Family Strengthening for Families & Communities

The family is “the fundamental group of society and the natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children” (United Nations, 1989). Family strengthening (FS) services focus on preventing child-family separation and addressing its underlying causes to ensure that children’s and young people’s rights are fully realised within their family of origin.

Family strengthening services consist of two approaches: direct family empowerment (DFE) and community empowerment for family empowerment (CFE). Both approaches are based on working towards the shared aim of family empowerment, and building inclusive and equal partnerships with local stakeholders, including public authorities, to ensure locally relevant and coordinated service delivery.

Care reform and family strengthening are interconnected approaches to child welfare. Care reform focuses on transforming institutional care systems by reducing reliance on orphanages and residential facilities, while family strengthening aims to prevent family separation and support vulnerable families.

The key link is that effective care reform requires robust family strengthening as its foundation. When families receive adequate support—through economic assistance, parenting programmes, mental health services, and community resources—children can remain safely at home rather than entering care systems. This prevents unnecessary institutionalization.

The workshops are:

• Family Strengthening to Empower Families (Coming Later in 2026)
• Family Strengthening to Empower Communities (Now Available)

Both workshop will be available fully online, delivered in a series of 90-minute sessions and fully customisable to the needs of the organisation.

Now Available: COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT FOR FAMILY EMPOWERMENT

This workshop focuses on community development and empowerment as a strategy to empower families whereby practitioners mainly engage with community-based structures and resources. Community Empowerment aims to prevent child-family separation by strengthening the capacity of caregivers to provide quality care, and building partnerships with stakeholders to ensure locally relevant and coordinated service delivery.

Who will benefit from this workshop:

• Social auxiliary workers in the role of Family Strengthening workers, who engage with key implementation partners and stakeholders and focus on strengthening community structures and resources for families
• Social workers who supervise Family Strengthening workers
• Community development workers in the role of Family Strengthening practitioners
• Child and youth care workers working with families and community structures aimed at strengthening families and preventing child-family separation (not CPD approved)
• Volunteers working with families and community structures aimed at strengthening families and preventing child-family separation

About the workshop

• This workshop consists of a series of 13 workshop sessions of 90 minutes each of the course of 2 weeks. All of the sessions must be attended to qualify for CPD points.
• The workshop is approved by SACSSP for 16 CPD points for social workers and social auxiliary workers.
• Full workshop notes are included in the workshop.
• The workshop follows a flipped classroom approach. Content in the form of a manual is provided to participants ahead of the workshop, which contains self-study material and reflective exercises that must be completed before each session – ensuring that workshop sessions can focus on integration of the content and implementation in practice. Workshop sessions therefore do not necessarily repeat the content, and this workshop series is best suited for adult learners who are serious about their professional development.

Overview of the Workshop Programme

(This workshop has been postponed and new dates will be available soon)

Date & Time	Topic	Content
Session 1: Tuesday, 7 April 8h30 – 10h00	Introduction to a Modern Learning & Development Approach	Welcome & introductions Introduction to the learning approach adopted in this workshop Expectations Use of pre-session preparation and post-session reflective exercises
Session 2: Tuesday, 7 April 10h30 – 12h00	Relational Practice	Introduction to a Relational Practice Perspective Empathy & Intentionality Diversity & Culture
Session 3: Wednesday, 8 April 8h30 – 10h00	Assessing Community Capacity	Understanding community capacity assessment A framework for capacity assessment Methods and tools Steps to follow Documenting assessment
Session 4: Wednesday, 8 April 10h30 – 12h00	Identifying Key Implementation Partners	How to identify key implementation partners Understanding the community context Selection of partners Engaging partners to support families
Session 5: Thursday, 9 April 8h30 – 10h00	Capacitating Key Implementation Partners	The strategic importance of capacity building Capacity building with formal and informal structures A collaborated and graduated approach
Session 6: Thursday, 9 April 10h30 – 12h00	Strengthening Networks and Partnerships	The role of family strengthening in network development Strategies for building and strengthening networks Linking networks to services and infrastructure
Session 7: Monday, 13 April 8h30 – 10h00	Advocating for Services and Resources	A strategic context for advocacy Strategies and activities Principles of effective advocacy
Session 8: Monday, 13 April 10h30 – 12h00	Raising Community Awareness	Understanding the root causes of child-family separation The gendered dimensions of child-family separation Building community capacity to respond Methods of raising community awareness
Session 9: Tuesday, 14 April 8h30 – 10h00	Facilitating & Participating in Meetings	Preparing for maximum impact in meetings Managing dynamics in meetings
Session 10: Tuesday, 14 April 10h30 – 12h00	Facilitating Groups	The purpose of functions of groups Facilitation skills Preparation and documentation
Session 11: Wednesday, 15 April 8h30 – 10h00	Facilitating Workshops	Topics for caregiver strengthening Building community capacity for facilitation Supporting child and adolescent development
Session 12: Wednesday, 15 April 10h30 – 12h00	Promoting a Case Management Approach	Core principles of case management in family strengthening Multidisciplinary collaboration The case management process Varying roles and ensuring quality
Session 13: Thursday, 16 April 8h30 – 10h00	Consolidating Learning	Review of contents and reflective exercises Addressing outstanding issues Case study Evaluation

Comprehensive workshop notes are provided:

An international Community of Practice is being established where practitioners can join regular virtual sessions to discuss implementation and challenges, network with other practitioners and create synergy for fresh new ideas.

For more information or early bookings, contact werner@changeworks.co.za

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