In July 2018, the Wexford-Missaukee Friend of the Court (FOC) was awarded a $40,000 competitive grant from the Michigan Masonic Charitable Foundation to expand our Family Resiliency Project over the next year. The objective of this project is to help families develop the self-reliance necessary to meet their court-ordered obligations, and to minimize toxic stress associated with separation and divorce, a common Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE).
ACEs are stressful or traumatic events occurring in children’s lives, including abuse and neglect. They may also include household dysfunction, such as witnessing domestic violence or growing up with family members who have substance use disorders. ACEs are related to the development and prevalence of a wide range of health problems throughout a person’s lifespan.
Through a community partnership for the protection of children, our Family Resiliency Project also aims to collectively focus on preventing neglect, physical and emotional abuse, substance abuse, and other risky behaviors associated with ACEs.
According to the 2018 Kids Count in Michigan Data Book, Wexford County ranked 68th out of 83 Michigan counties for overall child well-being. Wexford County fell into the five worst counties in the state on four factors: Teen births; children in (CPS) investigated families; confirmed victims of neglect and abuse; and child/teen deaths. It is undeniable that proven risk factors have become pervasive in our community.
The population served by friend of the court continually presents with multiple risk factors in common. There is a demonstrated, critical need for sustainable, long-term prevention and intervention services at the community level. Such services are vital to promoting more desirable outcomes for children and families in our community. The friend of the court can help fill that need throughout the course of domestic relations cases.
What We Know
Collaboration across multiple service systems is central to strengthening families. Families thrive when protective factors are robust in their lives and communities.Protective factors are the foundation of the strengthening families approach and include:
- Parental resilience;
- Social connections;
- Concrete support in times of need;
- Knowledge of parenting and child development; and
- Social and emotional competence of children.
Research supports the common sense notion that when these protective factors are well established in a family, the likelihood of child abuse and neglect diminishes.
Our Family Resiliency Project is a mission to increase our community’s capacity to identify needs and more effectively implement solutions. We plan to build a self-healing community through a collaborative, trauma-informed approach to delivery of services within our family court system. Because all domestic relations matters are referred to our agency by the family division of the 28th Circuit Court, we are uniquely positioned to have direct and continuous contact with families of need in our community. Many of these families fail to seek out services elsewhere due to gaps in services and certain barriers that exist. Expansion of our Family Resiliency Project will benefit our community by building on existing strengths, buffering risks, and promoting better outcomes for children.
So far the project has been implemented through small but significant changes in everyday actions. It is grounded in research, evidence-based practices, and proper implementation. The Children’s Trust Fund laid the groundwork for a successful community resiliency-building plan. In this plan, a community partnership approach starts from the premise that no single factor is responsible for child abuse and neglect, thus no single public agency can safeguard children.
Wexford-Missaukee FOC’s Family Resiliency Project has become our contribution to a larger-scale community partnership for protection of children. The evidence-based strategies prescribed by the Children’s Trust Fund and Michigan ACEs Initiative focus on four concentrated areas for which we requested funding:
- Co-Parent Education: GEAR-Up for Co-Parenting (Generational Education Aiding Resiliency);
- Professional Development: Domestic Violence Screening Protocol Best Practices;
- Professional Development: Mandated Reporter (neglect/abuse) Protocol Best Practices; and
- On-site Social Service Technician: Directly linking FOC clients with area resources.
Our pilot program GEAR-Up for Co-Parenting is a trauma-informed, multi-generational approach to co-parent education. Parents receive tools to help them better navigate co-parenting from two different homes with a focus on minimizing toxic stress in the home.
During the 4 ½ hour course, parents identify separation and divorce as an Adverse Childhood Experience and explore how their own past experiences can influence parenting. They learn about the negative impact that ACEs can have on children throughout their lifespans. Parents learn evidence-based strategies designed to protect children and enhance family resiliency. Parents also take away useful skills, such as healthy ways to cope with stress and improve co-parent communication. Other topics of the course include parental alienation, domestic violence, substance abuse, distracted parenting, and blended families. Each session includes face-to-face interactions with representatives from area service organizations who directly make contact with parents to introduce their services.
The program has elicited an overwhelmingly positive response from other human service organizations, the community, and parents who have completed the course. It is currently being used as an early intervention tool through direct referrals from district, probate, and circuit court, probation, Child Protective Services, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Foster Care Licensing, and counselors in the intermediate school district.
Karen Staub, Prevention Coordinator with the local Child Protection Council, called the parenting program “a first-step building block to not only educate parents in co-parenting, but also to connect them further with their community to build increased support.”
Luther Lovell, MDHHS Director for Wexford and Missaukee counties, stated in his letter of support for funding that Wexford/Missaukee FOC has become “an instrumental partner in helping build a more resilient community through innovative programming, forward-thinking leadership, and their participation in our community-wide trauma and resilience team.”
With $40,000 granted, we requested less than one dollar per resident of our two counties (combined population of 48,274 as of 2017, per the U.S. Census Bureau) to invest in prevention and early intervention services directed toward families who need them most. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the average lifetime cost per victim of nonfatal child maltreatment was $48,375.00 as of 2012. This means that if we can protect just one child through this project per year, we can reduce public costs well in excess of our funding amount.
Thanks to the generous gift our community received from the Michigan Masonic Charitable Foundation, we anticipate a much greater return on the investment and positive impact which can significantly improve the lives of generations to come. We have only just begun.
To learn more about bringing the Protective Factors Framework to life in your work, free online training is available through the National Alliance of Children’s Trust & Prevention Funds at https://ctfalliance.remote-learner.net, or from the Michigan ACE Initiative at http://mahp.org/tags/michigan-ace-initiative.
