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Family Re-Union 2: Reinventing Family Policy |
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Conference
Report
Recurrent Themes
PEOPLE TO PEOPLE RELATIONSHIPS
* The need for a human "web of connectedness". (Richard Louv) The use of "natural helpers" or volunteers to overcome the sense of isoladon and the stress of child rearing. A constant reference to the importance of connecting people with one another in helping relationships across racial and economic lines... the "Mother to Mother" program. Home visiting programs of every description. There was a spiritual content to these revelations of understanding that is hard to capture in words, but was very real to those present, " A long term intentional relationship is a way of putting faith to work", Sue Simeox. "Each one must teach one", Rasco.
FATHERHOOD
* A focus on the importance of the role of men as committed, involved fathers.
BUILDING ON FAMILY STRENGTHS
* The necessity to hear the needs of each family individually and as a whole family with inherent strengths, not a collection of symptomatic individuals with deficits to be "fixed".
BUILDING ON COMMUNITY STRENGTHS
* The need to nurture a sense of community as the basis for strengthening families and providing services. (I believe that the notion of "community" in the modern age needs to be redefined, and that technology can be used to create flexible, continually supportive communities of "neighbors" and "co-workers"....the "technological village" concept.)
MORAL FRAMEWORK
* The importance of providing a set of values that supports families and provides a moral framework for service.
NEW SKILLS AND TRAINING FOR WORKERS
- A whole new way of training and supporting workers to be generalists who are able to respect the integrity of families and build on their strengths. Every human contact from receptionist on communicates an important message. "The way we look- at families and children determines what we see, and what we see is reflected back at us. We need to move away from negatives and deal with the context. If we respect what we see, we create a spiritual wealth and determination that is nothing that government could have bought", Dr. Maxine Hayes
Policy Implications
CATEGORICAL FUNDING
* Funding must be non-categorical, and grant processes, eligibility, etc. must be unified and simplified.
REWARDS FOR COLLABORATION, INTEGRATION & FAMILY STRENGTH
* Incentives must reward the strengthening of families not the growth of bureaucracies. Incentives must also reward collaboration and service Integration.
LONG TERM MEASUREMENT
* Measurement must allow for small achievable steps and assess long term progress.
PREVENTION
* Programs must move from crisis management to prevention.
COMMUNITY FUNDING
* Funding must be freed up to flow directly to the community level to nurture programs like the ones we showcased. Programs should be entrepreneurial and able to take risks. Public/private partnership is essential.
ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE
* Improving service must go hand in hand with economic independence. . . they are organically linked", Grantland Johnson (New western regional HHS bead). EITC and welfare to work programs are critical.
SYSTEMS CHANGE
* Change must occur from the top down and the bottom up simultaneously. There must be a change in the entire culture of service delivery from an "I'm here to fix your deficits" model, to a "Let's work together to build on your strengths"model.
A NEW MOVEMENT
* Several people commented that the day felt like the beginning of a "movement"-a new way of thinking about family policy. Moving away from more and more huge bureaucratic programs and toward locally based, individually tailored flexible programs.
EMPOWERMENT = RESPONSIBILITY & AUTHORITY
* "Put the people we want to empower at the center. Give them authority, obligation and control of resources" - Grantland Johnson (New Western Region HHS Director)
Coming soon...
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Copyright 2002 Family Reunion, Child and Family Policy Center at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies |