Leadership Team Update
The Strengthening Families Leadership Team Meeting was held on Tuesday, February 3, 2015; a brief report follows.

In the Ten at the Top segment of the meeting, Mary Rieck, Pottstown School District, explained the community wide outreach and family engagement process that is funded through multiple sources including a W. K. Kellogg Foundation grant. They will work toward building local leadership capacity, use a trauma informed care approach in schools and community organizations, focus on social and emotional development, and use the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework approach.

The Leadership Team Committees reported. Steering Committee completed the annual national survey for CSSP. Marketing and Media Committee is continuing to update the Strengthening Families website and posting on Facebook and Twitter. The instructors for the Bringing the Protective Factors to Life in Your Work have delivered 12 stand-alone courses and are in the process of completing three series of seven courses.

The focus of the meeting was to discuss the status of the leadership team. We reviewed the development as a team and used material from the Center for the Study of Social Policy about state leadership teams to guide the conversation. A small workgroup has been formed to further this conversation.

Next Meeting
April 27, 2015 at 10:00 AM
Center for Schools and Communities

Policy Spotlight: Changes to the Child Protective Services Law
As you know, there have been recent changes to the Child Protective Services Law. Information below is from KeepKidsSafe.pa.gov.

Protecting Pennsylvania's children from abuse and neglect is a shared responsibility. It requires collaboration from the formal child protective services system, community partners and citizens to provide local safety nets for children and families that are facing challenges within communities and neighborhoods.

Recently, 23 pieces of legislation were enacted, changing how Pennsylvania responds to child abuse. These changes significantly impact the reporting, investigation, assessment, prosecution and judicial handling of child abuse and neglect cases. These changes:

• Strengthen our ability to better protect children from abuse and neglect by amending the definitions of child abuse and perpetrator
• Streamline and clarify mandatory child abuse reporting processes
• Increase penalties for failure to report suspected child abuse and protect persons who report child abuse
• Promote the use of multi-disciplinary investigative teams (MDITs) to investigate child abuse related crimes
• Support the use of information technology to increase efficiency and tracking of child abuse data

KeepKidsSafe.pa.gov is designed to serve as the hub for information related to critical components impacting child protection including a link for mandated reporters to make reports of suspected child abuse electronically, training on child abuse recognition and reporting, information related to clearances and general information related to child protection.

Practice Spotlight: Professional Development Series focused on the Protective Factors Now Available
In May 2014, twenty-eight family support professionals were certified to present the Bringing the Protective Factors Framework to Life in Your Work training to audiences throughout the state. This training, consisting of seven courses, was developed by the National Alliance of Children's Trust and Prevention Funds and provides participants with an "in-person" version of the online training currently available.

Course 1
This introduction course covers the basic information about the Strengthening Families approach and a brief introduction to the Protective Factors.

Course 2-6
These five courses provide in-depth information about each Protective Factor as well as how programs can create environments where families can build these protective factors for themselves.

Course 7
This wrap-up course deepens participant learning by encouraging the development of concrete plans to integrate this approach in to their work.

Instructors are currently providing the series throughout the state at various family-serving organizations. Though the courses were meant to be delivered as a series, there is also an option to provide stand-alone courses. Continuing education credits are available. More information about the courses or to schedule can be found at PA Strengthening Families.

Resource Spotlight: 2015 Prevention Resource Guide
Each year, the Child Welfare Information Gateway publishes a Prevention Resource Guide to highlight how programs can partner with parents and the community to prevent child abuse and build protective factors among families. The guide includes resources for programs and tip sheets for families in English and Spanish.

Everyday Tips for Families
For young children, learning can be found everywhere. Parents build bonds with their children and support their child's development through play. Check out these fun activities and resources from PA Promise for Children that parents can do with their children featuring rooms of the house, places in the community and more.