Free To Grow
Mailman School
of Public Health
Columbia University
722 West 168th Street,
8th Floor
New York, NY 10032
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Families and Schools Together
Parent Education: General
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Developed by Lynn McDonald, Families and Schools Together (FAST) is a prevention program that targets preschool, elementary, and middle school youths, ages three to 14, who are at risk for alcohol and other drug abuse, school failure, and juvenile delinquency. The FAST process begins with the creation of culturally representative teams, consisting of parents and professionals from the local school, and two community-based agencies. The members of each team are trained to reach out to stressed, isolated, and often low-income families, and invite them to attend a multifamily group meeting. This meeting is followed by eight to 10 weekly sessions that focus on building relationships within the family (with the parent learning how to take and maintain control of his or her children), across families (with parents from the same school getting to know the parents of their child's classmates), and with school and community personnel. This effort aims to develop an environment in which youth and parents respect and value each other.
(Adapted from information on the Strengthening Families website, 2002, www.strengtheningfamilies.org, and used with the permissions of Strengthening America's Families Project—Effective Family Programs for the Prevention of Delinquency, and the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
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Evaluation
The FAST program has been shown to improve children's classroom and at-home behaviors, encourage family communication and intimacy, and minimize family conflict.
(Adapted from the Strengthening Families website, 2002, www.strengtheningfamilies.org, and used with the permissions of Strengthening America's Families Project—Effective Family Programs for the Prevention of Delinquency, and the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
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