July/August 2021Vol. 22, No. 7Strengthening Families Protective Factors and Youth Thrive Workshops

Be Strong Families offers workshops on the Strengthening Families protective factors framework and the Youth Thrive framework, which were both developed by the Center for the Study of Social Policy. These workshops are intended for parents and professionals to encourage their partnership in keeping families strong and together and supporting youth as they prepare to enter adulthood.

The workshops offered include the following: 

• "Living the Protective Factors: Journey to Being a Tight, Loving, and Fabulously Strong Family": This interactive, full-day (8-hour) workshop is intended for both parents and providers. It explains the impact of adverse childhood experiences and presents the protective factors as a concrete way to mitigate the long-term impact of trauma. This workshop is available in English and Spanish.
• "Assisting Families With Living the Protective Factors": This full-day (8-hour) workshop is intended for providers only. The workshop helps professionals apply the protective factors in their work with families and learn ways to enhance meaningful parent engagement.
• "Reducing Toxic Stress by Living the Protective Factors": This half-day (4-hour) workshop is intended for parents and introduces them to the concept of toxic stress and its relationship to child development, trauma, and adverse childhood experiences. Parents will also learn how the protective factors can help mitigate the effects of trauma.
• "Living the Protective Factors": This workshop is a 7-day parenting workshop (2 hours per session) that gives parents a chance to share their experiences, learn from each other, gain insight from the group and the group leader, feel supported in their parenting, expand their repertoire of parenting strategies, and gain a deeper understanding of the challenges that may arise within the family. This workshop is available in English and Spanish.
• "Introduction to the Youth Thrive Protective and Promotive Factors Framework": This interactive, full-day (8-hour) workshop is intended for providers who work with youth involved with child welfare. Participants explore how the stages of teenage development are impacted by trauma and how the Youth Thrive framework is a tool for thinking about, organizing, and enhancing the services they provide to these youth.
• "Using the Protective Factors to Overcome Challenges at Work": This is a full-day (8-hour) workshop intended for providers. It employs the Art of Hosting conversation technologies and interactive activities to bring to the forefront issues that are causing frustration and burnout at work and then uses the protective factors to address them.