Offered by the Family Training and Development Project, Iowa State University Extension to Families
This comprehensive training and development program uses an empowerment approach to provide front-line workers with basic skills and competencies to help families identify and reach their goals.
FOCUS on what is strong with families rather than on what is wrong with them.
LEARN to value the diversity of families.
BUILD the skills to put an empowerment approach into practice.
EARN certification, with options to receive undergraduate or graduate college credits, Social Work Hours, or ISU CEUs.
DEVELOP empathic, nurturing communication skills to establish mutually respectful relationships in home visitations.
"This course was a milestone for me personally and career-wise. It helped form my philosophy toward families and our work. It was a deeply emotional experience--one which I will never forget...nor the people with whom I formed bonds." - past participant
Who Should Attend?
- Family development specialists (FaDSS)
- Social Workers
- Head Start professionals
- Public health nurses
- Anyone interested in the well-being of Iowa families
- Department of Human Service/Promise Jobs professionals
- Community action agency staff or any staff making home visits
Acquire the skills and knowledge to meet the state standards specified by the FaDSS (Family Development Self-Sufficiency) Council.
Schedule
2008-2009 trainings in Iowa are currently being planned. If you are interested in Family Development Certification Training, please contact:
Jeanne Warning, Assistant Director, Extension to Families
101 MacKay Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011
p. (515) 294-6622, e. jwarning@iastate.edu
Training Manual
"Empowerment Skills for Family Workers" (A Worker Handbook) by Claire Forest, Cornell Empowering Families Project
Additional Participant Comments
"I try to listen better, avoid communication blockers, try to let families set their goals (their own) rather than jumping in too quickly with my own ideas/options of what I think their goals should be."
"Immediately I realized that I did not work with families in a strong strengths-based sense. I walked into homes looking for/wondering what I needed to "fix". This training helped me re-center myself."
"Facilitators are informative, helpful, insightful, resourceful, sensitive to others, supportive...realistic training."
"Comprehensive, concise, user-friendly resource manual..."
"I learned more during this training session than I learned in four years of college."
"I've learned how to empower the families that I work with, instead of using power over them, in other words, I've learned to respect them more for where they are rather than where I think they should be."
"I am more open-minded towards different family structures.I now ask open-ended questions to get a family thinking about what they might do to become self-reliant and not rely on programs month after month to "bail" them out. I help them look for solutions to problems.I don't do everything for them. We solve problems together."