Every child deserves to grow and thrive free from abuse and neglect.

Child abuse can be prevented when every adult watches out for every child. PFSA educates, informs and leads communities to action to protect children from abuse and neglect. Join us in keeping PA's kids safe! No matter where your life takes you, you have a role to play in preventing child abuse.
27September1:00PM

Mandated Reporter Training - Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse - Dauphin County

Harrisburg

29September9:00AM

Mandated Reporter Training - Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse - Lebanon County

Lebanon

02October1:00PM

Mandated Reporter Training - Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse - Jefferson County

Brookville

03October9:30AM

"Recovering Families" Instructor Training

Harrisburg

02November9:30AM

ACT Raising Safe Kids Facilitator Training

Harrisburg

03November9:30AM

ACT Raising Safe Kids Facilitator Training

Harrisburg

29November9:30AM

"Recovering Families" Instructor Training

New Kensington

Children of Incarcerated Parents: Training for Staff and Volunteers

Tuesday, December 5, 2017 – Philadelphia

This training will explore a framework for responding to the needs of children and families of the incarcerated in systems and community programs based on a combination of research findings and best practice recommendations.  It will provide participants with an overview of data and demographics; examine what is known about the impact of parental incarceration on children including the effects of trauma and toxic stress on brain development. The training also provides a national perspective on promising practices for responding to the needs of these children and families and provide guidance on creating environments within communities that promote resilience, minimize stigma and provide cost effective services. Participants will also have opportunities to engage in small group discussions to apply suggested best practices to their work.

The presenter for the program is Ann Adalist-Estrin. Ann is Director of the National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated at Rutgers University, Camden New Jersey, where she also teaches in the department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice. Under Ann’s leadership, NRCCFI has provided training and consultation to government and non-government agencies and community programs in 48 states. She consulted to Sesame Street’s “Little Children, Big Challenges Campaign; Connecticut’s Children of Incarcerated Parents Initiative; OJJDP Youth Violence Prevention Forum Multi Discipline Trainings on Children of Incarcerated Parents, and many others.

Supporting Parents in Recovery

For parents recovering from Substance Use Disorder (SUD), PFSA offers a resource for use in treatment programs, family support programs or individual counseling sessions. “Recovering Families” is designed to help parents in recovery balance the demands of both recovery and children, and offer suggestions on how to be a better parent in recovery.  Topics include: talking with children about substance use and recovery; balancing recovery and parenting; identifying feelings and healthy behavior; tips for parenting in recovery; working with the child welfare system, and using the twelve steps in parenting.

We also collaborate on programs for children and family members of those with SUD, such as our Forum for Families: Coping After the Overdose Death of a Parent or Child. This program will be held on September 20 in the Harrisburg area. More dates will be scheduled in the future.

Taking Hexagons on the Road

This past April we started Working Together to Prevent Child Abuse, an initiative to involve more PA citizens in Child Abuse Prevention Month. The program invited anyone who cares about kids – that’s everybody! – to create a hexagon depicting their view of child abuse prevention and communities that care about kids. We received over 150 hexagons made by children, adults, families – anyone who cares about kids – from seven counties. A display of Working Together hexagons is being featured as part of the 2017 Interdependence Hexagon Exhibit XI in Scranton. The exhibit begins on September 1 and runs through September 29, 2017. We’re looking forward to a bigger, better Working Together next April!

On-Site/In-Person Mandated Reporter Training is Now Available in Spanish!

PFSA is proud to be the first entity in Pennsylvania to have qualified bilingual trainers who can provide on-site/in-person mandated reporter training in Spanish!

Residents of Hispanic descent are the fastest-growing ethnic population in Pennsylvania. It is vitally important to offer training in recognizing and reporting child abuse in both English and Spanish to help ensure that suspected abuse is reported accurately and in a timely and effective manner.

Request On-Site Training in Spanish

Mandated Reporter Training

For more than 20 years Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance (PFSA) has provided the most comprehensive training on recognizing and reporting suspected child abuse and neglect to mandated reporters in Pennsylvania.

Our in-person training is conducted across Pennsylvania by experts in the field of child welfare, many of whom have decades of experience in responding to reports of child abuse, investigating reports and providing services to families. 

Request a free in-person training today by calling PFSA at 800-448-4906 or submitting your request online.

Request On-Site Training

PFSA selected as Primary Partner in Child Maltreatment Initiative in Luzerne County

PA Family Support Alliance is proud to provide services in Luzerne County as part of the successful grant award to The United Way of the Wyoming Valley (UWWV) from the Moses Taylor Foundation.  The United Way of Wyoming Valley is focused on supporting primary and secondary strategies aimed at preventing and reducing child maltreatment in the Wyoming Valley.  To that end, PFSA joins efforts with other well-respected organizations - Maternal and Family Health Services (MFHS) and Catholic Social Services (CSS) - to tackle this growing societal health concern. While MFHS and CSS focus on providing in home services through the Nurse Family Partnership program and parenting education programs and in-home visitation, PFSA will focus on services for professionals, volunteers and community members for the better protection of the children who live, learn and play in Luzerne County.

PFSA will provide training on child abuse recognition and reporting for professionals and volunteers who work with children in Luzerne County and will offer The Front Porch Program, a community based training initiative designed to help citizens concerned about the safety of children play a positive role in their protection. Bill Jones, CEO of the United Way of Wyoming Valley says, “When we researched organizations to work with I heard over and over again that PFSA was simply the best.  We have been very impressed and are anxious to begin.”  Training sessions for mandated reporters of child abuse are scheduled for September at UWWY offices.  Program services will span two years and will include a PA Blue Ribbon Campaign for Safe Kids next spring.  

Stay tuned - more good news to come!

September is National Recovery Month

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