Stanford Home for Children

Family Centered Practice

Stanford Home's FAMILY CENTERED PRACTICE Principles
Stanford Home's Family Centered Purpose and Philosophy: Stanford Home's mission is "to strengthen children and families: to dream, to overcome, to thrive." We serve a variety of children and families from the larger Sacramento community and believe that our service is best done with children AND their families.

In its most simple terms, we believe that families are entitled to occupy the center role in all that we attempt to accomplish with them and their children, regardless of past experiences or current obstacles. The safety and health of children are paramount goals at Stanford Home, and we believe that healthy families provide the best kind of long term safety and security that children need to develop into thriving adults. Within this context however, the immediate safety of children must always take priority. As an agency, we are committed to planning, training and practicing in harmony with these core Family Centered Practice Principles.

Who and What is a Family? Families are big, small, extended, nuclear, multi–generational, with one parent, two parents, and/or grandparents. Families live under one roof or many. A family endures and changes over time; one becomes part of a family by birth, adoption, marriage, or from a desire for mutual support. Each family is a culture unto itself with different values and unique ways of realizing its dreams. Together, our families become the source of our collective rich cultural heritage and spiritual diversity. Our families create neighborhoods, communities, states, nations and our world.

The family unit is our focus of attention.
Family-centered practice means that we work with the family as the primary focus of attention, support and intervention, promoting the safety, well–being and permanent connections between family members, including children identified as needing specific care and attention. Caregivers and siblings receive services in accordance with the needs of the family and the wishes of a family–driven team. Unbiased information is shared with families on a continual basis in order to support their need and ability to make decisions with adequate information. True family/professional collaboration is sought, not just coordination, recognizing that the family should always be the constant in a child's life.

We strengthen the existing capacities of families to function effectively.
The primary purpose of family-centered practice is to strengthen the family's potential for carrying out their responsibilities by focusing on family strengths, not on problems or deficits. These strengths are also leveraged to address challenges and needs identified by the family.

Families are our full partners in designing all aspects of policies, services, and program evaluation.
Families have voice and choice in the development and implementation of their child and family plan. Families are recognized as knowing themselves better than anyone and are encouraged to use their expert knowledge throughout decision and goal–making processes. We provide individualized, culturally–responsive, and relevant services for each family. In addition, we involve families in creating agency policies and programs.

Families are linked with more comprehensive, diverse, and community–based networks of supports and services.
Family–centered interventions assist in mobilizing resources to maximize communication, shared planning, and collaboration among community and/or neighborhood systems that are directly involved with the family. Planning and services occur in communities where families live. Families are encouraged to engage in family to family support and networking. Institutional settings seen as temporary resources, not long–term "placements."

Services are Outcome Driven.
Stanford Home examines and evaluates program implementation and the family centered outcomes achieved through to use of scientific research and analysis. We adopt new methods (and abandon others) in accordance with research findings and these family centered practice principles and values. The program is evaluated for its ability to achieve the following outcomes:
1. Families achieve their goals, usually with their children living in the family home or some other permanent setting.
2. Overall adjustment and improvement in the youth's behavior and functioning, through a demonstrated use of strength based adaptive behaviors and an increase in the use of functional social skills.
3. Over time, families utilize less formal, professional, categorical services and more family-based, community-based, universally available resources.

Services are Individualized.
Planning and services are individualized. The plans–including the strengths, the needs, the options, the strategies, and the services–are developed by unique teams comprised of children and families.

Child and Family Teams Drive the Work.
Planning and services are team–driven. Each family's plan is developed by a unique family team with oversight and facilitation from a trained professional.

Services are Needs-Driven.
Services provided are inspired by the prioritized needs of the families served, across all life–domains, not the categories determined by others. Planning and services are comprehensive.

We are Persistent.
Planning, support and intervention occurs in an environment of unconditional acceptance. As family needs change, the plans, strategies, and services change. Families are not discharged until: 1) the desired outcome is achieved, 2) the family team seeks termination of services, or 3) regulation or funding necessitates termination of services.

We seek to be experienced by families as Culturally Competent.
Planning and services are grounded in the family's culture, values and norms. Staff members strive to become educated and sensitive to the unique culture of each family.