the development of specific competencies in the areas of seeking and gaining employment:completing a job application, writing a resume, mock interviews, and cover/thank you letter writing.
- Job Retention Support – Services for participants who are currently working to support the continuation of successful employment.
- Computer Literacy -Participants are provided learning opportunities to enhance computer literacy. The Computer Lab is equipped with "Type To Learn" software to improve keyboarding skills. The lab is equipped to help participants to understand how Microsoft Office is used and instruction is available to learn Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint one-on-one and with software programming. The Oxford Picture Dictionary is also available to improve English language comprehension.
- Other Services – Information about referrals to specialized community services related to employment.
Certificates of Completion are awarded when specific activities are completed.
What is Services Coordination?
Service Coordination is an integral component of family support services. It provides the mechanism for families to maximize their potential. It is participant driven and delivered according to the participant's expressed needs and requests. Family Partnership has a team of case managers that work with mothers, fathers, expectants, and youth 16-24 years of age.
Service Coordination for participants include:
- Assistance with identifying strengths, interests, needs and goals
- Development of problem solving and conflict resolution skills
- Follow up services
- Referrals to community resources
- Informal counseling and crisis intervention and if intensive counseling services are needed then referrals are made
These services are provided by an initial orientation, intake, and regular meetings between the case managers and participants. The case managers also collaborate with center staff and outside agencies that have involvement with the participant and his/her family.
About Youth Services
Through collaborative partnerships with Frederick County Workforce Services, and Frederick County Office for Children and Families, Family Partnership provides youth development services to youth between the ages of 16-24 who are facing a barrier or barriers to completing a high school education and/ or engaging in gainful employment.
Education Services
- Adult education classes (GED & ESL) provided on-site through a partnership with Frederick Community College Adult Education program. These classes are available for youth 18 years and over.
- Limited education services are available for youth under 18
- High school classes provided on-site through Frederick County Virtual School
- Tutoring and study skills provided individually or in small groups
Employment Services
- Occupational and entrepreneurial skills training
- Paid and unpaid work experiences, including internships and job shadowing
- Career Assessments and goal setting
- Job readiness and career exploration workshops
Supportive Services
- Adult mentoring
- Child care
- Transportation
- Comprehensive guidance and counseling
- Follow up services
- Leadership development opportunities, which may include community service and peer-centered activities