This invaluable reference introduces successful strengths-based programs for aiding families of young children in critical social contexts: family, school, community, and policy. The wide range of systems/contextual approaches described here are based in current understanding of children’s development, stress and resilience in families, cultural competence, and the two-generational approach to intervention. Research-based examples across early care and early learning platforms illustrate the links between parental protective factors and children’s academic and social outcomes, and between family stability and larger social goals. By supporting parents and children equally, the contributors assert, these interventions more fully address developmental and family issues than programs that mainly serve one generation or the other.

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