— Family Service Canada Announces a New Initiative to Reinforce Strength-based Approaches in Working with Families and Individuals in Need —

Family Service Canada is embarking on a major three-year project that has enormous promise and potential for the range and nature of services for families, children and individuals.

With the financial support of The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, Family Service Canada will explore a wide range of opportunities to introduce and/or reinforce strength-based approaches to family service. This initiative will explore the range of national and local activities that increase understanding and awareness of the benefits of strength-based approaches.

Word from the President and CEO "Strength-based approaches can profoundly affect the nature of our interventions. We know that the families we work with have serious concerns about their relationships and functioning and are experiencing genuine distress. Focusing on strengths does not deny their problems, rather it draws attention to and mobilizes their existing capacities to deal with those problems."   Maggie Fietz, President and CEO, Family Service Canada, 1999

A National Vision!
Family Service Canada's vision for the project is a national network of family serving organizations focusing on a family's strengths and resiliency from the earliest point of contact, through the process of identifying helpful interventions and including approaches to closure and follow-up.