Strengthening Families Program (SFP)
The Strengthening Families Program (SFP) is a nationally and internationally recognized parenting and family strengthening program for high-risk families. SFP is an evidence-based family skills training program found to significantly reduce problem behaviors, delinquency, and alcohol and drug abuse in children and to improve social competencies and school performance. Child maltreatment also decreases as parents strengthen bonds with their children and learn more effective parenting skills.
SFP was developed and found effective
>> on a
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) research grant in the early 1980s. More than 15 subsequent independent replications have found similar positive results with families in many different ethnic groups. Both culturally adapted versions and the core version of SFP have been found effective with African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, and First Nations families.
The original SFP
>> for high-risk families with children ages 6 to 11 years (SFP6-11) was joined in the early 1990’s by a shorter 7-session version for low-risk families with pre- and early teens (SFP10-14). SFP6-11 has now been joined by 14-session versions for high-risk families with both younger children (SFP3-5) and early teens (SFP12-16).
In the more than two decades since its development,
>> SFP has been reviewed by researchers and rated as an exemplary, evidence-based program. It has been approved for implementation with federal and state funds.
SFP sessions include
>> all the critical core components of effective evidence-based parenting programs (CDC, 2008) including: parent and child practice time in the family sessions learning positive interactions, communication, and effective discipline.
The parenting sessions
>> review appropriate developmental expectations, teach parents to interact positively with children (such as showing enthusiasm and attention for good behavior and letting the child take the lead in play activities, increasing attention and praise for positive children’s behaviors, positive family communication including active listening and reducing criticism and sarcasm, family meetings to improve order and organization, and effective and consistent discipline including consequences and time-outs.
The children’s skills
>> training content includes communication skills to improve parents, peers, and teacher relationships, hopes and dreams, resilience skills, problems solving, peer resistance, feeling identification, anger management and coping skills.
The family practice sessions
>> allow the parents and children time to practice what they learned in their individual sessions in experiential exercises. This is also a time for the four group leaders to coach and encourage family members for improvements in parent/child interactions. The major skills to learn are: Child’s Game similar to therapeutic child play where the parent allows the child to determine the play or recreation activity, Family Meetings and effective communication exercises, and Parent Game or effective discipline. Home practice assignments improve generalization of new behaviors at home.