 Strengthening Families Through Early Care and Education
Strengthening Families through Early Care and Education
Eight centers in Middlesex and Somerset counties have been chosen to participate in New Jersey’s Strengthening Families Initiative (SFI).
SFI helps early childhood centers work with families to strengthen supports systems that will prevent child
abuse and neglect. Catholic Charities’ Child Care Resource and Referral Division through funding from the New Jersey Division of Family Development will coordinate the project.
The goals of the program are to increase the awareness that stronger families are central to keeping children safe and allowing them to develop their full potential.
Child care centers can play an important role in working with families to:
- Build parental resilience
- Develop social and emotional connections between families
- Provide information on community support systems
- Help parents understand the benchmarks of child development
- Teach children social and emotional competence
The SFI is a national program to help child care centers enhance or implement these goals.
Through SFI the participating child care centers will receive training on the factors that help
reduce child abuse and neglect, receive additional staff training on child development, supporting
parents and brain development in children. The center will also receive assistance in developing
their own resource library which will be available to parents. The grant also includes a small
stipend to develop or improve a centers resources and physical space. Each center will establish
a team of parents, staff and the community to assess the centers needs and implement improvements to their center.
The Strengthening Families National Network includes the Center for the Study of Social Policy,
The National Alliance of Children’s Trust and Prevention Funds, ZERO TO THREE,
and The National Association for the Education of Young Children and The Build Initiative.
New Jersey is one of three states to receive the National Governor’s Award, this funding and support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation have established the funding for NJSFI.
The Following Child Care Centers are participating in the Strengthening Families Intitiative:
- Douglass Child Study Ctr, New Brunswick, NJ
- The First Class, Piscataway, NJ
- JCC of North and South Brunswick Nursery School, North Brunswick, NJ
- John Kenney Child Care Center at Heller Park, Edison, NJ
- Somerset Valley YMCA, Hillsborough, NJ
- The Learning Gate, Raritan, NJ
- Centenary Early Learning Center YMCA, Metuchen, NJ
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