For Extended Family to be able to fulfil our mission, “To offer help and inspire hope,” in every community for every child who needs it, we provide Extended Family for Kids (EFK) Program Leader Training across the nation. By doing this, we establish partnerships with adults who work with children including school counselors, teachers, school resource officers (SROs), community agencies, law enforcement, social services providers, social workers who serve children in foster care, juvenile justice system staff, medical personnel, family services agencies, and so many more. EFK certification gives these professionals another series of tools to reach our shared goal, to help children and families.
One of our newest partnerships is with the Exchange Club Child Abuse Prevention Center of Birmingham, AL. One CAP Center employee has been certified to lead EFK Programs, and is involved in plans to expand their ability to lead EFK groups for children in their area. Extended Family’s mission works well with the CAP Center’s mission, “To Strengthen Families and break the cycle of child abuse and neglect by providing education and support to both parents and children.” EFK messages “It’s Not Your Fault” and “You Are Not Alone” will help these children, who also have a pattern of having a loved one incarcerated, to begin to rebuild their self esteem and help them to dream and plan for their futures. We want Our Kids to understand that they can be successful, even though they have a loved one who is incarcerated. EFK is an evidence-based, 9-lesson Curriculum for students in grades K-12 which teaches struggling students how to make healthy choices to ease feelings of shame and isolation, decrease stress, address anger issues, and strengthen communication skills.
For the past several years, agencies who help at-risk children have used a layering approach of services to meet their many, sometimes complicated, needs. Extended Family is proud to be able to contribute our training and messages to assist Exchange Club CAP Center as they help Our Kids in Jefferson County. Find out more about Exchange Club CAP Center by visiting their website, www.4cap.org. To learn more about Extended Family and how we can help you reach children in your community, visit our website, www.extendedfamilyhelp.org. Together, we are making a difference, one child at a time.
