Is family support recognized as a promising practice?
Family support is an approach to service delivery and as such programs employing this approach do not adhere to a prescribed model. Instead, programs incorporate, to a varying degree, family support features, as described above. This flexibility allows program designers to develop programs that meet community needs and build on community resources. The trade-off is that a universal family support model that can be readily evaluated does not exist. However, programs integrating family support components have shown positive outcomes. An example of this is the Syracuse Family Development Research Project, which incorporated home visiting, parent training and education, and day care to families headed by low-income mothers with less than a high school education. Three years following program participation, program participants had higher cognitive and social/emotional ratings than non-participants; 10 years following program participation, 6 percent of youth who participated in the program
Family support is an approach to service delivery and as such programs employing this approach do not adhere to a prescribed model. Instead, programs incorporate, to a varying degree, family support features, as described above. This flexibility allows program designers to develop programs that meet community needs and build on community resources. The trade-off is that a universal family support model that can be readily evaluated does not exist. However, programs integrating family support components have shown positive outcomes. An example of this is the Syracuse Family Development Research Project, which incorporated home visiting, parent training and education, and day care to families headed by low-income mothers with less than a high school education. Three years following program participation, program participants had higher cognitive and social/emotional ratings than non-participants; 10 years following program participation, 6 percent of youth who participated in the program
