2000 Families and Seniors: Across Generations 2000 Families and Seniors: Across Generations 1992 Family Re-Union 1993 Reinventing Family Policy 1994 The Role of Men inthe Lives of Children 1995 Family and the Media 1996 Family and Work 1997 Family and Learning 1998 Family and Health 1999 Family and Community 2000 Families and Seniors: Across Generations Sponsors This Year's Conference: Back to the Future - November 19,2001 Outcomes: Family Re-Unions have a continous impact Background: Learn more about Family Re-Union

Family Re-Union

FAMILY RE-UNION
April 24, 1992

The first Family Re-Union was designed so that federal, state and local leaders could listen carefully to families describing how programs and policies affected them. Vice President Gore, then Senator from Tennessee, and Mrs. Gore moderated this conference in Nashville. Participants concluded that government programs and policies generally focused on the pathology of an individual while ignoring the strengths of the whole family. This conference firmly established the importance of building programs and defining policies based on the strengths of whole families. Results included:

  • Local groups within Tennessee took up the idea of "Care Fairs" -- gatherings held each year before the opening of school that bring together all services for families in one location, giving families better access and giving communities an opportunity to build networks.
  • The 800 participants agreed that major changes in policy and programs were essential if families were not going to be torn apart by attempts to "fix" individuals. Senator Gore promised to reconvene the conference the following year to pursue this policy shift.

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Copyright 2002 Family Reunion, Child and Family Policy Center

at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies