Through our evaluation over the last eight years, we have observed that Family Strengthening Network (FSN) has a unique approach to family advocacy and service delivery which has resulted in positive changes among families. In an effort to evaluate this, we created a comprehensive survey to measure the relationship between family advocates and the families they serve, and how this relationship is related to families’ outcomes. We also interviewed family advocates that work for FSN to better contextualize the quantitative findings. Results indicated that families served by FSN reported high levels of relationship quality with their family advocate, high levels of perceived social support, and high levels of interpersonal mattering. As a whole, people who work with family advocates have significantly positive outcomes that may be attributed to the efficacy and strength of the relationship they have with their family advocate. Interviews with family advocates provide context on the process through which the strength of the relationship between advocates and the families is built and fostered. This data sheds light on the effectiveness of FSN’s implementation of the WFA in this context and better details the ways that families engage with collaboratives as a result of the WFA. For example, results show that trust is built with the families through a variety of means, one of which is the family advocate engaging the whole family whenever possible.
Family Advocate Satisfaction
CONCLUSION
This evaluation sought to determine the efficacy of the Family Strengthening Network’s family advocacy model, and to understand the relationship between the family advocates and the families they serve. The findings show that families who work with family advocates make significant progress in many goal areas, including but not limited to, financial stability, whole family engagement, and mental and emotional well-being. In an effort to unpack the efficacy of the family advocacy model, we surveyed families served by FSN in three areas: relationship quality, perceived social support, and interpersonal mattering. Our findings indicate that families served by FSN reported high levels of relationship quality with their family advocate, high levels of perceived social support, and high levels of interpersonal mattering. As a whole, people who work with family advocates have significantly positive outcomes that may be attributed to the efficacy and strength of the relationship they have with their family advocate. For example, Individuals who had a higher/better FAT score for mental health also indicated having a family advocate that meets their needs, also, individuals that indicated higher scores on the mattering scale (“I feel important to other people”; “How much do people pay attention to me”) also indicated a higher score in perceived social support (“There is a special person who is around when I am in need”, “There is a special person with whom I can share my joys and sorrows”).