What are the Protective Factors?

Protective factors strengthen families by improving positive outcomes for children and families. Nurturing Daily is the recipe for healthy families. Families who are strong in these areas, reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect.

Since the pandemic, many parents like you are feeling overwhelmed. Not only are families dealing with the difficult task of deciding how to best protect their families from the public health risk, they also have to play the role as surrogate teachers, mentors, coaches, and more. More than ever, parents are spending more time with their children, providing an opportunity for parents to strengthen their relationship with their children, building the foundational components necessary for children to succeed and thrive, especially well into adulthood. However, it is also important to recognize with the increased role parents and families have had to take on, it is critical now to ensure parents and families have the necessary support they need as well.

Five Protective Factors that Strengthen Families

Evidence shows that babies and young children who receive affection and are nurtured daily by their parents increase the health and well-being of children and their families. Research demonstrates that building five protective factors can ensure children and youth are successful at home, in school, at work, and in the community, now and as they become adults. These protective factors help parents find resources, receive necessary support, and develop coping strategies that will allow them to become better parents, even when they feel stressed or have a lot of external factors weighing on them. The goal is to form an intentional way to interact positively based on developing new skills. We welcome you, parents, families, and service providers, to explore the resources and tools on this website.

Click on the buttons below, to view articles for each protective factor for families.

Parental Resilience

How to be strong and flexible. How do you bounce back from difficulty as a parent? This triangle symbolizes Parental Resilience as a mountain of strength, while building smaller mountains of strength inside. To learn more, click here.

Social Support

Parents need friends and community who support them. Do you have people to support you when things get rough? This Hawaiian petroglyph symbolizes parents getting the social support that they need to become strong parents. To learn more, click here.

Understanding Child Development

Parents need to know how children grow. Being a great parent is part natural and part learned. What is the next big thing your child needs to learn and how are you going to be a part of it? This kalo plant represents understanding how our children grow and how to support them. To learn more, click here.

Concrete Support

We all need help sometimes. What are the hardest things about finding help, and what have you learned to make it easier? This house symbolizes the basic necessities we need as a family, like food, shelter, and childcare. To learn more, click here.

Social-Emotional Competence of Children

Parents need to help their children interact and communicate well. Can your child share their feelings? This happy and sad emoji symbolizes helping our children name their feelings. To learn more, click here.

Everyone Experiences Stress

Keeping your family strong – Every family experiences stress, and the Child Welfare Information Gateway has compiled some resources to help parents weather the stress so they can remain strong when things get tough.

The Five Strengths for Healthy, Happy Families

Strengthen Your Family in Five Ways. All families benefit when they have these five strengths. Learn more about them and explore ways to build the strengths for your family.

Five Protective Factors for Service Providers

Click on the buttons below, to view articles for each protective factors for service providers. These articles are intended for those who work with children and families.

Everyone Experiences Stress

Keeping your family strong – Every family experiences stress, and the Child Welfare Information Gateway has compiled some resources to help parents weather the stress so they can remain strong when things get tough.

CSSP: Protective Factors Action Sheets

Action sheets to help strengthen families by promoting the five protective factors for your clients and families.

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