Extended Family has just begun our final summer series of Extended Family for Kids (EFK) programs. Our staff is leading groups at DeKalb County Youth Services, Secondary Refocus Center in Etowah County, and Excel Academy and Success Academy in Calhoun County. EFK Fall series will begin in schools and juvenile diversion programs beginning in October.
We work closely with school administrators, counselors, teachers, and other staff to develop our calendar to accommodate the more than fifty groups led by Extended Family staff in Cherokee, DeKalb, Etowah, and Calhoun counties. Counselors help us reach the students who need our programs by referring children to EFK and helping us get permission from each child’s parent or caregiver to participate.
Extended Family for Kids is a nine-lesson, evidence-based curriculum for children with any incarcerated loved one. In EFK, students learn how to make good choices, despite the fact that their loved one made choices resulting in incarceration. EFK provides instruction for physical, mental, emotional, and moral character development with lessons on stress reduction, expressing anger appropriately, and creating positive relationships with law enforcement.
Students in EFK Programs learn life lessons they can apply outside of the classroom. We are empowering children to make better choices than their loved ones made. We don’t just say, “Make good choices.” We teach them how to make good choices, with Lessons on how to express feelings like anger without getting into trouble, how to use a “stress buster” in stressful situations, and how to effectively take steps to make their dreams for the future come true.
Extended Family for Kids Leader Training is available for adults who work with children in communities outside of our immediate area. We are happy to partner with other caring adults who are affiliated with a school, community-, or faith-based organization who maintains good child practices. Our goal is to reach every child who needs EFK, wherever they may be.
More information on Extended Family for Kids and our other programs is available on our website, www.extendedfamilyhelp.org. EFK is one way we are working to help break the cycle of incarceration in families.
