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Organization: Exchange Club CASTLE Program Name: Safe Families Funder: Children' s Services Advisory Committee RFP 92007043 involvement with the program ends. The family' s relationship with their counselor is a critical element to the success of the program. Over the course of the program, the counselor guides, supports, and teaches the parent to create a nurturing, healthy environment for their children. Best practices for home visiting programs include intensive services over a long period of time, a focus on parenting skills, frequent observation of the home situation, and frequent review of the family to determine the need for and intensity of the service." Safe Families incorporates all of these best practices . In addition, there is a wide body of research that supports home visiting as the method of choice to make changes in families at risk of abuse and neglect. Here are conclusions from six independent studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of the home-based model of preventing child abuse and neglect: "There is strong evidence to recommend home visitation to reduce child maltreatment"" "The positive effects of early home visitation re-emerge when the children reach age 8"x" "In Pinellas County Florida, parents enrolled in a home visiting program had abuse rates of 1 .6% as opposed to non-enrollees who had a rate of 4. 9%"Xii' "Home visiting programs that target high risk and/or low income mothers and children are effective and return from $6 ,000 to $ 17,200 per youthiX1° "Home visiting is an effective method to prevent the re- abuse of children"%° "Home visiting has demonstrated positive outcomes in the areas of parenting knowledge and attitudes, nutrition, preventative health, and unintentional injury. 4. List staffing needed for your program, including required experience and estimated hours per week in program for each staff member and/or volunteers (this section should conform to the Position Listing on the Budget Narrative Worksheet). Safe Families Program Manager — 91ars/wk. - MA/2yrs. supervisory experience in field. Safe Families Supervisor — 10 hrs ./wk. - BA/ lyr. supervisory exp. in field. Safe Families counselors (3 .0 FTE) — 40 hrs ./wk. - BA/2 years exp . in services to families. Parent Ed. Program. Mgr. 6 hrs ./wk. MA/2yrs . supervisory experience in field. Parent Ed. Facilitator — 5hrs ./ wk.2yrs. teaching exp. Secretary/Receptionist — (3 ) 7hrs . , 6 hrs. , and 15hrs. wk. I year secretarial experience. HR Specialist — 5 hrs./wk. BA — 2 years HR exp. Bookkeeper — 4 hrs ./wk. 2 yrs. Bkkpp. exp. Development/Comm. Relations — (3 ) 15 hrs./wk. 2 yrs . exp. Fundraising/Development. 5. How will the target population be made aware of the program? Families are made aware of the program through referrals from agencies, schools, parents, the Dept. of Children and Families, churches, the CASTLE web site, and United for Families . In addition, the CASTLE participates in local outreach/networking efforts including school events, health fairs, and community booths ; the CASTLE participates in National Child Abuse Prevention Month; and the CASTLE affiliates with many local businesses through fund raising. 6. How will the program be accessible to target population (i. e., location, transportation, hours of operation)? Families are visited in their homes, with no required visits to the CASTLE administrative offices . To enroll in the program, all a parent must do is call the office. An intake screening is done over the phone. If the family seems appropriate for Safe Families, a home visit is scheduled within the next 48 hours . Referrals from other sources are accepted by fax or by mail. CASTLE offices are open from 8 : 00am - 5 : 00pm. Home visits are scheduled weekdays, and weekday evenings . In addition, the CASTLE now has on-line registration for all programs. Services are provided in English, Spanish and Creole. 6