Welcome to Strengthening Families Program Finding Home!
Strengthening Families Program (SFP) has been developing research-based family skills classes since 1983. This course, SFP Finding Home is an online adaptation of a classroom-based version of the program for families. It is designed to be used with families having kids aged 11 to 17 and the adults in the family.
The program goals are to increase family strengths and resilience and reduce risk factors for problem behaviors in high-risk children, including behavioral, emotional, academic, and social problems. SFP builds on protective factors by improving family relationships, parenting skills, and the youth’s social and life skills.
This online version requires there to be a Primary Family Member who oversees the progress of the family members, organizes the weekly Family Meetings, and assists the family members in making progress through the lessons. Most often the Primary Family Member is a parent, but it can also be a teenager or other family member who is organized and tech-savvy, preferably with access to a computer (easier than a cell phone for editing.)
Success! Families who take this course, and follow up with the skills trained in the course, meet with success! Here is what is common in every family meeting with success:
- Families hold weekly Family Meetings, where they discuss issues that came up during the week and resolve problems in a collaborative climate;
- Every family member agrees to practice the skills they are being taught, and hold other family members accountable for doing the same;
- Parents learn how to use positive discipline with their kids and plan (and follow through with) individual attention to each family member through play and honest discussion;
- Families decide on appropriate Family Rules to reinforce the values their family holds, and the family members follow these rules;
- Every person approaches the desire to have a happy, harmonious family life in their home with serious intent, and make the effort to change their own behavior to reach this goal.
This version of SFP is designed for busy families, breaking the skills to be learned into bite-sized chunks so that they are easy to master. When you take this course you will also have the bonus of a fun, gamified version of the learning materials! Use the “Learn & Earn” lessons to win virtual gold coins and gems that are used to buy upgrades in the fun Finding Home game. Earning a “key” for every lesson completed, you use the key to unlock a new land and fight monsters in the game. Parents and kids can “gift” other family members with Love Notes, earning extra “hearts” in the game!
We are excited to share this innovative Learning Management System with your family!