For years, community and state services have been fragmented, problem-specific, crisis-driven and focused on "rescuing or fixing" families in trouble. From now on, New York state staff who work with families -- including those in New York City -- can use an approach developed by researchers at Cornell University that helps families develop their own capacity to solve problems and achieve long-lasting self-reliance.

New York has chosen this family-focused and strengths-based approach to train front-line workers; it was developed by the Cornell Empowering Families Project in collaboration with the New York State Community Action Network, Cornell Cooperative Extension and 15 family-serving state agencies. Workers who receive the voluntary training, demonstrate their competence and pass an exam may earn the New York State Family Development Credential.

"The state has made a commitment to reorient its health, education and human service systems toward a family support and empowerment approach that we've been working on since 1978," said Christiana Dean, director of the Cornell Empowering Families Project in the New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell and author of the 321-page curriculum, Empowerment Skills for Family Workers: A Worker Handbook, that will be used to train workers.

The curriculum recognizes and builds on the strengths and resources of families and communities, Dean said. As case workers, home visitors, parent-aides, child care workers, nutrition paraprofessionals, budget counselors, community health paraprofessionals, youth workers and other individuals who work with families get trained in this highly effective approach, families will receive services that have the same orientation: one that systematically focuses on helping them use their strengths and reach their own goals.

"Within each person lies a bone-deep longing for freedom, self-respect, hope and the chance to make an important contribution to one's family, community and the world," Dean writes at the beginning of her handbook. "Without healthy outlets for this powerful, natural longing, the desire for freedom turns into lawlessness, and the need for self-respect is expressed in aggression and violence. Without avenues to make important contributions to family, community and the world, hopelessness translates into dependency, depression, violence, substance abuse and other forms of self-abuse.

"No government program can help families become self-reliant, contributing members of their communities unless it is built on a recognition of the power of this bone-deep longing for freedom, self-respect, hope and the chance to make an important contribution," Dean adds.

Dean believes this new curriculum, which reflects the input from 33 focus groups and more than 200 professionals in state agencies, will provide a major step toward providing the types of government programs that will help families become independent of government assistance.

The first training was conducted at Cornell in July by Dean and Betsy Crane, senior trainer/collaboration manager of the recently established Family Development Credential Training Institute at Cornell, and co-author with Dean of The Trainer's Manual. They trained 45 trainers who, in turn, will be offering FDC training during the coming year on Long Island, in Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Norwich, Albany, Plattsburgh, Watertown, Syracuse, Auburn, Owego, Corning, Ithaca, Rochester, Geneva, Dunkirk, all five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Oneonta, Canton, Batavia, Salamanca, Ellicottville, Aurora and Buffalo.

"The training allows New York to offer paraprofessionals who work with families a systematic and sequential training as well as a reliable recognition of skills and competencies needed to work effectively with families. The credential also provides an important career pathway or avenue into college for workers who ordinarily have little or no formal training or higher education," Dean said, noting that workers may receive college credit for the training.

The family development approach involves developing a partnership with families to set their own goals. The family development worker helps the family develop a written plan to accomplish those goals and help in practicing the skills needed for self-reliance. Using services as stepping stones to reach their goals, families are strengthened by their sense of responsible self-control and become better equipped to handle future challenges.

The curriculum is based on 10 teaching modules: building a better understanding of the family development model; empowerment skills for workers; building respectful relationships with families; communicating clearly, respectfully and empathetically; becoming more culturally sensitive and competent; conducting assessments and setting goals; conducting home visits; helping families access specialized services; conducting family conferences, support groups and community meetings; and collaborating effectively with families.

The worker handbook and training manual were funded by the New York State Department of State, Division of Community Services. Funding for the Family Development Credential Training Institute was provided by the Community Services Block Grant Funds allocated to New York State by the U.S. Deptartment of Health and Human Services.

Empowerment Skills for Family Workers: A Worker Handbook and Empowerment Skills for Family Workers: A Trainer's Manual can each be purchased for $32 postpaid from the Cornell University Resource Center, 7BTP, Ithaca, NY 14850. Phone, (607) 255-2080 or fax, (607) 255-9946.