Program Goals

The goals of Creating Lasting Family Connections® Fatherhood Program (CLFCFP) are:

• Promote involvement and engagement with family.
• Increase personal and family communication skills.
• Enhance personal and family conflict resolution skills.
• Increase emotional awareness and expression skills.
• Increase relationship management, commitment, and satisfaction.
• Increase positive parenting skills and healthy parental involvement and functioning, and reduce substance abuse, neglect, violence, and prison recidivism.
• Achieve family reintegration and reunification.
• Promote child well-being.

Logic Model

View the Logic Model for Creating Lasting Family Connections® Fatherhood Program: Family Reintegration (CLFCFP).

Essential Components

The essential components of Creating Lasting Family Connections® Fatherhood Program: Family Reintegration (CLFCFP) include:

• CLFCFP consists of 3 standard modules and one optional module
• Each of the 3 individual standard modules is 5–6 sessions with each one lasting from 2.0 to 2.5 hours depending on breaks and the possibility of including a meal
• The “Developing Positive Parental Influences” module includes the following content:
• Substance abuse and family dynamics
• Using personal, genetic, social, and lifestyle risk factors to create a personal family prevention plan
• An examination of intervention, referral, and treatment models
• Setting clear family standards for parents and children
• The “Raising Resilient Youth” module includes the following content:
• Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding family management practices (including developing and implementing healthy expectations and consequences)
• Communicating parental expectations effectively
• Growth needs of children at various ages
• Managing and communicating thoughts and feelings appropriately
• Giving and receiving feedback
• Assisting youth in making healthy choices
• The “Getting Real” Adult module includes highly interactive and coaching instruction and the following content:
• A focus on refusal skills
• Appropriate emotional expression
• Verbal and nonverbal communication
• Effective communication and negotiation
• Effective listening
• Communication within the family unit
• Establishing and maintaining healthy interpersonal relationships
• Promoting the skills of emotional intelligence
• The Optional “ABC 3 (D) Approach to HIV, Hepatitis, and Other Sexually Transmitted Diseases Prevention” module usually requires two or three additional sessions and includes the following content:
• An examination of the primary modes of transmission of HIV, hepatitis, and other sexually transmitted diseases
• Effective prevention measures to reduce or eliminate risk of infection
• Healthy sexual expression is recognized, discussed, and supported
• Appropriate Case Management and/or Referral Services should be provided by agency or individual offering the CLFCFP program:
• This requires a practical understanding of how a participating adult or youth might display the possible need for substance use and/or mental health screening or services and how to make an appropriate referral
• Trainers are expected to be familiar with local services and to develop a referral resource network

Program Delivery

Parent/Caregiver Services

Creating Lasting Family Connections® Fatherhood Program: Family Reintegration (CLFCFP) directly provides services to parents/caregivers and addresses the following:

• Experiencing physical and/or emotional separation due to substance abuse, military service, out-of-town work assignments, child welfare involvement (including out-of-home placements), prison reentry, discrimination or other forms of physical or emotional distance; low parenting skills, low involvement with children, low emotional awareness, low emotional expression, and/or problems in parent-child, couple, and generational relationships; parent/caregiver of youth at-risk for substance abuse possibly due to family history, personal or family trauma, lack of services, family disorganization, challenging community environment, and the following other known risk factors: parent of child with adverse childhood experiences, permissive parenting, low parent-child bonding, low parent-child involvement, parent-child conflict, inadequate supervision and monitoring, low parental warmth, lack of or consistent discipline, parental hostility, harsh discipline, low parental aspirations for child, child neglect, child abuse/maltreatment, substance use among parents (or siblings), and parental favorable attitudes toward alcohol and/or drugs

Services Involve Family/Support Structures:

This program involves the family or other support systems in the individual's treatment: The Creating Lasting Family Connections® Fatherhood Program: Family Reintegration (CLFCFP) may involve the family members (including children and extended family members) or other support systems in addition to the individual's involvement. Various family members of participants attending the CLFCFP may be invited to participate in case management services, and may also be referred for psychological assessments, counseling, family therapy or drug and alcohol treatment, other behaviorally, spiritually, or culturally specific services. Case management services, supports, and referrals can be provided for family members of the adult participating in the CLFCFP.

Recommended Intensity:

Participating adults typically attend 1 or 2 weekly 2-hour sessions for a maximum of 15–20 sessions. Participants may also attend case management services on an as needed basis.

Recommended Duration:

The program can be completed in as few as 8 weeks with two sessions per week, or in 15–20 weeks with one session per week. Further, once the agency is trained, the program can be incorporated into usual agency practice.

Delivery Settings

This program is typically conducted in a(n):

• Community Daily Living Setting
• Outpatient Clinic
• Community-based Agency / Organization / Provider
• Group or Residential Care
• Justice Setting (Juvenile Detention, Jail, Prison, Courtroom, etc.)
• Public Child Welfare Agency (Dept. of Social Services, etc.)
• School Setting (Including: Day Care, Day Treatment Programs, etc.)

Homework

Creating Lasting Family Connections® Fatherhood Program: Family Reintegration (CLFCFP) includes a homework component:

Occasional, optional homework including home/family skill practice suggestions are offered.

Languages

Creating Lasting Family Connections® Fatherhood Program: Family Reintegration (CLFCFP) has materials available in a language other than English:

Spanish

For information on which materials are available in this language, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed at the bottom of this page).

Resources Needed to Run Program

The typical resources for implementing the program are:

All CLFCFP training materials, two CLFCFP certified trainers, and a training room which meets published developer standards. Culturally relevant case management and referral services should be made available for participants, as needed.

Manuals and Training

Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications

There is no minimum education or experience requirement, but there is a strong preference for motivated, healthy, and caring adults with group facilitation experience and strong communication, public speaking, and parenting skills.

Manual Information

There is a manual that describes how to deliver this program.

Program Manual(s)

There are four trainer manuals and four associated participant notebooks for CLFCFP services.

Standard Manuals & Notebooks:

• Strader, T. N., & Noe, T. (1998). Creating Lasting Family Connections positive parental influences training manual. Resilient Futures Network, LLC.
• Strader, T. N., & Noe, T. (1998). Creating Lasting Family Connections developing positive parental influences participant notebook. Resilient Futures Network, LLC.
• Strader, T. N., & Noe, T. (1998). Creating Lasting Family Connections raising resilient youth training manual. Resilient Futures Network, LLC.
• Strader, T. N., & Noe, T. (1998). Creating Lasting Family Connections raising resilient youth participant notebook. Resilient Futures Network, LLC.
• Strader, T. N., Mann, W. C., & Noe, T. (1998). Creating Lasting Family Connections getting real training manual. Resilient Futures Network, LLC.
• Strader, T. N., Mann, W. C., & Noe, T. (1998). Creating Lasting Family Connections getting real participant notebook. Resilient Futures Network, LLC.

Optional Manual & Notebook:

• Strader, T. N. (2004). Creating Lasting Family Connections ABC 3(D) approach to HIV, hepatitis, and other sexually transmitted diseases prevention training manual. Resilient Futures Network, LLC.
• Strader, T. N. (2004). Creating Lasting Family Connections ABC 3(D) approach to HIV, hepatitis, and other sexually transmitted diseases prevention participant notebook. Resilient Futures Network, LLC.

In addition to the CLFC Fatherhood Program trainer manuals and participant notebooks listed above, the following two books are available from the CLFC Fatherhood Program developer.

• Strader, T. N. & Stuecker, R. (2012). Creating Lasting Family Connections®: Secrets to successful facilitation. Resilient Futures Network, LLC.
• Kokoski, C., Strader, T. N., & Strader, T. B. (2012). Creating Lasting Family Connections Fatherhood Program: Family Reintegration adaptation guidebook. Resilient Futures Network, LLC.

A variety of other free and purchasable resources are also available on the website.

All CLFCFP training materials (trainer manuals, participant notebooks, poster sets, and ancillary training-related materials, etc.) are available for purchase online at http://myresilientfuturesnetwork.com/ or by contacting the training contact listed below.

Training Information

There is training available for this program.

Training Contact:

• Teresa Boyd Strader, LCSW, CLFC National Training Director
  copes.org/clfc-certification-training
  teresastraderrfn@gmail.com
  phone: (502) 897-1111

Training Type/Location:

There is a national training and certification system for the Creating Lasting Family Connections® Fatherhood Program: Family Reintegration (CLFCFP).

CLFCFP Implementation Training is offered in 6- to 9-day versions (often divided into two or three 3-day training sessions). Nine days of training are recommended for most agencies and individuals wishing to implement CLFCFP. All versions of the CLFCFP Implementation Training are offered periodically at the COPES National Office in Louisville, Kentucky, and in various regional locations around the nation. Groups of five or more may also inquire about scheduling private or customized training sessions at their own site. Agencies can purchase onsite CLFCFP Implementation Training for up to 18 participating staff from the Resilient Futures Network (RFN) National Training Team at their local site.

Individuals can also schedule individual attendance at one of the local, regional, or national CLFCFP Implementation Trainings that occur at various times throughout the year.

Anyone receiving the CLFCFP Implementation Training course (or any Customized CLFCFP Implementation Training provided by COPES Inc. or RFN) will receive CLFCFP Implementation Trainer Certification and 10 hours of ongoing technical assistance by telephone with implementation issues. Each person earning this certification will receive a printed certificate acknowledging such status. Further, COPES and the Resilient Futures Network maintains a National Registry of Certified CLFCFP Implementation Trainers on file for reference purposes. This certification enables one to train participants in the CLFCFP. This training alone does not enable one to train other professionals to implement the CLFCFP with adults. This is not a “training of trainers” certification. For those who wish to train others to implement CLFCFP, there is a Master Trainer Certification available for those who qualify.

Information on implementation materials and support including preimplementation assessment, implementation support, fidelity measures, and cost can be obtained from the training contact above.

Number of days/hours:

The number of days/hours of the CLFCFP Implementation Training are the same for direct service providers and supervisors. Nine days of training are recommended for most agencies and individuals wishing to implement the CLFCFP. The 10 hours of implementation consultation and support are included as part of any training package.

Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research

Additional References