Agency Details:

Child and Family Resource Council

For the past 20 years, the Child and Family Resource Council has worked from the belief that every child should grow up in a loving, nurturing, and safe environment. Although we have made significant strides toward creating such environments, we still have more work to do: Department of Human Services received 9,664 reports of suspected child abuse and neglect in 2004.

The Child and Family Resource Council has a simple and ambitious mission: to shape a community that protects children from abuse and neglect. We use advocacy, coordination, and education to achieve that mission using the following programs and services, all of which are offered free of charge to families.

Description:
~Community Education services provide trainings throughout Kent County on subjects such as Mandated Reporting, Parenting Education, the Right Question Project, and Shaken Baby Syndrome Prevention.

~Connections; a program that helps parents of children ages four months to five years track their child's development and identify potential developmental delays. Parents also receive information and age appropriate activities to encourage healthy development and are linked to any additional resources that may be needed.

~Encouraging Family Foundations offers parenting and life skill classes to unmarried parents of an infant. The Council coordinates this collaborative effort-comprised of 10 formal and dozens of indirect partners- that provides sessions covering topics like Balancing Family and Work, Financial Management, and Improving Parenting Skills.

~Family Resource Guide is a comprehensive, easy-to-use directory of over 900 programs, services, and resources available to children and families living in Kent County.

~Kent County Healthy Start is available to all first-time parents in Kent County, helping them access the information and resources they need to help ease some of the stress that comes with parenting. A network of paraprofessionals and trained volunteers provides family support through educational materials, home visits, phone calls, and playgroups.

~RAVE (Resources Against Violent Encounters) uses peer dramas and in-school demonstrations to model healthy relationships for middle and high school students. By facilitating change through advocacy, awareness, and prevention education, RAVE provides pathways for safe and healthy relationships.

Contact person: Tammy Klepper, Volunteer Coordinator, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: 616-454-2059

Address:

678 Front Ave NW Ste 210 Grand Rapids, MI, MI 49504 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.childresource.cc

Last updated on August 18, 2009