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Staff and families work together in relationships based on equality and respect.
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Staff enhance families’ capacity to support the growth and development of all family members — adults, youth, and children.
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Families are resources to their own members, to other families, to programs, and to communities.
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Programs affirm and strengthen families’ cultural, racial, and linguistic identities and enhance their ability to function in a multicultural society.
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Programs are embedded in their communities and contribute to the community-building process.
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Programs advocate with families for services and systems that are fair, responsive, and accountable to the families served.
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Practitioners work with families to mobilize formal and informal resources to support family development.
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Programs are flexible and continually responsive to emerging family and community issues.
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Principles of family support are modeled in all program activities, including planning, governance, and administration.
From: Guidelines for Family Support Practice (1996) (Chicago: Family Support America.)