Family Development Certification Training

Family Development is an intense case-management program that establishes a framework to work holistically with those seeking comprehensive services at Community Action agencies. The program encourages work with the entire family with the result leading them to self-sufficiency.

The Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies (OACAA) provides certification to Community Action Professionals across the state to become Family Development Specialists (FDS) and Trainers. Regardless of your program specialty (employment, housing, family support, etc.), Family Development certification will provide you with valuable hands-on tools to work with families across all spectrums. Certified Family Development Specialists are better able to focus resources for eligible families to achieve self-sufficiency in many areas such as housing, income and budgeting, transportation, family and social relations, recovery from alcohol and drug abuse, mental and emotion health and much more.

The Family Development program consists of five core areas. They include: 

1. Joining – Interviewing and dialog skills, building relationships, and cultural competency
2. Assessment – Assessing family strengths, challenges and resources
3. Planning – Develop well-formed goals and create plans to reach a family’s vision towards self-sufficiency
4. Support – Evaluate barriers that may prevent families from moving forward
5. Linking – Connecting families to community partners by providing effective referrals while continuing to support the family

The three-day training program involves homework on the first two evenings. Participants take part in a Celebration of Knowledge at its conclusion. OACAA is proud to offer CPEs from the State of Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & Marriage and Family Therapist Board to graduates of the program who earn their certification as a Family Development Specialist. The program requires an annual recertification which is also offered by OACAA.

If you are a Community Action Professional and would like to be equipped to effect change in your area by taking part in an OACAA’s Community Action Family Development Specialist Training please contact Lorie McClain at lorie@oacaa.org to check for availability of FDS trainings. Classes are typically offered annually. 

Lorie McClain, Program Specialist

Lorie is a certified trainer in the Prep® Within My Reach curriculum, and Love’s Cradle® curriculum, Family Development Specialist and Family Development Specialist Trainer, as well as a certified Personal Financial Teacher. She is directly responsible for managing all of OACAA’s Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) and other funded programs.

State of Poverty in Ohio Report 2014

In cooperation with Community Research Partners (CRP), OACAA released the State of Poverty in Ohio Report on Tuesday, March 10, 2015. The report, which is now available online, aims to illustrate the effects of poverty in an effort to understand economic hardships today and over the last fifty years.

Throughout the report, you will learn about many of the barriers that have kept nearly 32 percent of people in the United States teetering on the edge of, or prevented them from escaping, poverty. You will also learn how the Federal Poverty Measure (FPM), which was developed over fifty years ago, is an insufficient way to measure Americans’ ability to provide basic necessities such as housing and utilities—because the FPM was developed to measure only the minimum food budget. And you will learn more about the challenges people in poverty face when working to overcome the benefits gap while learning to financially manage soaring education debt in order to live a self-sufficient life without public or private assistance.

Utilizing graphics, case studies and data, the report dispels commonly held myths and misconceptions about poverty. The report also illustrates how Community Action agencies utilize a holistic approach to meet the needs of low-income families and individuals while on their unique paths to self-sufficiency. Poverty is a complex issue and cannot be alleviated with simple solutions. We hope this study of poverty and its effect on millions of Ohioans will shine a light on the issues in order to develop long-term solutions.