Strengthening Families: Aspiranet’s Delta First 5 Center helps Brentwood families maintain bonds

SAN FRANCISCO - April 8, 2014 - PRLog -- According to the latest Child Maltreatment (http://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/cb/cm2012.pdf) report by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, there were a nationally estimated 686,000 child victims of abuse and neglect, and an estimated 1,640 children who died from mistreatment in a single year.

Child Abuse Prevention Month in April is an opportunity to acknowledge programs that can prevent family situations from escalating abuse and educating the public on services that contribute to healthy families and reduce child abuse. Throughout this month, Aspiranet (http://aspiranet.org/), one of the largest nonprofit human services agencies in California, will highlight its Strengthening Families Framework, an ongoing commitment to strengthen families that can lead to a reduction in child abuse.

For more than 38 years, Aspiranet has launched innovative programs that have strengthened families. One Center in particular, the Delta First 5 Center, touches the lives of more than 120 Contra Costa families per week.

Aspiranet’s Delta First 5 center provides families in East Contra Costa County with children under the age of 5 with programs, services, and activities that improve children’s health and well-being, while advancing children’s potential to succeed in school. The Center receives $360,000 annually from First 5 Contra Costa to operate these programs for the community.

Delta First 5 operates under the principle that the parent or primary caregiver is the child’s first teacher, offering parent-child and parent-only classes that focus on positive child interaction and helping young children learn new skills. The Center focuses on strengthening families through educating parents in positive discipline practices, social, emotional and physical needs of young children, and improving their confidence as parents.

“We try to build a cohesive unit,” explains Lynnett Hernandez-Kinnaird, Delta First 5 Center director.  “We understand the important role parents play in the cultivation of their children’s health and well-being. We work to develop positive parenting tactics and strengthening those relationships so that children can thrive not only scholastically, but in their interpersonal relationships, too.”

Aspiranet’s Strengthening Families Framework underscores Child Welfare Information Gateway’s Five Protective Factors (https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/guide2011/guide.pdf) to end the cycle of child abuse in children. These five factors include: Nurturing and Attachment, Knowledge of Parenting and of Child and Youth Development, Parental Resilience, Social Connections, and Concrete Supports for Parents. These protective factors are critical for parents and caregivers as they provide a helpful conceptual framework for guiding with children and their families.

“Our work is founded in the Family Strengthening Standards,” observes Odessa Caton, Aspiranet Director of Early Childhood Services in the Bay Area. “We work to build the Five Protective Factors that lead to family resilience and the continued growth of all family members. Our work to increase parent understanding of child development helps parents have appropriate expectations of their young children which is crucial to attachment, the child’s development of self-regulation and to the development of child self-esteem.”

For more information about Aspiranet’s Delta First 5 Center, visit http://www.aspiranet.org/program-services/delta-first-5-center/.

About Aspiranet

Aspiranet, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charity, supports foster children, siblings, families and the community with 35 core programs offering specialized services throughout 45 locations within California. Aspiranet strengthens children, families and communities through seven core programs including: Foster Care, Adoption, Residential, Transition Age Youth, Behavioral Health, Wraparound and Family and Community Services.

Founded 38 years ago as a six-bed group home for young boys in Moss Beach, Calif., Aspiranet is one of the most diverse nonprofit social service agencies in the state. With a statewide network of innovative services, Aspiranet serves more than 10,000 families each year. For more information, please visit www.aspiranet.org.