School-based family resource centres : the village approach, a handbook on school-community partnerships for professionals serving families

Fritz, Lorell C. (2001) School-based family resource centres : the village approach, a handbook on school-community partnerships for professionals serving families. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Children are our much-cherished resources and our hope for the future. As Hill (1999) notes: "Children's issues have seldom been far from the headlines in recent years" (p. 7). Current studies (Gordon, 1998; Guy, 1997; McCain & Mustard, 1999; Pickens, 1997) highlight issues such as childhood poverty, child abuse, increasing rates of suicide, drug use, crime and violence among today's youth as examples of needs in today's society. There is much discussion about the need for prevention and early intervention to enhance development of the child. Continued research (Cugmas, 1998; Dwivedi, 1997; Coleman & Wallinga, 1999; Melaville, 1996; Whipple, 1999) has been conducted to ascertain effective interventions in meeting the needs of children, and many of these needs are being addressed. Unfortunately, children and their families are often entwined in a fragmented support system that may result in continued problem-orientation and crises management rather than in capacity-building and prevention. -- The purpose of this project is to develop a handbook for professionals who serve families. It proposes ways in which a Family Resource Centre could provide an integrated, multidimensional, unified system of support for families. By establishing community partnerships and using the school as a hub for delivering services such a centre would benefit students, staff, administration, families and the larger community. The handbook will discuss the following issues: early child development; family support programs; philosophical bases of family resource centres; possible programs at family resource centres; and the benefits of family resource centres. It will also outline how to establish a family resource centre or school-community partnerships of varying levels of complexity and point to resources available for family resource centres. -- This paper is divided into four chapters: Chapter 1 is an introduction that outlines ways that family resource centres may address the issues and stressors that families face today; Chapter 2 is a review of the literature on selected theories of child development, interventions, and school-community partnerships; Chapter 3 is an outline of the methodology; and Chapter 4 is the handbook itself.

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