Family Outcomes
Children are far more likely to thrive if they begin their lives with the benefit of responsive, capable parents and stable, supportive families. Unsurprisingly, the greatest threats to children's healthy development in the first three years also undermine parents' ability to act as effective caregivers, educators and providers for their households. This is why Sixpence invests in community partnerships that not only address the immediate developmental needs of infants and toddlers, but help parents grow cohesive, resilient families.
During the 2018-19 year, Sixpence proved effective in helping parents maintain or grow family protective factors that directly influence children's developmental outcomes in the first three years of life. These are:
- Nurturing and Attachment: The quality of emotional ties and patters of positive interaction between parents and their youngest children.
- Child Development Knowledge: Parents' understanding of, and ability to address the specific developmental needs of infants and toddlers.
- Social Supports The family's connectedness to informal networks of emotional support from extended family, friends, and neighbors.
- Concrete Supports The family's degree of access to material resources and services within the community that can mitigate the effects of a crisis or intensified need.
- Family Resiliency: The family's ability to constructively and openly adapt to crisis situations, demonstrate perseverance, cohesion, and resourcefulness to manage or resolve serious problems.
