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University of Nebraska Medical Center

Family Support

Smiling caregivers hugging their smiling child outdoors, Canva.

The goal of a family support evaluation is to improve the health and well-being of children and families of all cultural backgrounds.

Projects in this areas focus on evaluating engagement and support within families as well as preventing child abuse and neglect.

Key Components

The critical elements of family engagement and support evaluations include:

  • Qualitative analysis of the collaborative process.
  • Evaluation of a child’s social-emotional competence.
  • Evaluation of parent-child interaction.
    • Keys to Interactive Parenting Scale, a sample assessment tool that measures 12 key facets of parenting, can be used in partnership with families to promote parent-child relationships, promote learning and support confidence.
  • Evaluation of child and family protective factors.

Sample Projects

Current programs that promote family engagement and support include:

  • Nebraska Children and Families Foundation supports Nebraska children, young adults and families using a collective impact effort approach and a parent-child interaction strategy with emphasis on prevention, opportunity and collaboration.