Bringing the Protective Factors Framework to Life In Your Work: Introduction and Overview

This course will provide an overview of the Strengthening Families movement and the protective factors framework and ideas for how you can apply these concepts in your work. This training is designed to be used by anyone who works with children and families – in any field. We use a mix of examples from early care and education settings, child welfare settings, and family interactions. Some of the video resources draw heavily from an early care and education background. While this may not reflect the work you do every day, the videos may open your eyes to what can be done in the context of high quality early care and education, and how those providers can be your partners in the community, an “extra set of eyes” on a child, and a key supporter of a family going through difficult times.

This training is designed to re-energize those who work with children and families, enhance their efforts to partner with parents and see families from a more positive, strengths-based perspective. The curriculum was developed by the Children’s Trust Fund Alliance.

After participating in this course, you will be able to:

• List five protective factors that help keep families strong and prevent child abuse and neglect
• Identify everyday strategies that help families to build those protective factors
• Understand what it means to work with families in a strength-based way
• Become familiar with existing tools and resources that assess and support the building of protective factors

About the Presenter:

Erika Kirchhoff:

Erika has over 15 years of experience in advocacy, outreach, and family support programming. For five years, she’s been leading efforts around trauma, hope, and resilience education. Erika is a seasoned facilitator of many workshops and trainings, including Lemonade for Life, Trauma Informed Certification, Connections Matter, HOPE Champions, Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences, Question Persuade Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention, Online Safety, and Parent Cafes. Erika holds a bachelor’s in human services. Erika was recently awarded the Resilience Champion Award through the Community Resilience Initiative for her extraordinary actions, rooted in hope and courage, that have significantly contributed to a more resilient society.

Professionals who believe that this programming meets the requirements of their professional licensure board may present their certificate to their professional board. All those attending in full will receive a certificate of attendance and agenda for the day that includes the course title, trainer names, date, location, and number of hours. It is the responsibility of the individual attending to be familiar with the CEU requirements of their professional licensing board. Licensees should retain course materials and certificates for four years for auditing purposes.

For any additional questions contact Gabby Sargent at operations@thrivingfamiliesalliance.org