Family Center

The Greene County Family Center has the objective is to preserve the unity of the family by establishing clear objectives or milestones through partnering with the parents or caregivers of the children. Offering activities, education, literature, and hand-outs that promote family well-being and involvement. 

To assist in providing for the care, protection, safety, and wholesome expansion of mental, emotional, and physical development of the household members through the facilitation of an evidence-based curriculum. Offering engaging activities, reflection, handouts, and parent-child interaction opportunities. Parent Educators and Family Center staff have a commitment to improving circumstances and obtaining quality improvement for the families.

To promote independence and self-reliance for families by eliminating the need for expensive, laboring external community resource usage. Consistent with the protection of the public interest, eliminating the need and preventing the family from dependency on remaining resources. Offering assistance and independence for the participants by connecting and navigating them through the use of supplemental or required services and support. Parent Educators and Family Center staff make informed decisions with their roles, ethics, and boundaries in mind.

To establish balance and stability within the home by promoting accountability and commitment to family well-being. Working on the development of competencies to enable parents or caregivers to become responsible and productive members of the community. Offering not only school readiness for the household member children, but also, providing their parents the opportunity to participate in their development.  Showing the parents, the importance of appropriate engagement, in an effort to obtain a favorable educational outcome. Parent Educators and Family Center staff practice skill development and self-care for every involved participant with each interaction.

To provide every family with the opportunity to achieve: education and employment, basic essentials, recreation and enhancement, relationships with family and friends, early care, mental health, wellness, and physical health. Offering community mapping, building relationships within resource networks, and directory Parent Educators and Family Center staff improve quality standards through partnering, facilitating, and reflecting to build appropriate working relationships between professionals and the family.

To create awareness on the importance of strengthening families and the overall impact on the brain development of children. To help parents or caregivers understand the importance of meaningful interactions between them and their children. Offering information on a wide array of topics such as developed-centered parenting skills and family well-being. Parent Educators and Family Center staff Implement enrichment and quality of life improvement opportunities with participation in community events, group connections, presentations, parent café, family activities, and ongoing valuable groups.

To achieve integrity in the family unit by encouraging strong ties to external resources and support. Prioritizing appropriate responses to household parental stressors by working with the family on modeling, preparation, and partaking in deeper, reflective conversations. Offering a safe space to interact and participate by working within the family’s home environment. Parent Educators and Family Center staff focus on meeting families where they are, doing what they can to provide direction, and reaching measurable and favorable outcomes.

Parents as Teachers 

At the Greene County Family Center (GCFC), in harmonious partnership with the Supportive and Effective Family Education (SAFE) program, we are unwaveringly committed to upholding the Parents as Teachers (PAT) evidence-based model. This steadfast dedication has been our guiding principle for three decades. Notably, the GCFC has diligently pursued and achieved Blue-Ribbon status, attesting to our unwavering fidelity to the PAT model and its essential standards. Through personalized home visits, enriching group interactions, valuable resource networks, and comprehensive child screenings, our commitment extends seamlessly to vibrant community engagements.

Our ultimate goal revolves around empowering parents to comprehend and embody the profound role they play as their child's first and most vital educator. Through dedication, diligence, and interventions, we can make that happen.

Spanning from expectant caregivers (prenatal/pregnant/in-utero) to families with children through kindergarten age, this program champions home-based services. Our unwavering focus rests on early detection of developmental and health milestones, cultivating school readiness, and equipping parents with comprehensive knowledge about their child's growth and effective parenting techniques. Visits, occurring twice a month and lasting approximately one hour, seamlessly integrate the PAT evidence-based model, both in the home environment and through engaging playgroups across the county.

The Greene County Family Center offers both in-person and virtual interactions, when needed. The Greene County Family Center's profound impact persevered, enhancing developmental and health outcomes for countless county families and their children.

Central to our approach is the empowerment of families and the mitigation of socioeconomic household challenges, with an emphasis on proactive measures and the alleviation of parental and child stressors. Our Parent Educators have masterfully elevated county resource referrals, dismantling barriers and opening doors to vital services throughout Greene County. This seamless transition promotes an environment of comfort and confidence.

The transformative influence of the Parents as Teachers program reverberates through vibrant group connections, fostering robust social bonds among families. With regularly scheduled playgroups in two county locations, these interactions cultivate literacy, social acumen, and collaborative problem-solving skills, offering a strong foundation for pre-school children as they prepare for kindergarten.

Central to our mission is the cultivation of school readiness, and the GCFC's unyielding commitment to both the PATS and SAFE programs has manifested in a remarkable increase in family unit cohesion and healthier parent-child relationships. Evidently, the number of Greene County children placed or adjudicated as dependents has significantly diminished, a testament to our partnership with the Greene County Children and Youth Agency.

Our knowledgeable Parent Educators employ a comprehensive array of milestone assessments to deftly navigate household stressors, facilitate vital connections to resources and providers, and offer the essential assistance you seek. Employing a robust toolkit encompassing Depression Screening, Parent-Child Interaction, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Screening, Developmental Screenings (such as Ages and Stages), Substance Abuse, lactation consulting, and vision/hearing screenings, we are dedicated to your holistic well-being.

At the Greene County Family Center, we stand as a beacon of unwavering support, empowering families and their precious children through every developmental milestone.

S.A.F.E. Parenting

S.A.F.E. Parenting is a program designed to help parents who struggle with substance use. The goal of SAFE is to support these parents in keeping their families together or reuniting them as soon as possible if they've been separated. Participation in this program is voluntary and is intended for parents who are currently dealing with addiction or have had addiction issues in the past.

The program involves group sessions and in-home visits for families. These visits use five proven evidence-based approaches to parenting: Nurturing Parenting, Parents as Teachers, Making Parenting a Pleasure, BrainWise, and SMART ^Recovery. The specific approach used is chosen based on the ages of the children and the family's needs.

S.A.F.E. often gets referrals from the legal system or the CCYA, but people can also refer themselves. Additionally, S.A.F.E. works with the Greene County Jail to provide classes that help inmates reintegrate into their communities after release. The Families in Recovery Curriculum is especially designed for participants who have faced the challenges of recovery and stigma.

SAFE Specialists collaborate with individuals on their CCYA Services Plans and SAFE Goals, which they create together. Through weekly visits, the program aims to prevent crises within families, reduce the likelihood of Child and Youth Services (CYS) involvement, and help families make better decisions.

The program starts with a 7-week group course led by SAFE Specialists. These sessions, lasting about an hour and a half, focus on addressing the various challenges that parents in recovery commonly face. This includes identifying strengths, needs, and resiliencies; finding a healthy balance between parenting and recovery; improving communication; and learning effective coping skills.

As families make progress and their involvement with CCYA decreases, the frequency of visits from SAFE may also decrease. Visits could change from weekly to bi-weekly and potentially even monthly in the future. Families can choose to continue with the SAFE program for ongoing support if they have concerns about relapse or other needs.