Family Support Network

Family Support Network is sponsored by Family Support Network. The Family Support Network's mission is to further the rights and capacity for self-determination for disabled Illinois residents and their families.

National Family Support Network | Championing Family Support iStock_000020440788_Small iStock_000012312958_Medium iStock_000020440788_Small ADVANCING A FUTURE WHERE FAMILIES FLOURISH ​The National Family Support Network advances a future where families flourish by strengthening and elevating Family Resource Centers and the networks that support them through connection, capacity-building, and evidence-informed practice.

​ Mission: The National Family Support Network elevates Family Resource Centers through connection and capacity-building. Vision: Every family has access to high-quality, community-rooted support. ​ ​ The National Family Support Network’s free Webinar Wednesdays series raises awareness of Family Resource Centers, Family Resource Center Networks, and the nationally-adopted Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening & Support.

​ ​ ​ NFSN Training offerings are designed as a pathway for strengthening quality Family Support and Strengthening practice. Each training can be taken individually and in any order, depending on a program’s unique needs, priorities, and goals.

The Standards of Quality Certification Training provides a shared foundation for quality practice, while Parent Voices Matter and Connect with Effect offer practical strategies for deepening parent leadership, outreach, engagement, and connection with families and communities. Parent Voices Matter: Cultivating Resilient Parent Advisory Committees How family voice becomes shared leadership.

Parent Voices Matter helps programs move from family engagement to authentic partnership, where families are not only participants, but co-creators and leaders.

Grounded in the nationally adopted Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening & Support and the Principles of Family Support Practice, this training equips participants with practical strategies and tools to launch, strengthen, and sustain effective Parent Advisory Committees.

Participants will explore how to elevate lived experience, support parent leadership, and build structures for shared decision-making and co-design that make programs more responsive, equitable, and grounded in the families they serve. September 15th & 16th, 2026 For more information and to register by September 11th, click here . November 9th & 10th, 2026 For more information and to register by November 6th, click here .

​ ​ For the full schedule of upcoming trainings, please click here. Connect with Effect: Outreach Training ​Outreach that builds trust, connection, and engagement. Connect with Effect helps programs move beyond traditional outreach to build authentic, trust-centered connections with families and communities.

Grounded in the nationally adopted Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening & Support and the Principles of Family Support Practice, this training equips participants with practical tools to strengthen outreach strategies, identify key community groups, and develop a customized outreach plan. Participants leave with a clearer path for showing up intentionally, building trust, and connecting with families in ways that matter.

​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ For more information and to register by September 18th, click here. For more information and to register by November 13th, click here. Standards of Quality Re-Cer tification Training Implementation Across the Continuum of Quality.

The Recertification Training is designed for individuals who have completed the Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening & Support Certification Training and are actively applying the Standards in their work.

Participants revisit the nationally adopted Standards of Quality for Family Strengthening & Support through reflection, discussion, and practical application, strengthening their ability to support consistent, high-quality, family-centered practice and continuous quality improvement. ​ For more information and to register by September 25th, click here . For more information and to register by November 27th, click here .

Virtual Standards of Quality Cer tification Training Strengthening quality practice through a shared national framework. The Certification Training details how the nationally-adopted S tandards of Quality for Family Strengthening & Support can enhance your work with families.

Whether you are program staff setting up a new program or strengthening an existing one, or a funder developing or monitoring programs, the Standards provide a blueprint for implementing best practice. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ October 13th & 14th, 2026 For more information and to register by October 6th, click here. December 15th & 16th, 2026 For more information and to register by December 8th, click here .

​ For the full schedule of upcoming trainings, please click here . ​ ​ ​ ​ Standards of Quality Training of Trainers Institutes The Institutes are scheduled for 7 partial days in order to be accessible to all U.S. time zones. NFSN Member Networks represen tatives can learn more, view requirements, and apply here .

​ ​ ​ ​ August 27th - 28th & 31st, September 1st - 3rd, 2026. December 4th & 7th - 11th, 2026. Deadline to apply is November 6th .

​ ​ * Please note that Training of Trainer Institutes must have a minimum of five participants in order to be held. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ A Landmark Resource for the Family Resource Center Field NFSN is proud to share the National Family Resource Center Model™, a new unified framework for high-quality, community-based Family Support.

This free resource represents an important milestone for the field, helping strengthen shared understanding, quality practice, prevention, and family-centered approaches across the country. We encourage you to access the Model and watch the launch webinar recording , and explore the related materials as we continue building momentum together for families, communities, and the growing national FRC movement.

NFSN at 15: Honoring Our Roots, Shaping Our Future This special edition of Webinar Wednesday celebrated a milestone moment in NFSN’s story: 15 years of connection, growth, and collective impact.

Together, we honored the people, partnerships, and shared commitment that have helped move Family Resource Centers from “America’s best-kept secret” toward growing national recognition as essential community infrastructure.

We encourage you to watch the recording and explore the webinar materials as we celebrate how far we’ve come and continue shaping what’s possible for families, communities, and the growing national FRC movement.

​ ​ New Resource: Mobile Family Resource Centers Learning Brief The NFSN has released a new National Learning Brief on Mobile Family Resource Centers (FRCs), highlighting key lessons, innovative models, and practical guidance for expanding family support.

Mobile FRCs bring trusted services directly into communities, including schools, libraries, and neighborhood spaces, helping reduce barriers, decrease stigma, and reach families who may not access traditional sites. Grounded in the Family Resource Center approach, these models extend prevention and early support into rural, tribal, agricultural, and culturally specific communities.

Drawing on insights from the 2025 Mobile FRC Learning Cohort and multi-state examples, the brief outlines strategies, partnerships, and sustainability pathways to support broader implementation. Growing Bipartisan Support for Family Resource Centers Family Resource Centers (FRCs) have now been formally recognized in both the House and Senate Appropriations Committee reports within the FY26 appropriations language.

Senate Report: The Committee recognizes that Family Resource Centers provide direct assistance to families through parenting support and education, navigation of care and social services, mental health counseling, early learning and afterschool activities, family financial planning, and job training. The Committee notes that preliminary data shows promise in this area, with a 63 percent reduction in child abuse cases and a $4.

93 return for every tax dollar invested, according to current research. The Committee supports States that choose to use a portion of their SSBG funding to support services and programs at school and community-based Family Resource Centers to strengthen families through a localized, family-centered approach. ( pg.

213 )​ House Report: Family Resource Centers. —The Committee recognizes that Family Resource Centers provide direct assistance to families through parenting support and education, navigation of care and social services, mental health counseling, early learning and afterschool activities, family financial planning, and job training.

The Committee supports States’ investments in Family Resource Center services and programs at school and community-based Family Resource Centers to strengthen families through a localized, family-centered approach. The Committee encourages HHS to evaluate how States are utilizing Federal funds to support FRC activities and to measure the outcomes of such investments. ( pg.

173 ) Historic Federal Recognition for Family Resource Centers The NFSN helped author the first-ever federal definition of Family Resource Centers, included in the December 2024 Continuing Resolution signed into law. This landmark legislation expands flexible funding, strengthens kinship supports, and makes it easier for states and tribes to invest in FRCs as vital hubs for prevention and family strengthening.

Federal Definition ( link, page 583 ) : A Family Resource Center is “a community or school-based hub of support services for families that (i) utilizes an approach that is multi-generational, strengths-based, and family-centered; (ii) reflects, and is responsive to, community needs and interests; (iii) provides support at no or low cost for participants; and (iv) builds communities of peer support for families, including kinship families, to develop social connections that reduce isolation and stress.

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