Strengthening Families as identified five "Protective and Promotive Factors"

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1. Parental Resilience

2. Social Connections

3. Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development

4. Concrete Supports in Times of Need

5. Social Competence of Children

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1.  Parental resilience

Being a parent can be a very rewarding and joyful experience. But being a parent can also have its share of stress. Parenting stress is caused by the pressures (stressors) that are placed on parents personally and in relation to their child:

• typical events and life changes (e.g., moving to a new city or not being able to soothe a crying baby)

• unexpected events (e.g., losing a job or discovering your child has a medical problem)

• individual factors (e.g., substance abuse or traumatic experiences)

• social factors (e.g., relationship problems or feelings of loneliness and isolation)

• community, societal or environmental conditions (e.g., persistent poverty, racism or a natural disaster)

2.  Social Connections

People need people. Parents need people who care about them and their children, who can be good listeners, who they can turn to for well-informed advice and who they can call on for help in solving problems. Thus, the availability and quality of social connections are important considerations in the lives of parents. Parents’ constructive and supportive social connections—that is, relationships with family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, community members and service providers— are valuable resources who provide:

• emotional support (e.g., affirming parenting skills or being empathic and non- judgmental)

• informational support (e.g., providing parenting guidance or recommending a pediatric dentist)

• instrumental support (e.g., providing transportation, financial assistance or links to jobs)

• spiritual support (e.g., providing hope and encouragement)

3.  Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development

No parent knows everything about children or is a “perfect parent.” An understanding of parenting strategies and child development helps parents understand what to expect and how to provide what children need during each developmental phase. All parents, and

those who work with children, can benefit from increasing their knowledge and understanding of child development, including:

• physical, cognitive, language, social and emotional development

• signs indicating a child may have a developmental delay and needs special help

• cultural factors that influence parenting practices and the perception of children

• factors that promote or inhibit healthy child outcomes

• discipline and how to positively impact child behavior

4. Concrete Support in Times of Need

When parents seek help, it should be provided in a manner that does not increase stress.

Services should be coordinated, respectful, caring and strengths-based. Strengths-based practice is grounded in the beliefs that:

• It is essential to forge a trusting relationship between parents and service providers and among service providers working with the same families

• Regardless of the number or level of adverse conditions parents are experiencing, they have assets within and around them, their family and their community that can be called upon to help mitigate the impact of stressful conditions and to create needed change

• Parents have unrealized resources and competencies that must be identified, mobilized and appreciated

• Parents must be active participants in the change process and not passive recipients of services

• Parents must first be guided through, and subsequently learn how to navigate, the complex web of health care and social service systems

• In addition to addressing each parent’s individual difficulties, strengths-based practitioners must understand—and work to change—the structural inequities and conditions that contribute to these difficulties. 

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5.  Social-Emotional Competence of Children: 

Early childhood is a period of both great opportunity and vulnerability. Early childhood experiences set the stage for later health, well- being and learning. In the past, most of the focus was on building young children’s academic skills in an effort to ensure they were prepared for school. However, in recent years a growing body of research has demonstrated the strong link between young children’s social-emotional competence and their cognitive development, language skills, mental health and school success. The dimensions of social-emotional competence in early childhood include:

• self-esteem - good feelings about oneself

• self-confidence - being open to new challenges and willing to explore new environments

• self-efficacy - believing that one is capable of performing an action

• self-regulation/self-control - following rules, controlling impulses, acting appropriately based on the context

• personal agency - planning and carrying out purposeful actions

• executive functioning - staying focused on a task and avoiding distractions

• patience - learning to wait

• persistence - willingness to try again when first attempts are not successful

• conflict resolution - resolving disagreements in a peaceful way

• communication skills - understanding and expressing a range of positive and negative emotions

• empathy - understanding and responding to the emotions and rights of others

• social skills - making friends and getting along with others

• morality - learning a sense of right and wrong