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...helping support families and children since 1992
“What do you need to support you in raising your child with emotional/behavioral challenges?”
In 1991, Founding Director, Naomi Tannen, interviewed twenty four Essex County families regarding their search for services for their child. Subsequently, a parent planning committee was formed to answer the above question and in doing so, create an agency that is in direct response to the unique insights provided by parents. Families First:
- Is community based
- Is a not-for –profit organization
- Provides a full range of services designed to support families
- Serves families in Essex County, New York
We Believe
- All families have strengths that should be recognized and appreciated
- Services need to be flexible and designed to utilize families’ strengths and meet their needs
- Families who have a child with problems are not “dysfunctional”. They are “multi-stressed”.
- Parents and professionals need to work together as partners
- Parents have practical experience and insight to offer other parents and service providers
- Every creative effort should be made so that children can stay in their own homes and communities
Core Values
- Child-centered—services are planned to meet the individual needs of the child, rather than to fit the child into an existing service
- Family-focused—the family participates as a full partner in all stages of decision-making and service planning.
- Community-based--whenever possible, services are delivered in the child and family’s home community, drawing on formal and informal resources to promote the child’s successful participation in the community.
- Multi-system--services are planned in collaboration with all the child-serving systems involved in the child’s life.
- Culturally competent--services are provided that recognize and respect the ideas, values, and beliefs of particular groups of people.
- Least restrictive/least intrusive—Services take place in settings that are the most appropriate and natural for the child and family and that are the least restrictive possible.
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